I've read the past topics on breeding spurs but still don't have a clear idea of what they should look like.

I went out of town for 3 days and left hubby to take care of my moors. When I got home I noticed both fish had many raised white bumps on the edge of their pectoral fins and, less noticable, bumps on the lower portion of their gills.

It seems so weird because no temp change has occurred, no other fish have been introduced. I'm worried that maybe they have a disease that looks like breeding spurs but they don't act sick...what other kind of indications can I look for to differentiate between breeding spurs and disease?

They sound very much like breeding tubercles to me so please don't worry! I have a number of males and the tubercles on their pectoral fins are more pronounced than the ones on the gills which look like tiny slightly raised bumps.

are breeding tubricles a permant fixture on goldfish, or do they fade away in the "off season"? also, do they show up on white fish as perhaps a different shade? IE: red cap oranda.

Thanks Fishyfan! Today they already appear less prominent, do they normally fade quickly?

The spots will never really go away, but they do fase a bit...and i have a black moore, and his spots are black on the gills and grey on hs fins...so i assume that ona red oranda they may appear reddy-orange...

I'm confused with my koi. I doo know about the bumps they get during breeding season. But my koi recently had a mood change. He is REALLY active (swimming everywhere!) and he won't stop following his own reflection. He is also rubbing on the other fish, like he runs into them, rubs on them and follows them. I can't figure it out! I he just being weird or acting to the breeding moment... thing? Plaese help. Thanx.

how big/old is he? and equally how is your water? My fish did that when I had an ammonia spike that I didn't notice right away. *cringes*

He is about six inches, he is probably 2.5-3.5 yrs. old. I just checked the water. Ph-7.1 Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 There all normal. Should iI get a female koi? What do I do? I hope he isnt crazy

what sort of tank is he in? a 2 year old koi should be 15-20 inches long. It's probably not fair to take in another little koi (and you can't sex them well when they're small anyways) and stunt them too. Your koi will be perfectly happy chasing the female goldfish. XD if you get any fry, keep 'em. They look so weird!

He is a 29 gallon, I plan to put him in the pond when he gets over 8-10 inches. He is with 7 other goldfish. They all get along so well!

Frankly, koi grow mostly for about 5 years and when kept in a tank, they can stunt easily. I'd be surprised if your guy reaches 10 inches in an overstocked tank. I don't know why mine haven't stunted, but they're only about 5 to 6 months old and Yuki is already 5 inches long. Your koi really should go into a pond *now* so that he can have proper space for the last year or two of his growth. *But* if even after a couple years in the pond he hasn't grown, you could probably get a 75 gallon and keep him and your 7 other fish okay.

Good luck with him!

I will put him in tmy grnadfathers pond where he can have some [B]REAL girl fishies . Its so hard, I mean I'm really attached to him, but he needs to go! Thanx again!

no prob. ^_^ He'll be soooo happy! ^_^