Lydia's.....a BOY?!

[Somervell]

Thanks for the kind words, JamieM, but I am faaaarrrrr from a goldfish specialist. There are many, many people on this forum who know far more about goldies than I. I just love 'em!

Star- it sounds like you do, indeed, have a male moor if he has "breeding stars" on the gill plates. They really don't look like anything else. The second give away is the aggressive chasing in the tank. It could be that you have an adolescent male that is "sowing his oats," by chasing the comet, or it could be male-to-male territorial aggression. I have seen both. If it's the latter, and your tank is big enough they'll work it out on their own. Jamie is correct that spawning with goldfish is UGLY (and makes a mess of the tank. I have a breeding pair in spawn right now. No discretion, whatsover. Even my snails are covered with eggs. ) If your male is the fancy and the comet is the female, she does have the advantage of speed. No worries. Just keep an eye on the tank. Don't worry about names. I have a female panda that I was SURE was male, so I named her Zeus. She's still Zeus. I don't think she knows the difference.

 

[StarSapphire22]

Thanks somervell! I dont think it's territorial...it's only the two of them right now and they're about 2-3 inches, in a 75 gallon...and Batman/Lydia is the only one doing the chasing. And Samus/Ratchet seems to be getting a little rounder lately, so we think it's female. When they breed, they won't eat their eggs or anything will they? And would the babies come out moor or comet? Any tips on raising the fry, or getting rid of eggs? Also, do goldfish form pairs, or is it more of a "I'm a boy, you're a girl, lets make babies" kind of thing? Sorry for my five zillion questions.

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[Nepherael]

I am very interested in the responses from those questions also SS

 

[Somervell]

I will try to answer your questions. Please keep in mind that this is based merely on my own experience.

1. They will absolutely eat both eggs and fry. They are their own cleanup crew. They are goldfish, and will eat just about anything that will fit into their big, old, gaping mouths. I have found for best success, you remove the spawning material to a breeding cage and raise the fry in that until they get large enough to go into their own tank. Otherwise, infertile eggs will dissolve, and they will eat anything else.

2. Spawning preferences seem to depend on environent. In a pond setting, it's pretty much a free for all. In my tanks, my fish have breeding pairs by their own preference. The pairs that I have wanted to cross rarely are "attracted" to each other. This is not traditional for goldfish, but just happened to be the way it worked out this time around.

3. Goldfish genetics are kind of complicated. It is possible that "The V" might have better answers to your questions about outcomes than I would. If you can get in touch with Dave (Ichthius on this forum) at the Goldfish Garage, he is a SERIOUS breeder and could tell you the outcome. I am going to take a shot in the dark, though. My guess is that what you would have would be comet body types. Although they are all the same species (carassius auratus) and can interbreed, the telescope eye is not a dominant feature. My guess is ( and it's only a guess) that you would have to have two parents that have the telescope feature to produce mostly telescope offspring. There is a long (LOOOONG) paper on goldfish genetics that is available on the internet. (As well as a $250, OOP book on the subject.) Bottom line- the comet body line is more dominant and closer to traditional shape of "carp" than fancies.

That having been said, my current 4-monthers are the result of an accidental spawn between a really nice telescope (F) and a really beautiful black oranda (M). It is really too early to tell, but it looks like the telescope eye has not transferred. They will start developing wens at around 4-5 months, so I think I will have a tank of really, pretty metallic/ black mutt oranda-bodied babies.

Like I said in an earlier post-- I am not a goldfish expert. If someone here has information that is contrary to what I have posted, please correct me.