Do breeding stars show up only when fish are in the "mood" or do they appear after a certain age only , do they come and go ?
I was curious because I have a lionhead that has them now, I just got him, but NONE of my other 9 fish have them and I doubt that means they are all females. It could be but several are small enough that even if they were male they wouldn't be breeding yet anyway. Does that mean they are just not big enough to be showing breeding stars yet? My new lionhead is really not much bigger than my other fish although I have a few that are smaller than him. I am just curious. Do the white spots on the gills and fins come and go with temp or moods or something or are they permanent?

Breeding stars (or breeding tubercles) come and go. I have seen them all different times in the season on my black moor.

I am not exactly sure why they come and go and what affects them. I always thought it was 'breeding season' but like I said above, my moor shows them on and off all the time.

Try going to Koivet they have a lot of info there.

I have one fish that has had them all his time I have had him (2 years) some of my other boys dont have them any more, so I think it just depends on the fish, but when they are ready they will show

yep i agree with koko on that one