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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Help IDing a friend's fish...
My friends have what I think might be a kind of goldfish, but I'm not sure 
I'd really like to know, so I can tell them how to properly care for it because it is currently is MUCH less than ideal conditions. They used to have 3, but the other two died a couple months ago. Also, can you tell if it's a male or a female? Any info is VERY appreciated  Thanks! | 
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| hello rebecca 
that looks like a Comet to me
What sized tank is he in??
i cant tell the difference between a male and a female, sorry | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Hi Tony! 
I think the tank is one of those TetraWonders kits...probably only 1.5 gallons.  | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| it looks like a feeder to me and there is no way to sex them unless they are breeding. The male will develop breeding tubericals. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| What is the difference between a common and a comet? I've tried looking online, but I'm still not sure what kind it is.
Sorry the pics aren't that great; I took them with my phone. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I think they are the same, although the comets at the petsores are bigger and less diseases on them. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| They won this (well, the three of them before the other two died) at a fair, so would that make it more likely to be a common rather than a comet? | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| The ones at the fairs are almost always feeder goldfish, I wish they wouldn't give them away at the fairs like they do. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Commons are generally stouter bodied and shorter finned than comets although they have been interbred so much that there really isn't that much difference anymore. Most of the "feeder" goldfish that you find are most likely a cross between the common and comets. That said, it would appear to me that you (or your friend) have a beautiful young male common/comet goldfish. However, he is in much too small of an area. The slight hump just in front of his dorsal fin is the beginning of a deformity caused by overcrowding and being kept in too small of a tank. Most likely from his previous life. I have seen numerous goldies brought to me for advice after the kids won them at fairs or school carnivals. Because he is a comet goldfish, he has the potential to grow quite large (12 - 18 inches or more). He will need an appropriate sized tank with at least double the normal filtration just for him. I would recommend at least a 29 gallon long for now. That would give him time to grow a bit and the owner a chance to decide if they want to do a pond or a large tank. His minimum size permanent home really should be at least 55 gallons. A good way to tell if he would be comfortable would be to take a ruler with you and move it around in the tank. If it is difficult or awkward to move the ruler around, then it will be difficult for the goldfish to swim around also.
Just so you get an idea as to how big they can get, here are some pics of some of my goldies. They are in a 2.5 gallon tank for the pics and they are not full grown. Just imagine if I tried putting these guys back in a 1.5 gallon tank...I don't think they would be able to move!
In the first two pics, the orange and white one is a female and the all orange one is a male. The male's tail is longer, pointier, and has a deeper split than the females. Also, the male's dorsal fin is usually a bit more pointed and all of the male's fins just look more angular and are usually longer than the females. The female's fins are shorter and rounded - almost stubby sometimes. The length alone is not enough to determine male/female. You have to look at the shape of the fin also. Females rounded, males angular.
In the next three pics, you see an orange female, a white (with orange spots) female, and an all-white male. You can see the difference in the length and shape of the tail and dorsal fins between the male and female. Oh, and yes, every single one of these fish started out as a feeder fish from either WalMart or PetsMart. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I know they need larger tanks, however I didn't realize one fish needed as big as 55 gallons. These people aren't really into fish keeping and I know for sure they would never get a tank that large, they'd never keep up with the maintenance. I don't know what to do, I know they need a larger tank to properly care for him, but I don't know that they'll want to give him away... 
I also really wish they wouldn't give fish away at fairs, especially fish that grow so large and demand so much care and maintenance. Most people have no idea the requirements fish require, nor do some of them even care which is really upsetting.
Last edited by rebeccmh; August 16th, 2009 at 07:44 PM.
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Well, if they want to keep him all by himself, they might be able to do so in a 30 - 40 gallon for quite a while. They would need to have a filter for a 55 gal (or larger) and probably would not be able to add any other fish. You could always show them the pics of mine in the 2.5 gallon...At his current size, they may be able to start with a 10 gal, but that would not be good for more any more than a few months. | |
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August 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Wow, well thank so much for the info; it was really helpful. 
I'll try to see if they'll update his home.... | |
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