Tri-Colour Oranda Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Bring red, black and white together in a tri-colour oranda goldfish

The tri-colour oranda goldfish wears three colours at once: bold red, deep black and clean white, laid in patches over a round, twin-tailed body. Like every oranda it has an upright dorsal fin, a long double tail and a soft hood that slowly builds up over the head and cheeks. It is a colour form of the domestic goldfish, Carassius auratus, a member of the carp family, Cyprinidae, and one of the most eye-catching orandas you can keep in an indoor coldwater aquarium.

Orandas are bred in many colours. Wikipedia's summary of the variety lists red, red and white, red and black, black, blue, chocolate, white, black and white (panda), red, black and white (tri-colour) and calico among them. That is why the names on goldfish labels matter: each one tells you which combination you are buying.

Tell a tri-colour from similar orandas

The calico look has a long scientific history. Fu's review (2015) of the Chinese geneticist Shisan Chen describes his 1928 finding that see-through, "transparent" scales are inherited in a simple Mendelian way, and that fish carrying one copy of the trait look mottled. A tri-colour has ordinary shiny scales instead, so its colours sit in clearer blocks. If you prefer two colours, compare it with our Red and Black Oranda or the classic Red Oranda, or browse orandas and other fancy goldfish in one place.

Pick the size that suits your plans

This tri-colour oranda is sold in two sizes. Each purchase supplies one live fish, sex not chosen, and every fish's pattern is its own: the photographs show the variety, not the individual that will arrive.

Whichever size you choose, plan the aquarium for the adult. Read our delivery page for dispatch days and the Live Arrival Guarantee, and have the tank cycled before the fish arrives.

Expect the pattern to shift as it grows

A tri-colour pattern is a snapshot, not a promise. Writing about ranchu, Practical Fishkeeping notes that a goldfish's colour can change almost completely as it matures and that many goldfish become whiter with age. Its fancy goldfish guide reports claims that black moors can revert to metallic orange in warm water. In practice, the black on a young tri-colour may spread, shrink or disappear, and white areas often grow over the years. That uncertainty is part of the charm: no two tri-colours look alike, and few look the same at four years as they did at four months.

Give its colours the best conditions

• Keep it cool and steady: stay within OATA's ideal of 15–23°C rather than running the tank warm.
• Feed a varied diet: a colour-rich food such as Tropical Goldfish Color alongside the staple helps red areas show well, though no food can stop a colour change that is in the fish's genes.
• Keep a regular day and night: overhead lighting on a timer, as OATA recommends, without direct sunlight.
• Keep the water clean: stressed fish in poor water lose colour quickly.

Grow a young oranda on with care

If you choose the 4 cm youngster, you will watch its hood appear. According to Practical Fishkeeping, an oranda needs one to two years from the fry stage to develop its head growth. A 2025 laboratory study by Li and colleagues traced how it forms: the skin on the head thickens as collagen builds up and skin cells multiply, and small bony growths appear on the skull to support it. Growth like this depends on steady feeding and clean water month after month.

Feeding advice for youngsters differs between sources. OATA recommends one meal a day of what the fish eat within a few minutes. Ranchu breeders interviewed by Practical Fishkeeping feed growing youngsters several small meals a day, up to six, but they also change a great deal of water. Choose the approach your filter and water-change routine can support: more food always means more waste.

Track progress through the first year

Size the aquarium for the adult, not the 4 cm fish

OATA says fancy goldfish are unlikely to grow past 20 cm, while Practical Fishkeeping gives 20–31 cm for orandas. Either way, a tri-colour that arrives at 4 cm will become many times larger. OATA's guide is 100 litres for one adult fancy goldfish and 50 litres for each extra adult. Practical Fishkeeping suggests around 90 cm of tank length for three or four small or medium fancies, and its six-times rule gives 90 × 30 cm for adults of 15 cm. FishBase suggests groups of five or more in a tank of at least 100 cm.

Compare three aquarium plans

Measure your tank with our tank volume tool and check the planned group at full size in the stocking calculator. Use smooth gravel or sand and décor without sharp edges, which OATA warns can damage long fins and eyes, and leave open water for slow swimming.

Set the water values and hold them steady

These are OATA's values. UK supplies vary from soft water in much of Scotland and Wales to hard, chalky water across the south and east of England, so test your own tap water and compare it in our water matcher tool. Our guide to water chemistry explains pH, general hardness and carbonate hardness in plain terms. Always treat new water with a conditioner before it goes in.

Filter for a heavy eater and keep a routine

Goldfish are greedy, messy feeders. Practical Fishkeeping calls good filtration essential for fancy goldfish because of their waste and oxygen demand, but asks for moderate flow because they swim poorly. OATA suggests spreading the return through a spray bar. Aim for a filter rated well above the tank's volume, with the outlet set to ripple the surface rather than push the fish around. Our article on aquarium filtration explained helps you choose.

Split the jobs by day, week and month

A new aquarium must complete the nitrogen cycle before any fish go in.

Feed for growth without fouling the water

FishBase lists plankton, bottom-living invertebrates, plant material and detritus as the wild diet of the species. OATA recommends a goldfish-specific staple, because goldfish need more carbohydrate than many fish, topped up with daphnia, bloodworm, brine shrimp, blanched lettuce and thawed, shelled peas.

• Staple: Super Goldfish Mini Sticks, small enough for a young fish.
• Colour support: Tropical Goldfish Color in rotation with the staple.
• Frozen: Daphnia and Spirulina Frozen as a light, fibre-rich meal.
• Treat: freeze-dried brine shrimp, soaked so it sinks.
• Greens: shelled peas or blanched lettuce once or twice a week.

