how do you tell the difference from male and female goldfish?

Question

is there a way that you can tell a male from a female? is there a way that i can make them breed? and how would i do it?
10 points if you can get me to breed my fish. lol

Answer 1

I think the only reliable characterisicts to use are the breeding tubercles on the males and the vent shape. These are only seen in fish that are over a year old, and only when they're in breeding condition. This links shows photos of these characteristics: http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/info/sexing-fs.htm

I don't know if you can "make" them breed, but you can encourage it. Make sure they have a large enough tank with good water quality and a variety of foods. They normally spawn outdoors in the spring, sometimes in the fall, so a temperature change may help. Add a spawning mop or some live plants as a place for them to deposit their eggs, and have a second tank ready to transfer the mop or plants with eggs to so the parents don't eat them or the fry.

See also the Breeding 1 link on the sidebar of the above link.

Answer 2

How can you tell whether your Goldfish is male or female? You
might want to know because you want to breed them, or give them
the right name before Jack turns out to be the mother Goldfish!
Here are some clues that might help you sort out the Goldfish
boys from the Goldfish girls:


* The female Goldfish are slightly bigger than the males and look
even heavier in the abdomen when they are full of eggs.

* Male Goldfish develop white spots on their gills and pectoral
called "breeding tubercles" during spawning time.

* Males have midline ridges on their undersides beginning from
the back of their pelvic fins and ending at their vent opening.
This feature can be absent or smaller in females.

* Males have firm abdomen while in females; the area between the
pelvic fins and the anal fins is more pliable.

* Male Goldfish have longer and pointed pectorals as well as
stiff fin ray, while females have more rounded pectorals and
shorter, finer front fin rays.

* Male goldfish have smaller and more oval anal openings and the
anal fins are not as thick as that of the female goldfish who has
a larger and rounder anal opening with a slight protrude. The
anal fin is also thicker.

* The spawning time is the easiest time to distinguish the boys
from the girls. The female opening will look larger and more
swollen as the eggs begin to ripen. She would look big and
heavier. Since fish reproduce through external fertilization, you
can make out when a male is ready by the white breeding tubercles
and you can actually push out the milt through his ventral
opening by running a gentle finger along his sides.

* There is one more obvious, but kind of time taking way to make
out which one of your fish is male and female. Find out who is
chasing who - the chaser will be the male and the chased and
tired out one will be the female! It's the natural tendency on
part of the male goldfish to chase and nudge at a female's rear
part.

Answer 3

Breeding is a long process, I hope you're ready!!
Females tend to be larger, and have larger anal openings. Males are the exact opposite, and they also tend to chase around the females.
To breed them you have to have the proper set up. A 20 gallon tank is a good start - but if you have goldfish you should already have that anyway.
You'll of course need a male and a female. Try to get older ones because if they are younger than three years they are less likely to breed.
You'll need a separate tank - 3 to 5 gallons, planted, and goldfish baby food.
To start the breeding process, you'll want to lower the temp to 64 degrees for about four months. After that, a slow warming period, (over the course of no less than 2 months) gradually bringing the water back up to about 74 degrees, will trigger the fish to breed.
The male will chase the female endlessly around the tank, sometimes tearing her fins. This is normal. The female will eventually end up releasing her eggs, sometimes hundreds or even thousands into the tank.
The male goldfish will then spray his milt all over the eggs and the water will get very cloudy. DON'T change the water!!
After about 4 hours the courtship will end, and the hard part begins.
You will need to remove the fertilized eggs from the tank, otherwise the parents WILL eat them. Put them into that 3 to 5 gallon tank I told you about, with no more than 6 inches of water. This will keep the babies from being crushed by the weight of the water. You will need a very weak filter system, so they don't get sucked in. You'll also need a heater, and the surface of the water will need to be aerated.
The incubation period will normally last about 5 days, making sure you keep the tank at 75 degrees. Keep a good eye on the eggs because some of them could develop fungus and infect the rest of the eggs. Healthy eggs should be transparent in color. The non fertilized eggs will be white and most likely will get fungus. You will need to remove the fungused eggs. Also, don't do any water changes until they are big enough to avoid accidentally throwing them out! So at least three weeks.
After a week of incubation the babies should start to come out of their eggs, and stick to the plants. they should feed off the yolk sack for no more than three days. Then you will need to start feeding them 3 times a day, (Morn, noon, night) using very very small particles of food such as crushed brine shrimp, dried flakes, and liquid foods if you can find them. They have very small mouths!! And if they don't eat they WILL die.
When they start to get bigger you can switch over to an adult diet, and separate them into different tanks.
Obviously you can't have hundreds of goldfish in one tank because it would fill up with ammonia so fast they'd be dead within a day. No more than one or two (depending on the size) per ten gallon tank. Or of course you could sell them, if you can find a lot of people who want baby goldfish.
A general rule of thumb is two inch of goldfish per gallon. So if you have one 6 inch goldfish, he will need at least a 12 gallon tank all to himself.
If you still think you want to do this, then good luck!! And if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Answer 4

okay, the female will gripe about all her problems, while the male keeps his problems on the DL. Get them to breed? Turn your lights down low, put on some Michael Buble and light some candles. Obviously, i have no clue what i'm talking about when it comes to goldfish, but it was worth a shot :P

Answer 5

really good website

http://petcaretips.net/sexing-goldfish.html

Answer 6

i have the same question