Goldfish Spawning

I have a large goldfish that spawned approximately 2 months ago however out of a large spawn only 30 hatched.

a. Can this fish spawn again this year?
b. None of the other females have. Is it too late to induce spawning?
I would welcome any suggestions.

Howard



Grant's Reply


Hi Howard

If goldfish are in excellent condition, they can spawn every two or three weeks throughout the season, as long as they are fed copious amounts of live food between spawns.

Most breeders try and get their spawns over with as early as possible in the season so they have a longer period to grow the fry before winter.

You don't say what part of the World you are in but Goldfish usually spawn early/mid spring. Ideally, the water temperature should be around 68 degrees F (20C). As summer water temperatures start to climb, say above 75 degrees F, the spawning urge seems to diminish.

If your Goldfish spawned two months ago, you must be in early summer now. This would give you 4-5 months growing time before winter sets in.

To induce spawning, feed your Goldfish only live foods, and change 25% of the water daily, especially after a spell of warm weather.

For more suggestions to induce spawning read here...

Comments for Goldfish Spawning

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Aug 20, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish Food
by: Grant

Hi Howard

Obviously some success with raising your spawn.

Keep those early colouring fry as future parents because early colouring is strongly linked to genetics as much as food, temperature and water conditions.

Gelatin would be the preferred binder as it is full of protein, but I can't see corn starch being a problem, although it would be more of a water pollutant than gelatin.

As long as the fry have grown at the normal rate, yes you can supplement their food with your prepared mix. Aquamax (depending on which sort you have) is at least 30% protein.

Gradually introduce the mix into their feeding because Goldfish don't like sudden large changes to their diet, especially if it has only been live food since hatching.
Aug 19, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish feed
by: Howard

Hi Grant,
I Have been making fish food with ground up vegetable matter + Aquamax feed + garlic powder +Fish Oil + Unflavored gelatin + Paprika powder for colour. The results are slow but something is happening so far 2 big ones have attained a bright orange colour. To cut down on cost can I use Corn starch as a feed binder.
My Breeding is improving thanks to your tips is it safe to feed 2 mth old fry on this kind of feed?
Jun 04, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar
by: Grant

Hi Howard

Congratulations, it isn't easy getting Goldfish to spawn in your climate.

I normally use the morning's hatch throughout the day feeding 2-3 times daily. In the evening I clean out the hatchery and re-seed with more eggs.

You will soon learn how much to feed out by the amount of dead shrimp on the bottom of the container. These should be siphoned off daily.

The advantage with brine shrimp is they live several hours in fresh water, so those that aren't eaten immediately are eaten once the fry start eating again.

Read the page www.about-goldfish.com/brine-shrimp.html to see how I use two hatchery containers to maximise the hatch rate.

By now infertile eggs will be white and attracting fungus. Have you put some Methylene Blue in the water yet to stop the fungus attacking fertile eggs?
Jun 02, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Spawning
by: Howard

Grant

I Got a spawning this morning.

How long can brine shrimp stay in the salt water after they hatch out. suppose I hatch more shrimp than the new hatchlings can eat?

I will follow your instructions on the care of the fry. I have a lot of eggs on the bottom of my half drum. Some are on a plastic sheet that covers a third of the drums bottom. Some are on spawning mops. Even after I transfer what I can the original container will still have a lot. I hope all the eggs are viable , at the moment they look sticky
May 29, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar
by: Grant

Hi Howard

Some metallic scaled goldfish never colour.

At a year old, and in your climate, they should have coloured.
If they are black, that means they are at the first stage of the process.
Give them 6 months. If they aren't colouring up by then, it is unlikely they ever will.

Daphnia water won't be toxic, but be careful with the pH.
You will be surprised how many daphnia even a small goldfish can go through. I'd keep fish out of the culture.
May 28, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Daphnia / Goldfish Colour
by: Howard

Thanks Grant,
Two points
1 these fish are over 1 year old and some are quite big. They are from 2013 spawning and the others coloured up and were sold to the pet shop long ago.
I need something to make them change and some articles suggested the Paprika. I am not sure it is really working.
2 Once the Daphnia is established if i have small fish can i put then in the container with the daphnia for fast growth or would the daphnia water be toxic.
May 28, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar
by: Grant

Hi Howard

I wouldn't be feeding Goldfish paprika...in any form.

The speed of colour change in Goldfish is brought on by temperature, food and genetics.

By food I mean live food.

The first stage of changing colour is going black. This gradually fades into a light gold/orange, becoming deeper with time (and sunlight exposure), so your fish are going through the change.

The speed of change does vary with individual fish, this is where genetics come in. If the parents were slow to colour, so will the offspring.

