breeding gold fish

[macky1]

hi all

i have a 800 gallon pond and it contains a number of goldfish
i was wondering as the weather is getting warmer is there anything i can do
to make the chances of them breeding better.

there is plenty of weed cover,hidy holes etc

and what do i look for if they start to spawn.

is there a way of sexing the fish???

should i take the eggs out if they do spawn

cheers in advance

macky

 

[ryan]

In that size pond goldfish are best left alone to raise their fry, if you have plenty of Goldfish and plenty of cover it is likely they will breed if they haven't already the only problem would be stopping the fry from getting eaten by either removing them or ensuring there is loads of weed etc and plenty of food.

Good Luck

 

[macky1]

plenty of weed/cover

water is teeming with food, bloodworm/lava etc

at what water tempreture will they start to think about spawning???

and what signs do i look for???

cheers ryan

macky

 

[ryan]

Ok sounds good, providing you have male and females which you should have with that amount of fish they should breed. Most breed around 5-7 inches but have been known to breed when smaller, how old are the fish? They will spawn in the early hours of the morning so there are no real signs until you see the fry, unless you get up early and catch them, they will be splashing around alot so it is quite obvious.

Are there any other fish in there?


Good Luck

 

[macky1]

yes mate

there is golden orfe,rudd,roach,gudgeon,comets and 2 sturgeon

at the moment the water temp is 11C and they are chasing each other round
the weeds like loons...;o)


they are all about 5inch long

not sure how old they are but i have had them in the pond for nearly a year and they was around 3inch when i bought them.

also
is there a way of sexing them...?

cheers

macky

 

[duendecillo]

hello, sorry to post this here, but it has something to do with it
Today I was getting a piece of plant out of the pond and there were a bunch of transparent eggs on it. I know the goldfish eat the eggs, so I've put the plant in a jar, do you think it's possible they will hatch?
do they need specific temperature or something like that?

about sexing goldfish, it's very hard, in spawning season, the females are a bit bigger seen from above, and the males get white spots on their faces...

greetz

 

[ryan]

hello, sorry to post this here, but it has something to do with it
Today I was getting a piece of plant out of the pond and there were a bunch of transparent eggs on it. I know the goldfish eat the eggs, so I've put the plant in a jar, do you think it's possible they will hatch?
do they need specific temperature or something like that?

about sexing goldfish, it's very hard, in spawning season, the females are a bit bigger seen from above, and the males get white spots on their faces...

greetz

I think you have snail eggs there. Were the eggs in a gell sack kind of thing with tiny eggs inside, had they been sucured to the plant.

 

[ryan]

yes mate

there is golden orfe,rudd,roach,gudgeon,comets and 2 sturgeon

at the moment the water temp is 11C and they are chasing each other round
the weeds like loons...;o)


they are all about 5inch long

not sure how old they are but i have had them in the pond for nearly a year and they was around 3inch when i bought them.

also
is there a way of sexing them...?

cheers

macky

Sexing goldfish is very hard especailly in pond conditions. The other fish may well be a problem, goldfish tend to almost certainly breed in largish fish free ponds. However, you have Gudgeon and Sterlets both bottom dwelling scavengers that will be very good at finding and eating eggs especailly Gudgeons, the rudd, orfe and roach may not be so much of a trouble but when the eggs hatch these fast swimming fish will snap up the fry in seconds. It is likely the goldfish have already spawned and the eggs/fry have been found and eaten.

 

[duendecillo]

they are indeed in a gell sack, just like you said, so that means they are snail eggs?
dammit
not that I have a shortage of fish, just would have liked to see them hatch...
is it possible to find eggs of the fish? if you know they've spawned or something...

 

[Fuzzy]

my fish had babies with out me doing anything. also babies born in the pond tend to live longer and be healthier.

 

[ryan]

they are indeed in a gell sack, just like you said, so that means they are snail eggs?
dammit
not that I have a shortage of fish, just would have liked to see them hatch...
is it possible to find eggs of the fish? if you know they've spawned or something...

Yep snail eggs then, okay so lets say you have all the ingredients for this and now you want to breed your goldfish. One of the main things that will need to happen before the goldfish will want to breed and that triggers the breeding is the temp. In the winter time the temp will need to get down to 64*F for up to 4 months. Then in the spring a slow warming period back to the normal temp of 70-74*F this will trigger the goldfish to breed. If breeding is triggered the female will release hundreds or even thousands of eggs, because goldfish are egg scaterers the eggs go ever where and are normally lost in the silt or mud layer at the bottom of the pond, they can also be filtered out if near the pond so it is pretty hard to find them unless you by chance come out just after they have spawned and you see the eggs in which case you can pick them up, very soon after breeding the fish will eat the eggs so this is also likely to stop you seeing them.

 

[duendecillo]

I'm just gonna let them do their thing then in the pond, they breed like hell, so I'm not complaining. As for breeding in a tank, guess that's out of the question too, since I only have a 5g tank with 3 1inch babies in there
luckily I've got my tropicals
thanx for all the info!

 

[macky1]

ryan

i dont think they would have spawned yet the water has only just started to warm up and the fishare starting to move about

last week the water temp was between 5-6C this week its shot up to 11C with the mild weather

they seem to be chaching each other a lot

will keep me eye on them

cheers

macky

 

[ryan]

Ok, best of luck and keep me posted on the events .