Goldfish Farms

While Covington folk generally were not aware of it,  one of the centers of the goldfish industry is near Covington, on the Lexington Pike.

Farmers of this region have found that breeding goldfish for the market is more profitable than other forms of agriculture.

Schlosser Brothers are reputed to be the largest dealers in the finny fish and are called the goldfish kings of the middle west.

Their unique ranch contains 35 [illeg]. In a number of small ponds there are harbored many thousands of dollars worth of fish.

Some Unusual Types

Some of their unusual types of goldfish are the Japanese fantail, Chinese telescope comet, and Japanese single-tail.  Fish, which are hatched in the spring are marketed in the fall and winter season, which extends from September to December, and from February to June.

Goldfish require care when young, but by the time cold weather arrives they are so well able to take care for themselves they do not have to be fed.

When hatched, a goldfish is black in color, but gradually becomes lighter, until the rich golden shade is attained by fall.

Sorting Important

The fish are sold according to their size, and it is the greatest part of the breeders work to sort the goldfish for the market.  The fish are reared in wooden boxes nearly submerged in the ponds.

In winter it is the work of the attendants to keep the ice from forming over the tops of the boxes more than seven hours at a time. 

Cold weather is more favorable to the goldfish industry because the fish are not fed from Nov. 10 to spring, and because being cold-blooded creatures, they thrive in the cold water.

It is a mistake to place warm water in the goldfish bowl or aquarium, breeders say.

In summer time bran and cornmeal is fed to the fish in the boxes.  Because of the extreme heat in the summer, many fish die in the ranches near Fort Mitchell.

Ship To Dealers

The breeders near Covington ship the fish to wholesale dealers all over the country.  Hence, if the officials of the Covington Industrial Club with to advertise Dixie's gateway, they should devise some plan for stamping the name on the fish.

For the fish which frisk in the globes of a majority of the houses of America owe their origin to Covington parents.

Joseph Schlosser, father of Eugene, Carl and Frank Schlosser was the pioneer in the goldfish industry in the vicinity of Covington.

He also kept several ponds stocked with game fish for many years, and many fishermen from Cincinnati and vicinity paid liberally for the privilege of fishing ion Schlosser's pond.

Other goldfish ranch owners near Covington are Charles Sperl, Amsterdam-pike; Frank Schlosser, central Covington; Henry Kneochelmann, Highland-pike; John Steffen, Old State-rd; J. Decker, Lexington-pike.

Came from Alsace

Joseph Schlosser, who was the pioneer in the goldfish industry in Covington, came to America from Alsace-Lorain in 1817.

For many years he was identified with the meat business, and was the first dealer to have a covered wagon and icehouse in Covington.

As he owned several ponds from which ice was cut, he applied to the government and got 40 German carp, with which he stocked the ponds.

The fish multiplied so rapidly that Schlosser's soon became a noted place for fishing.

Schlosser charged anglers $1 a day, not for the privilege of fishing, but for refusing to stay away from his ponds.  Often he collected as mush as $50 a Sunday from fishermen, and all the money received in this way was donated to St. John's Orphans' home.

Began in 1890

It was in the late 90's that Schlosser began breeding goldfish for a hobby.  Although he produced many fish, yet he never engaged in the goldfish business for profit.

It was along about the time of the World's Fair of Chicago that a man from Greensburg, Indiana, came to Schlosser for some of the German carp.

Schlosser gave the man six goldfish in addition to the carp and from this start grew the extensive goldfish industry of Schaup & Heck, whose output amounted to $50,000 a year.

from the Kentucky Post, January 2, 1917