The oranda goldfish has been around for over 400 years, and is a fancy goldfish variety with long flowing fins, slow graceful movement, and what looks like a raspberry on its head.

Specifically, the oranda is one of the veiltail goldfish.  What this means is that the two layers of the tail fin are separate, nearly as long as the body, and are not deeply forked.  The body itself is deep rather than long in veiltail goldfish.

Oranda goldfish come in many different colours.  They can be red, orange, yellow, black or blue; or a combination of these colours.  They can also be “calico,” which is the technical name for the colours found on shubunkin goldfish.  Another sub-variety of oranda is the redcap oranda, which is all (or almost all) white apart from the growth on its head being vivid red.  The photograph shows an oranda in the foreground, and a redcap oranda in the background.  The extent of the head growth in redcaps is usually less, and generally does not extend below the eyes.

Being fancy goldfish, orandas do not compete well against long-bodied goldfish.  They need to be kept with other slow swimming fancy goldfish to give them an equal chance at feeding time.  They are also sensitive to changes in water temperature, and do not like water that is too cold.

The most common problems experienced by oranda goldfish are unsurprisingly to do with the head growth.  Small particles that find their way into the folds of the growth can end up causing bacterial and/or fungal infection. Also, because of the body shape, swim bladder problems are more common than in long-bodied goldfish (although this is a problem with several varieties of fancy goldfish, not just oranda).

Apart from that, a well managed and carefully monitored tank containing orandas shouldn’t be a problem.  Oranda goldfish are a genuinely visually interesting goldfish variety, and the head growth on non-redcap orandas can give them a facial expression that makes them that little bit different from other fish.  Redcaps of course are visually striking, with their high contrast colours.  No matter what sort of oranda is in a tank, they are sure to be a talking point.

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