The black moor is a very popular goldfish breed, and can be found all over the world in millions of collectors tanks. He is easily available in most areas, and is not a too delicate fish.
Coloration
The black moor is only allowed in, well, black! And unlike most other goldfish breeds, he stays pretty true to his black color. He can change over time, especially with old age, but most black moor stay black. Its one of the the few breeds where it can be said that the black will most likely stay.
Body features
The body depth should be greater than 2/3 of the body length. The caudal fin should be double, and the lobes 90% or more forked, as well as nicely rounded. The black moor has a dorsal fin, which should be 1/3 to 5/8 of the body depth. Pectoral and pelvic fins are paired, and should be equal in length. Anal fins are paired as well.
His most distinquished features however are his eyes - they are protruding, and should be of equal size and shape, well matched with each other. Unlike the Celestial, which has eyes going upwards, the eyes of the black moor are going sideways. The color, as mentioned above, is always black, and it has a deep velvet look to it.
Variations
Besides the different kinds of caudal fins available, there are not that many variations to the black moor. The fish comes in broad tail, ribbon tail and butterfly, which is especially pretty when viewed from above. In earlier times, around the 1930s, there was a very gorgeous veiltail moor vastly appreciated in England, but unfortunately they are not available anymore to my knowledge.
Environmental needs
The black moor is not doing too good in a pond, but will be a very happy fish in an aquarium. Due to his predominant eyes, he has a bit of a hard time seing his food, and needs some extra time when it comes to feeding him. Therefore
it is recommended that he is being kept with other eye handicapped fish like celestials, telescopes or bubble eyes. That way he has an equal chance to find food.
His eyes are also a big handicap when it comes to tank ornaments and some kinds of plastic plants, especially the ones that come with sharp edges or spikey leaves. His eyes can get damaged or even fall off, for that reason great care has to be taken when deciding what kind of tank decor goes into his tank. Silk plants are a much better choice, and tank ornaments in general should be much better off in tanks with other goldfish breeds.
Lunch time!
When it comes to feeding time, a black moor is just like any other goldfish - a pig! He eats almost anything and everything thats easily available on the market - pellets (sinking prefered), flakes, frozen foods like daphnia, shrimp, bloodworms, pre-cooked cocktail shrimp, freeze dried foods, fresh veggies like lettuce, cucumber, peas.....
And again, because of his eye shape, he will have a harder time finding certain foods, especially the ones that tend to float around in the tank a while before they settle down - flakes and the frozen foods. He needs some extra time with those, and surely appreciates it if some faster oranda does not take away his dinner!
It wasn't until we had Ozzy for a few months that we realized that "he" was a she...but the name stuck!!