Some goldfish swallow air when they feed at the surface and float or tilt for a while afterwards; OATA suggests changing to a slow-sinking food if this happens. Our article on a fish swimming sideways covers other causes.

Quarantine and introduce it safely

OATA warns that a fish can carry disease without showing symptoms, and advises never buying from a tank with sick fish in it. Goldfish herpesvirus is one reason to be careful: Ito and Maeno (2014) found the disease it causes developed most readily at 20–25°C, and that goldfish infected in cooler water could survive and still carry the virus to other fish. A separate quarantine tank, with its own net and equipment, protects any goldfish you already keep.

To introduce the fish, switch off the aquarium lights, float the sealed bag for about 10 minutes, then add small amounts of tank water over up to 20 minutes before releasing the fish without the bag water. That is OATA's floating-bag method; our step-by-step acclimatisation guide shows it in pictures. Watch the fish and test the water closely through its first week.

Mix it only with fancies that share its pace

OATA recommends keeping fancy goldfish alone or with other fancy goldfish, and not with common goldfish, which are quicker, take the food and sometimes nip fins. A tri-colour oranda is a natural partner for other orandas of a similar size.

Single-tailed goldfish are a different case altogether, as our page on comet goldfish explains. Run any mix through our tank mates checker, and browse the full goldfish and coldwater range or all goldfish for companions.

Keep a health watch on the hood and fins

The hood's folds can trap debris, and fancy goldfish with long fins are easily damaged by sharp décor. OATA lists the signs that something is wrong: hanging at the surface or sitting on the bottom, unusual darkening or paling, more hiding or aggression, faster or slower breathing, white spots or fluffy growths, lost fins or scales, weight change and poor appetite.

Know where tri-colour orandas come from

Every fancy goldfish traces back to wild crucian carp in China. Shisan Chen proposed from historical records that domestication began in the Southern Song dynasty and that deliberate breeding for particular forms only began in the Qing dynasty, as Fu's review explains. Modern genetics is now finding the DNA behind the varieties: Kon and colleagues (2020) sequenced 27 goldfish strains and linked regions of the genome to traits such as dorsal fin loss, long tails and telescope eyes. The tri-colour oranda is one result of those centuries of selection.

Answer tri-colour oranda questions

Will a tri-colour oranda keep its black markings?

Not always. Practical Fishkeeping notes that goldfish colour can change almost completely as a fish matures and that many goldfish become whiter with age, so black and red areas may shrink or move. Buy it for the variety, not for an exact pattern.

Should I buy the 4 cm or the 8–9 cm Hi Grade tri-colour?

The 4 cm fish is a youngster to grow on, at a lower price, with its hood and final colours still to come. The 8–9 cm Hi Grade fish is a larger, selected fish with more of its shape, hood and pattern already showing.

Is a tri-colour oranda the same as a calico oranda?

No. A tri-colour has red, black and white areas on mostly shiny scales. A calico has a speckled, mottled look that comes from a mix of see-through and reflective scales, often with blue-grey tones.

How long does the hood take to grow?

Practical Fishkeeping says the head growth of young orandas takes one to two years to develop, so a 4 cm youngster shows little hood at first. Clean water and steady feeding give it the best chance to fill out.

Can a tri-colour oranda share a tank with my Red and Black Oranda?

Yes. Orandas of a similar size suit each other well. Allow 100 litres for the first adult and 50 litres for each extra adult, as OATA advises, so two adult orandas need at least 150 litres.

What temperature does a tri-colour oranda need?

OATA gives fancy goldfish an ideal range of 15–23°C, with a wider tolerance of 4–25°C. Most UK homes stay inside the ideal range without a heater; aim for steady temperatures rather than warm water.

Why should I quarantine a new goldfish?

OATA warns that some fish carry disease without showing symptoms, and research on goldfish herpesvirus found that fish can survive infection and still carry the virus. A separate quarantine tank protects the fish you already have.

Check the sources behind this guide

• OATA: How to look after fancy goldfish — UK trade guidance on water values, aquarium size, décor, feeding, tank mates, acclimatisation, health checks and breeding.
• FishBase: Carassius auratus — species record: maximum size and age, water ranges, native range, wild diet, cultured colours and aquarium group size.
• Practical Fishkeeping: How to get fancy with goldfish — oranda and ranchu sizes, hood development, tank-size rule, filtration and water-change advice for fancy goldfish.
• Practical Fishkeeping: Ranchu, king of goldfish — ranchu shape, origin, judging from above, shallow keeping, colour change with age and breeding temperature.
• Li et al. 2025, Research 8: 0786 — study of how the goldfish hood forms: collagen-rich skin layers and bony growths on the skull.
• Kon et al. 2020, Current Biology 30: 2260–2274 — genome study of 27 goldfish strains linking DNA regions to dorsal fin loss, long tails and other traits.
• Fu 2015, Protein & Cell: Shisan C. Chen and his research on goldfish genetics — review of Shisan Chen’s goldfish research: crucian carp ancestry, dynasty dates and the inheritance of transparent and mottled scales.
• Ito & Maeno 2014, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 110: 193–200 — laboratory study of goldfish herpesvirus (CyHV-2) at different water temperatures.
• Wikipedia: Oranda — summary of the oranda: the meaning of its Japanese name, colour forms and sensitivity to cold.
• Tropical Fish Co delivery policy — current dispatch days and Live Arrival Guarantee terms.