i have a orange telescope goldfish it is 9years old and has never been ill till now strange clumps of white cotton are its body and i dont know wat to do i love it please help

If i have a 3 gallon tank is a telescope goldfish a good idea? or is that too small. also, if i did purchase one, would it not grow because of the size of the tank, or is there a chance it could still outgrow it? thanks

How do you tell the difference for female and male for telescope goldfish?

I have a Telescope-Eye Goldfish and Nemo is what his name is i have been having him/her since September his a joy to have better a greater joy to watch, yes indeed my Nemo does tricks loves to play like a puppy i promise you he's amazing have to see it to believe it.

I have two Gold and black telescope goldfish and they are thriving! they are the cutest fish and they have the biggest personalities. I can tell that they absolutely love their lives and are very happy. I see nothing wrong with their eye sight, just that their eyes are positioned on the sides of their heads and not directly in front, But the same goes for lots of animals. they have no problem interacting with the other fish. they are not aggressive and I have to say that they are by far my favorite. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking to be a fish owner or who is looking to add to their aquarium.
Ps
about the inbreeding thing,
I don't see that the fish are weaker from breeding, sure if it was in the direct blood line, but like I said my fish are absolutely fine.
they are well adapted to aquarium life and also very friendly.

Nat, despite a telescope goldfishes almost bizarre characteristics they not only survive, but thrive in an aquarium.

I breed these beauties myself, and no, they are not blind. They just have no forward vision due to the placement of the eyes. They live good wholesome lives. I have one pair of telescopes that belonged to my mother and are now nearly 20, and still thriving. Their older then me.

I can understand where your coming from, in the wild these guys would be goners. That's natural selection, the strongest survive. However in a tank, it's the prettiest wh.o 'survive' (and by that I mean chosen to breed from and pass on their genes). A tank is not a wild enviroment. Fancy goldfish like the telescope are actually more suitable for an indoor aquarium then their wild counterparts.

Is it bizarre? Yes. Is it immoral? That is something everyone has a different opinion on, however it is wise to remember these fish live in aquariums with ample food and no predators. They live a much better life then their wild counterparts (provided their keeper knows how to correctly care for their fish) , and that is all because of their appearance.

I do respect your opinion, and it brings up valid points on where humans should draw the line with breeding bizarre creatures, but I just wanted to show the other side of this argument, the keepers side.

I do agree humans can take things like this too far, but the telescope is a healthy longlived fish with an excellent quality of life (as long as he gets the right care of course) despite his lack of forward vision.

So what we are saying is that it is ok to breed a species to produce a blind, helpless creature and we are going to call this wonderful and beautiful and desire this right?

So who would like a paralyzed child or one with blindness or very evident and decapitating hereditary characteristics? We all agree that we love them correct?

Even though we may love to gawk at something unusual in nature, if it is specifically inbred to produce a decapitating characteristic in a species, please let's think twice before jumping up and down in the name of this horror of human nature.

I got an all black telescope-fish yesterday and I just love him! He is so beautiful and is getting along with his new friends very good! I recommend anyone who appreciates these cuties to get one or two! I love that hes all black and shiny:) He practically sparkles in the water.
Christine

Since these are spawning fish, it's actually very difficult to tell the difference between sexes of goldfish. Most of their orientation becomes apparent when breeding season comes around (which happens approximately whenever they feel like it, but sometimes species will have a set season)
Breeding pairs are also another way to tell the genders apart, because the females will stick close to the bottom of the tank while the males hang around them.
More times than not, however, your fish won't even think about breeding because the notion of food is way more important to them. Also, tank substrates and consistencies are important to breeding fish-if you don't have the right ground for your goldfish, they don't breed.
The only physical difference between the two is that the males are usually larger and grow slightly faster. Sometimes the males' colors are more pronounced, and yet other times, the fins and scales grow to be larger in size. Because specialized goldfish are so unnatural, these ancestral hormonal cues determining the sexes inherited from carp predecessors are sometimes not presented in the physical body of the fish.
In other words, some goldfish have been bred so much and so strangely that they have lost some degree of difference between the sexes.

These fish are wonderful! I would really like one now, they're different and sooo cute!

<3

I am not sure how you can tell the difference, but these fish are absolutely wonderful! Some of the other types of fish have bulging great eyes and they look grotesque, but these telescope fish are admirable.
I think you can probably tell by the fact that the female and male fish have different body parts! haha
When i get goldfish this coming october in 2009, i will be sure to buy this breed/type . Also what other coldwater fish breed are there?

How can you tell the difference from male and female telescope-eyes?