Identify sex of goldfish

[moodybluesfan]

I have three 9 year old goldfish but never had any eggs......which is great as far as I'm concerned. I assume they are all the same sex. Is there an easy way to tell if my goldfish are male or female? I'd prefer not to have to catch the ones them. If it is easily possible, when I buy small feeders to add, will I be able to tell their sex when they are that small?

 

[brokensword]

I have three 9 year old goldfish but never had any eggs......which is great as far as I'm concerned. I assume they are all the same sex. Is there an easy way to tell if my goldfish are male or female? I'd prefer not to have to catch the ones them. If it is easily possible, when I buy small feeders to add, will I be able to tell their sex when they are that small?

the girl ones wear more makeup than the males. They're also fashionably later than the males. Too, they'll be the ones to decide when/where any shenanigans happen!!!

 

[moodybluesfan]

the girl ones wear more makeup than the males. They're also fashionably later than the males. Too, they'll be the ones to decide when/where any shenanigans happen!!!

 

[Stephen Noble]

There are some that say they can tell but I have never been able to accurately do so. Look on line and you will find all sorts of 'sure fire' methods for identifying gender. Sure fire methods of 'birth control' normally result in fish/child support!

 

[Laaf]

I thought I could tell by who chases who......assuming it is the males chasing the females I know my main mailes. But there is one fish in particular that I see being chased and chasing. I believe female goldfishes tend to be bigger and fatter with eggs than the males. But that is relative. Yes you may have all of one sex. If you add new fish, you will likely have at least one of the other sex. Also, your fish may be having babies and eating them or they do not survive for you to see them. I have never seen eggs either, but I have seen baby fish.

 

[Lenae98]

Males tend to be more slender and streamline. Females tend to have a thicker body shape and are a bit bigger then the males usually. Males will chase and harass females more often then the other way around. These are all generalizations that require subjective observations far from a definitive way of identifying male from female. A better clue with larger fish like yours requires catching them and having a look at their vent. The males vents will be more concave then the females and the females will slightly protrude especially when she's about to lay eggs. If you're buying small feeder fish there will be no way to tell the males from females. Too small. In fact there is some debate about whether goldfish and koi have a gender till they reach a certain age.

I have two shubunkins goldfish I bought in July at 3-4 inches. At that time they were close to the same size and body shape. Since then Sanke (suspected female) has outgrown Sky by at least an inch and a half and her body shape is now noticeably thicker and more rounded then little streamlined Sky. They both chase each other at times but Sky is the chaser two thirds of the time constantly nudging Sanke's underside (mating behavior). Apparently Sanke isn't quite mature enough to breed because no fry but probably next spring I'll have a pond full! It's not my preference but I plan to let nature take it's course till we can build a larger pond. The adult fish and resident bullfrog will eat most of the fry. Maybe one or two will survive. You want population control? Move a resident bullfrog in! they are voracious and notorious for eating anything that can fit in their mouth. When Webster the bullfrog moved in I had a pond full of tadpoles that disappeared Within three days time. Just make sure that your fish are too big to fit in the frogs mouth. anyway all that to say i suggest getting fish closer to four inches which is around when they can begin to breed. This will give you more clues with body shape and behavior to help sort out which are males and females. P.S. check out Shubunkins goldfish. I find them to the most beautiful of all pond fish and they come in more color variations now then the original calico. I have a sky blue Shubunkin and a sanke gold Shubunkin.