Black Moor Goldfish – Carassius auratus auratus

Black Moor Gold­fish — Caras­sius aura­tus aura­tus are a real­ly a black ver­sion or vari­ety of the Tele­scope Gold­fish. The beau­ti­ful eyes of the these Black Moors do not extend out as much as a Tele­scope Gold­fish. They fea­ture dark bulging eyes so many peo­ple refer­ to them as Drag­on Eye Gold­fish and Black Peony Gold­fish. Black Moor juve­niles are a dark bronze with flat eyes. As they mature, they become black, and their eyes start to tele­scope. Can live up to 20 years.

 

Com­mon Name: Black Moor, Moor

Sci­en­tific Name: Caras­sius aura­tus aura­tus

Size: 4” and have been known to grow up to 10”

Care Lev­el: ÷Begin­ner+

Tank Mates: House sin­gle or in groups. Com­pat­i­ble with Tele­scope Gold­fish, Celes­tial Gold­fish, Water Bub­ble-Eye Gold­fish.

 

Nat­u­ral Habi­tat: They inhab­it the slow mov­ing and stag­nant waters of rivers, lakes, ponds, and ditch­es feed­ing on plants, detri­tus, small crus­taceans, and insects.

Aquar­ium Size: 10 gal­lon min­i­mum

It is best start­ing with 20 — 30 gal­lon tank for your first gold­fish. Increase the size of the tank by 10 gal­lons for each addi­tional gold­fish. Black Moor Gold­fish — Caras­sius aura­tus aura­tus need lots of room.

Ide­al Tank: Use grav­el sub­strate to help cre­ate a nat­u­ral envi­ron­ment for your fish. When adding décor, remem­ber that the Black Moor has very poor vision because of its eyes. All orna­men­ta­tion should be smooth with no points or sharp edges. When using arti­fi­cial aquar­ium plants use ones that are made of silk.

Aquar­ium Water Tem­per­a­ture: 65.0 to 72.0° F (18.3 to 22.2° C)

Aquar­ium Water pH: Range 6.0−8.0

Feed­ing: Omniv­o­rous. They will eat a vari­ety of fresh, frozen, and flake foods. Feed them a high qual­ity flake food every day. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen), blood worms, Daph­nia, or tubifex worms as a treat. They will also nib­ble on live aquat­ic float­ing plants like salv­nia and lim­no­bium. See our Easy Care Plants. The Black Moors’ pro­trud­ing eyes give them poor vision, so they need extra time to feed. Any left­over food should be scooped out with a fine fish net. Food left in the tank will not be eat­en and will cause water para­me­ter issues.

 

Oth­er Con­sid­er­a­tions: Black Moor gold­fish are very pop­u­lar. You will see them in col­lec­tors’ aquar­i­ums around the world. Their har­di­ness and abil­ity to live in cold tem­per­a­tures make them ide­al com­pan­ions. Along with the Fan­tail Gold­fish, Ryukin Gold­fish, Com­mon Gold­fish, Comet Gold­fish, and Shubunkin Gold­fish, the Black Moor are con­sid­ered good begin­ner gold­fish.