How can you tell what sex goldfish are?
- Thread starter Fantail_Lover
- Start date
I believe you already asked this question? In a post in cold water? You can only sex them in the spring when they are ready to breed which is once a year after the water warms in the spring. The males get white bumps on their gills and their head. The females get fat with eggs and their colours intensify [males too ]. The males chase the females around.
PP pretty much answered your question, so no one else needed to in the previous thread. Some say they can tell because the female's underside is a bit more convex and the male's concave. I can't say I've ever worried about it or looked that closely. Some of my goldies, I know what sex they are through one method or another, others, dunno and not worried about it. Knowing about the spotting on the males gill covers is a good thing so you don't freak out when they appear and think they have something wrong with them. If your fish will spawn, they'll spawn. With a 12 gallon tank to work with, spawning actually probably wouldn't be a great thing (they can have a considerable number of fry) and the parents would likely eat their eggs anyways.
I was searching on google tonight and found the following website: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/4468/fishsex.html
This leads me to believe that there are methods on how to tell the sex of a gold fish. I hope someone can figure this out, I need to know!
If one goldfish chases another, doesn't that mean the chaser is the male and the one being chased is female?? Rumor maybe?
-Xan
This leads me to believe that there are methods on how to tell the sex of a gold fish. I hope someone can figure this out, I need to know!
If one goldfish chases another, doesn't that mean the chaser is the male and the one being chased is female?? Rumor maybe?
-Xan
It depends. Sometimes, they're just playing. I have a good-sized Moor and a couple of my medium/small orandas like to swim up through her skirts while they're playing 'follow the leader'. (yes, Mushroom is definitely a "she") Some fish are just pests -- I kept a ryunkin for a friend for a couple months while she got her tank going and he was constantly chasing and pecking at everyone. Thank goodness he wasn't staying!
If no one here has the answer you're looking for, you can ask that question 100 times and still not get it. Aside from the breeding spots, goldfish are pretty subtle, just like many fish. There are ways of determining angelfish sex outside the breeding season, but they too are very subtle and mistakes are often made. With many fish, this is determined solely by the "plumpness" of the female. Some other fish are very obvious due to size, shape or color. You cannot mistake what sex most cichlids are. Black phantom tetras have different fin colors according to the sex. Some male fish have larger or pointier dorsal fins. Livebearers tend to have the goniopodium. What sex are your goldfish? You may not be able to determine this until they are much larger, if at all. I bet *they* know, but, again, it would likely be a moot point in such a small tank.
If no one here has the answer you're looking for, you can ask that question 100 times and still not get it. Aside from the breeding spots, goldfish are pretty subtle, just like many fish. There are ways of determining angelfish sex outside the breeding season, but they too are very subtle and mistakes are often made. With many fish, this is determined solely by the "plumpness" of the female. Some other fish are very obvious due to size, shape or color. You cannot mistake what sex most cichlids are. Black phantom tetras have different fin colors according to the sex. Some male fish have larger or pointier dorsal fins. Livebearers tend to have the goniopodium. What sex are your goldfish? You may not be able to determine this until they are much larger, if at all. I bet *they* know, but, again, it would likely be a moot point in such a small tank.
This might help: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/gfish3.htm#sex I did a google search for "sexing fantail goldfish" and came up with a lot of hits. You may have trouble sexing them if they're not mature yet.
Thats a great website, I think I've determined that my fantail is a female, although I'm going on a hunch I guess thats about all you can do when the goldfish are still young. She has a very short and fat look to her and her abdomen looks like its bursting. Her pectoral fins also appear to be short, very thin, and some what rounded which points to being female as well.
Thanks for the help guys.
-Xan
Thanks for the help guys.
-Xan