Goldfish Care : Moor

Large and protruding eyes are characteristics that distinguish Moor from other goldfishes. It is also referred to as popeye, telescope, kuro demekin in Japan and dragon-eye in China.

A Telescope Goldfish has an egg-shaped body with a double caudal fin and comes in many different colours and sizes, but all Telescope Goldfish have the protruding eyes and the long & flowing fins in common. Original Moor also has no shoulder hump. 

There are many different type of telescope goldfish available and they can be found in a number of different colors, size of eyes and fins.
 
Color Variants
Moors can appear in plain red, red-and-black, red-and-white, calico, black-and-white (panda moors), chocolate, brown, blue, bronze, lavender, chocolate-and-blue, tricolored (red-white-black), black with golden belly and deep-solid black coloration.

Black Moors have deep bodies, no shoulder hump, and long & flowing finnage, along with characteristic large and protruding eyes.

They are veiltailed and possess metallic scales with a velvet-like appearance.
Young Moors resemble bronze fantails. Their black coloration and eye protrusion develop with age. They can grow up to a length of 10 inches, but may not lose their velvet-like appearance with increasing age (life span: 6 to 25 years).

Black moor goldfish are popular because they are hardy fish, and because their black color sets them apart from the more common gold color.

Black moor can range in coloring anywhere from a lighter grey to a dark black, but most Black Moor goldfish don't stay pure black forever and many of them change colors from a rust color underbelly to orange splodges.
Black moors with a deep strong black color (including it's underbelly) are rare.

Demekin Goldfish have large telescope eyes and a hump back. Demekin Goldfish are a cross between Moor and Ryukin goldfish.


Butterfly tail is just short for the many names this variety has such as Butterfly tail telescope, Butterfly tail demekin, Butterfly tail Moor and Top view telescope (TVT). It is a variety of goldfish that is distinguished by the butterfly-shaped caudal fins when viewed from above.
The tail spread is preferable 180 degrees but some may droop down at an angle due the weight of the long tail fins.

While the butterfly tail is commonly a variant form of the telescope goldfish with protruding eyes, 'butterfly shaped tails' may be present in other goldfish standard varieties such as Ryukins or Orandas.



Choosing tips for Moors :

• Telescopic eyes should be proportional (equal in size & shape) and protrude outwards.

• Moor should have long and flowing fins, and the caudal fin comes in several variations: normal Oranda tail, broadtail, veiltail and butterfly.

• For Demekin (hybrid Moor & Ryukin), the body should be short, rounded with a hump on it's back. The body depth should ideally be larger than 2/3 of the body length.

• For Butterfly tail, choose the fish with a narrow gap between 'the wings' (left & right parts of the tail). It will ensure that your goldfish has a horizontal swimming style!

Do not choose a butterfly tail with a big gap between 'the wings' (see the left picture), it tends to swim vertically.

Goldfish care tips for Moors :

• Moors are typically easy to care for, they are able to withstand a wide variety of temperatures and are good with other fish. But water temperature has a great influence on Black moors' coloration! They can revert to metallic orange when exposed to warm water temperature.

• Although Moor is a hardy goldfish, it's eyes are sensitive. Don't put any sharp decorations or pointed objects that can hurt the eyes. Strong current should be avoided too, it can damage the tail fin.

• Telescope Goldfish accept different kinds of food such as flakes, pellets, frozen food and vegetables.

• Tank mates. Due to the telescope eye's poor vision, it should not be mixed with more active goldfish varieties such as Ranchu or Ryukin. Moor is behind 'normal eyes' goldfish in competition for food.

• Due to its visual handicap, it is very hard for a Telescope Goldfish to chase food or even noticing it. To get your Telescope Goldfish to actually find the food, there are several methods that you can try in order to help your Telescope Goldfish:

1. To get the fish used to your hand, since this allows you to control exactly how much food your Telescope Goldfish gets and prevent other fish from stealing it. But first, wash your hand with soap before you dip your hand into aquarium water!

2. Put the food at the same feeding spot :

• Always place sinking or floating pellets at the same spot in the aquarium or pond.
• Use a feeding clip when you feed your Telescope Goldfish with vegetables s.a lettuce, and always place the feeding clip at the same spot.
• Put bloodworms in a feeding cone, and it should always be placed at the same feeding spot.

Your Telescope Goldfish will eventually understand that food can be found on the same spot and will spend his time carefully searching that area in his own pace.

Read also our freshwater fish supplies article for your guide. See you in our next articles.