One morning, the water was milky, the tank was covered in eggs, and the two comets were exhausted.
I removed the adult fish from the tank because goldfish have been known to eat their own eggs and fry. They then lived outside in our pond for several months before hubby bought me a large tank with a beautiful Oregon pine cupboard, to show off my prize, Goldzilla. I put a few other goldfish in there with her for company, including the comet parents.
Above: The parents (the two comets at the center of the pic) enjoying their new home
It was only after I put them into the large aquarium that I gave the goldfish names. The female is now known as Petal, because of her soft, flowing fins and feminine color. At times she truly looks like a vermilion flower tumbling about gently underwater.
The male I called Flash (AH aaaaa! Savior of the universe!) He has quite an attitude, zipping to and fro, swimming at speed and somehow how stopping mid-stroke to pose for anyone who happens to be passing by.
Above: Petal. In daylight, she is more red than orange (the aquarium light is on in this photo).
Above: Flash. He's too busy eating in this photo to pose for the picture. I'll see if I can get a hunkier photo of him another time. His name is quite apt in the late afternoon, when a sunbeam hits the wall beside the tank, making his yellow scales 'flash' whenever he swims to that side of the tank.
At the moment, Flash is the only confirmed male in the tank. Fairly regularly, his dorsal fin will get "stars" (I'm not sure what these are, but they are a sign that he wants to spawn. They're star-shaped, though I suppose you could have guessed that.) He'll start to pay a lot of attention to the other fish in the tank, nudging their bellies with his snout and gently nibbling them. I'm not that keen to breed them again though, so I'm quite happy to keep Flash and Petal in a community tank. They're less likely to spawn with other fish around.
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