Sex of a goldfish

Goldfish are able to breed at 12 months of age. I have been asked a number of times recently how to sex Goldfish. I assume this is either for naming reasons, or the owner is considering breeding them. The ideal way to choose Goldfish for breeding is to raise juvenile fish together, and once the spawning season arrives, pick out those fish showing obvious signs of what sex they are. Under 6 months Old Fish under 6 months old are virtually impossible to sex. This was useful, but could those not showing tubercles be females?

There is one problem: I cannot tell if they are a male and female pair, or if they are the same sex. The pet store employees cannot tell either. Is there some way to distinguish a male from a female goldfish? I agree. Having only two fish, wanting to breed them and not knowing if you have a male and a female can make things difficult. With some practice, however, you should be able to separate males and females fairly reliably.

Goldfish typically come into breeding season after a period of cold weather followed by warmer temperatures and more abundant food. This happens very commonly in the pond environment. Breeding tubercles will also commonly show up on the front rays of the pectoral front fins of the fish as well, and even on the scales of the body! These white dots sometimes are confused with the disease ich, or white spot disease.

Last Updated: August 5, References. To create this article, 41 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 1,, times. Learn more Many people are interested in finding out the gender of their goldfish.