Sarasa - Carassius auratus auratus

The Sarasa is also known as Sarasa Comet. This goldfish color form comes from Asia and is still relatively new. The particularly attractive red and white breeding form of the popular goldfish has a particularly long, forked tail fin. Goldfish have been pets for well over a thousand years, kept in jars and ponds as good luck charms in their original homeland of China. Like all goldfish, the Sarasa Comet can live to a very old age - a maximum of 40 years is possible in a garden pond if kept well.

Sarasa goldfish belong to the species Carassius auratus auratus, which originates from Eurasia and is a relative of the gable, also known as the silver crucian carp. Despite being long-finned, the fin shape of the Sarasa Goldfish is still quite close to the natural shape, which is why the fish swims normally and can therefore be kept in the garden pond without hesitation. The Sarasa Comet Goldfish remain minimally smaller than the typical golden orange Goldfish at about 20 cm in body length.

The Sarasa Comet, like all goldfish, is a member of the cyprinids or carp fish. The beautiful red and white very curious goldfish is an omnivore and cares devotedly for algae coverings and insect larvae in the garden pond - especially mosquito larvae belong to its daily diet. A special goldfish food is a useful nutritional supplement in the limited habitat of the garden pond, especially if the fish stocking is rather high. In addition to algae, goldfish also eat the leaves of pond plants with rather soft foliage as well as worms, insects and small crustaceans.

Ideally, the sociable goldfish should be kept in a group of 5 or more. Per goldfish one calculates approx. 800-1000 liters of pond volume, for a group of five the pond should have at least 4 cubic meters of content. Especially in hot summers, an oxydator for garden ponds has proven very useful for oxygenating the pond water.

Goldfish - and therefore also the Sarasa - are cold water fish. They simply feel comfortable at temperatures of 4-24 °C. In a pond at least 100-130 cm deep, goldfish can also be overwintered out doors. Then you will need an ice freezer to help keep the water surface open for free gas exchange. To overwinter, the goldfish sink to the bottom of the water, where they lie in cold torpor. Their metabolism is reduced to almost zero and they do not need to be fed.

If the pond is not deep enough, it can freeze through to the bottom in winter. Then you should move the Sarasa goldfish to a cold, but frost-free winter quarters. For this purpose, a large tub or aquarium is suitable, which must necessarily be cold, so that the pond fish can still hibernate. Wintering too warm can greatly shorten the life of the goldfish.

Rising temperatures in the spring give goldfish the go-ahead for mating season. Goldfish are free spawners, so females simply lay their eggs in open water. Unfortunately, Sarasa goldfish are also quite spawn predators and brood predators, so almost no young fish grow up in the pond itself. If you would like to breed goldfish on a regular basis, you should create your pond in such a way that it has a large shallow water zone, which you green with many fine-feathered plants. Here the young goldfish can hide well and grow without the feeding pressure of the old fish.