Methods for Breeding Goldfish Successfully
People get involved with breeding goldfish for a variety of reasons. For some, breeding is done as a business whereby fish are sold, sometimes, it is to help stock outdoor ponds, other times, goldfish are bred as food for snakes and other reptiles, or it could be simply for personal enjoyment. If you have decided for whatever reason that you want to start breeding this type of fish, the following information would make the process easier, more convenient, and definitely more successful.
The great thing about breeding goldfish is that this particular species of aquatic life is hardy. While you certainly want to make right decisions, usually the fish is forgiving when wrong decisions are made. Keep in mind that if breeding would be done as a business, then you would need to take things a little more seriously because of the investment of time and finances. However, no matter the reason, it would be essential to purchase the right size tank and one of good quality. This along with proper fixtures for the tank and diet would ensure the outcome is better than expected.
Now, if you plan to start breeding goldfish and have never done anything like this before, we suggest you start with the more common and hardier species to include the Pearscale, Lionhead, and the red and white Oranda. Once you decide the species most interested in, the next step would involve purchasing a healthy male and female. Overall, goldfish are inexpensive but even so, for breeding purposes always buy the healthiest you can find. For the male, you want to see breeding tubercules on the pectoral fins and for the female the body should be dense but also soft and slender.
One tip for being successful with breeding goldfish is to buy two males for every one female. In addition, you would have better luck choosing younger fish since the eggs would be more fertile and breeding would not be as hard on the fish. Now, you may get home and find nothing happens. Sometimes, this is due to the fish not yet having reached sexual maturity so simply remain patient. You can tell when mating is getting closer in that the male would begin to chase the female around the tank, a form of goldfish courtship. During this time colors on the goldfish would also become more vibrant, especially on the males.
It is important to pay attention to the behavior of the fish since spawning typically occurs during the early morning or late night hours while you sleep. Because of this, you want to avoid changing the tank’s water and unless you had been watching for a change in behavior and even brighter colors on the fish, you might accidently disrupt the natural process for breeding goldfish. If mating had occurred, you would notice yet another behavioral change associated with the male in the form of aggressive. The male would begin to bump hard into the female, which may appear mean but it actually helps her eject the eggs so they can stick to the plants located within the tank.
At that point, you want to start focusing more on the eggs. As soon as they hatch, you need to put the males and female goldfish in separate tanks in that they eat their babies. You could place the males in one tank and the female in another tank or simply house males and female in the same tank. With the fry (name for baby goldfish) now living in the original tank, you would be faced with the challenge of feeding. Because the fry would be so tiny, food must be extremely small, consisting of boiled egg yolks, dried flakes, and frozen fish food and fed three times daily.
After going through the process of breeding goldfish and now having fry to care for, you will find the babies grow extremely fast. At the point of reaching about three inches long, you would want to have a separate tank prepared where they would be moved. These babies would not be ready to become breeders themselves until around four inches long although for the best results with breeding goldfish, longer is better.
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