Tropical Fish Forums

Linus · New Members Joined: 05 Aug 2009

This might be a stupid question but what's with the black goldfish.

The reason I ask is that I have 2 in my 125 G pond, they seem to stick with each other more than with the 7 "gold" gold fish.

I bought like 20 feeder minnows for one of my turtles. He always misses a few. One happened to be greyish which is not unccomon. This fish grew way faster than all the rest of the survivors and soon enough it was clear that it wasn't a minnow at all because of its wiskers. Anyway, I decided to drop the 2" fella into my pond with the rest of my 3"-4" Goldfish(one which happened to be black).

Very quickly, like in a month or 2, the two black ones are at least an inch bigger than the rest of my goldfish. Why is this?

monstrosity · Regulars Joined: 16 Oct 2009 Location: Tennessee, USA

They're probably a different species. Are you talking about black moors???? http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/goldfish/blackmoor.php

BTW, I think the reason some of your feeder fish are greyish is they are fathead minnows that have ended up in the bunch of rosy red minnows. I've seen this, too.
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29 G

Linus · New Members Joined: 05 Aug 2009

Actually I think they're plain ole' carp.

http://luckyhook.net/files/2009/02/sarance1.jpg
Mine look just like this except smaller.

Cliff Mayes · Advisors Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Location: Western NY

Generally all the different breeds of Goldfish will grow at different rates. You may have a different species but you may just have a different breed from the black Goldfish. At one time most black Goldfish were Moors with telescope eyes but many black (some black fish are just temporarily that color) Goldfish today are other breeds.

It is quite often the case that if allowed to breed indiscriminately without some intervention by the Hobbyist only the uncolored and poor quality Goldfish will survive. The original Crucian Carp was a greenish brown fish with a full compliment of fins. Goldfish are very plastic genetically and just about any color and shape is possible with selection and time being the only thing holding back results.
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wirehair

Linus · New Members Joined: 05 Aug 2009

But the 2 Black fish have Barbels, which goldys don't have.

diademhill · Advisors Joined: 18 Apr 2007

Cliff Mayes · Advisors Joined: 11 Mar 2007 Location: Western NY

The black fish may very well be another species; possible a Koi type carp that as diademhill says can get large. The black varieties can be a Koi but who knows?

Most western types get them up to 24" but the Japanese who feed them a lot a do not crowd them get them up to 36" in a couple of years and some of the ones that are not very popular with the original masters can get up to 70" so make sure that you have enough room. I did see a guy that kept one 18" Koi in a 125 by itself. It was a pet and I did not want to disabuse him (I was a visitor with someone else) of the folly of keeping a potentially very large fish in, what to him, was a large tank.
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wirehair