How to Identify Goldfish Types
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Identify Goldfish Types
If you want to know how to identify what type of goldfish you have, you need to look at its features. Here are some unique features that make identifying your goldfish simple. There are hundreds of types of goldfish, many that have been cross bred which take on a mix of different features.
Hardy Goldfish Types
A body shape that has an elongated flattened football shape include: the common, the Comet Goldfish, the Shubunkin Goldfish. (good breeds for an outdoor goldfish pond).
— The common, comet and shubunkin look very similar in shape and colors.
- The comet has longer fins and most notably its tail fin is much longer.
- The common doesn’t come in calico but the comet and shubunkin do.
- The shubunkin is only calico so if it’s calico with short fins, it can’t be a common.
Fancy Goldfish Types
An egg shape body shape are considered the fancy breeds and can include: Fantail Goldfish, Ryukin Goldfish, Veiltail Goldfish, Oranda Goldfish, Telescope Goldfish,Black Moor Goldfish, panda butterfly, Ranchu Goldfish, lionhead, Pompon Goldfish, Pearlscale Goldfish, hama nishki, celestial and bubble-eye.
— The mature oranda, ranchu and lionhead has a wart like wen hood cover over its face and head.
- The oranda has a dorsal fin and the lionhead and most ranchu don’t.
- The ranchu has a prominent arch in its back and downward pointed tail fins.
- The lionhead and oranda have a straighter back line.
- A goldfish with a hood cover with a straight back and no dorsal fin is a lionhead.
— The fantail, ryukin and veiltail have similar egg shaped bodies with no distinct features like a hood cover or globe eyes.
- The fantail and ryukin have sturdy upright fins and tails.
- The ryukin has a more prominent hump that the dorsal fin sits on than the fantail.
- The veiltail has long flowing fins and tail.
— The telescope, black moor and panda butterfly have their eyes on the sides of ball like protuberances.
- A black moor is a telescope/globe-eye but is only black or faded black in color.
- The panda butterfly resembles the colors of a panda bear, clear sections of black and white.
— The pearlscale and hama nishiki have a golf ball body shape with scales that stand out like little white domes.
- the hama nishiki has a slight hood cover on top of its head while the pearlscale does not.
— The celestial has bulging eyes that point upward and no dorsal fin.
— The bubble eye has two bubble shaped check pouches.
Learn more about goldfish care in a goldfish aquarium
It might be normal but it might also be a sign they are sick or the water quality is bad. If they are new to your tank, it’s normal for them to be inactive until they feel comfortable. You can test the water for ammonia or ph to see they are good and if they are off, do a water change. Review our goldfish diseases section to see if your goldfish show signs of an illness.
My goldfish are spending a lot of time on the gravel and not being very active is this normal?
one of my goldfish died
but the other one lived!!!!! 
:] 
The biggest cause of death to goldfish is poor water quality. Make sure the ammonia levels are low, the ph is neutral and there is a lot of oxygen in the water. You can purchase inexpensive test kits to test the water quality.
hi, im austin you need to put 5 or 6 goldfish in your tank because you need to leave room for them to grow and when they get up to 6″ inches you need to put them into a bigger tank or you will cause diseases.
austin bailey
What would cause Goldfish to die
The only real good tank mates for goldfish are other goldfish. The reason being is that goldfish like cold water (unheated) and they are also aggressive eaters. Many fish can’t live in an unheated tank or move fast enough to compete for food. You could try certain cold water minnows perhaps.
What kinds of fish can you keep with a goldfish?
The basic rule is one fully grown goldfish per ten gallons but a lot of people put two or three small goldfish into a ten gallon tank. As they grow you might want to upgrade your tank size. They are social creatures and do like the company of other goldfish by the way.
Hi i was wondering how many goldfish could i put in a 10 gallon fish tank?