The shorter swim bladder in Egg-Shaped Goldfish makes them slower and less agile, and puts them at a severe disadvantage at feeding time if they are housed with larger, sleeker goldfish. This group of goldfish includes Bubble-Eye Goldfish, Celestial Goldfish, and Golden-Eye Goldfish. Goggle-Eye Goldfish have big, protruding eyes that look more than a little like goggles.

Trying to keep any of these fancy goldfish with any of the goldfish we have already mentioned will not end well for them. There is no reason a beginner to keep goldfish can’t keep, as long as these fancy goldfish are kept indoors in their own tank. The fancy goldfish include Goggle-Eyed Goldfish (goldfish that seem to be wearing eyeglasses), Fancy-Finned Goldfish, and Egg-Shaped Goldfish. These slim, fast-swimming, graceful fish can easily compete with Common Goldfish and Comet Goldfish for food.īut you should never put them in the same enclosure as any of the fancy goldfish we will discuss in the next section. Shubunkins are often beautifully “striped” goldfish. They will have slim bodies, and they will grow long and strong enough to compete with Common and Comet Goldfish for food.īeloved pets in Japan, these goldfish are known as Shibunkins. Calico GoldfishĬalico Goldfish have a mixture of matte and reflective scales. Goldfish that have metallic scales all over their bodies are highly prized. Some metallic goldfish have just small patches of metallic scales. This is due to a layer of guanine just beneath their scales that reflect light like a prism. Goldfish that have metallic scales seem to shimmer in their aquarium lighting. They can have scales of a single color, red, orange, yellow, blue, or black, or they can have scales of a single color mixed with streaks of silver. Metallic Goldfish come from three gene pools, Blue Belly, Metallic, and Mock Metallic. Here are some of the most common kinds of fancy goldfish you can keep in a home aquarium. Goldfish may come with metallic scales or scales in calico colors.Įxtreme coloration would make goldfish easy targets for predators in the wild or in your backyard pond, but they are harmless, interesting adaptations for goldfish kept in captivity. There are goldfish that not only sport dazzling colors but also interesting domed or dented (convex) scales. You can now find matte (non-reflective) black, blue, speckled orange, silver, and chocolate brown goldfish. Most of the goldfish you can find ready for sale in pet shops aren’t golden, or any color close to golden. There are so many colors of goldfish that the term “goldfish” has become misleading. They can injure the gentler, slower bespectacled, fancy-finned, and egg-shaped varieties of goldfish we will discuss a little later in this article.

Slim-bodied Common Goldfish and Comet Goldfish are fast swimmers with aggressive features. While Common Goldfish and Comet Goldfish make good neighbors, most goldfish with unusual anatomical features need to be kept in their own tank. However, they don’t make good neighbors for other kinds of goldfish that stay small. They can survive cooler temperatures and poor water quality, while still growing up to a foot (30 cm) long. Protected from cats and birds, both kinds of goldfish do well in outdoor ponds. Their caudal (tail) fin, however, is deeply forked and maybe almost as long as the Comet Goldfish’s entire body.Ĭomet Goldfish are friendly tank mates with Common Goldfish. Like Common Goldfish, Comet Goldfish come in many colors.

Types of telescope goldfish