If you haven't got Soy flour just use the yeast, and no, don't add sugar.

Add the yeast as soon as it is fully dissolved.

3 grams is a little over half a teaspoon. I repeat, you don't need much. It is easy to overfeed them.
Your containers when fully established would need 2 grams daily, or 0.40 of a teaspoon.
May 26, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Daphnia culture
by: Howard

Grant
What if i don't have soy flour, can I dissolve the yeast in warm water and add a tablespoon of sugar for the yeast to eat as when baking bread?

How long after do you add to water with the daphnia?

How much in teaspoons is 3 grams?
May 26, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Daphnia Culture / Fish colour
by: Howard

Thanks Grant. I will try it as soon as possible.

Also on the matter of fish changing colour I have been trying Gel food with Paprika to get black gold fish that have not changed to do so.

Some change seems to be occuring but it is slow. The food mix is blended Calaloo or other greens + 1 cup of aquamax + 14 oz Paprika powder + 2 tablespoons of unflavoured gelatin.

Do you have a better suggestion

May 16, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Daphnia Culture
by: Grant

Hi Howard

No, you don't have to start with green water. In a short time the daphnia would clear the water anyway.

Greenish water would give them a good start, and mine seem to like the occasional feed of green water.

You are actually feeding the daphnia the yeast. It doesn't cause the water to go green, so you want to be careful how much you are feeding them at the start. They will need very little.

The trick is getting the culture established without overfeeding it and polluting the water.

The daphnia numbers self regulate based on food and probably dissolved oxygen levels.

For most of the year I feed the daphnia daily, with 3 grams of yeast and 3 grams of soy flour for an 80 gallon pond.

Your setup(s) would need about a third of that when fully established.

Yes they can be kept inside.

Aged water is any water that hasn't got chlorine in it, say two day old tap water.

In your climate daphnia nauplii will be adults in 10 days or less, depending on species.

Tips:
Don't top up with tap water. Very low levels of chlorine seems to kill them.
Cover them with fine mesh to stop diving beetles and dragonflys (if you have them) from breeding in the drums. They will kill quite large fry.
Keep a culture in a small container as a backup.
May 15, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Daphnia cultivation
by: Howard

Hi Grant,
Based on the conditioning advice i need to start cultivating daphnia. I might be able to get a starter culture from a friend.

Based on your article "Daphnia Cultures"

Do I Have to start with green water or can I Add the activated bread yeast to aged water and then put in a daphnia culture. I propose to use 1/2 55 gallon plastic drums to grow them in.

Can it be indoors?
How long does it take for them to grow?
How aged is aged water?
May 14, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Conditioning gold fish
by: Howard

Thanks for your advice of May 14,2015
May 14, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish Conditioning
by: Grant

Hi Howard

One of the problems with trying to get Goldfish to spawn in a climate like Jamaica's is the constant high temperatures. There isn't a large enough temperature change between seasons.

Goldfish are a warm water species, not tropical, and once high water temperatures are reached, they tend to lose interest in breeding.

Having said all that, you have had some success.

My advice on August 15th still holds true. If your Goldfish haven't bred since October last year, something is stopping them remaining in condition.

The process I use to condition parents is feed them heavily in autumn with mosquito wrigglers and daphnia. I don't feed them any prepared foods.
During winter when temperatures are around 10C I occasionally feed them flakes.

In early spring I start their feeding of daphnia and any mosquito wrigglers I can find.

Late spring when temperatures are around 18C they start spawning.
Every 12-14 days they will spawn again. In fact they are worse than rabbits. I can't stop them spawning.

So the trick is to try and create a cool period of 2-3 months and heavily feed live food such as daphnia and mosquito wrigglers which are natural food for fry for two weeks.

I would also separate the sexes. After the two weeks of conditioning I would put the sexes together and use the water changes and frozen water bottles as you did in October.

If after a week nothing happens, separate the parents and repeat the process.

You shouldn't need to use any hormonal treatments.
May 13, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Additional Question
by: Howard

After following your advice the fish layed in Oct last year. I messed up by cleaning a hose with bleach which was not properly washed off and all the fry died.

I have fed the fish for more than a week on brine shrimp to condition it but so far nothing. I have used the water changing and chilling but nothing. My brine shrimp are done.
What else can i do to get these eggs to ripen and the fish to lay.
Is it a good idea to use Oviprim hormone if i can get it to induce spawning?
Sep 13, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Conditioning Food
by: Grant

Hi Howard

Live food or food derived from animals is fine.
If your goldfish like the shrimp, then save the brine shrimp for fry.
If large numbers of eggs are kept in a confined area without having had a water change, the water becomes polluted with dead eggs and milt.
Let the eggs harden off for a few hours before changing the water.
Put methylene blue in with the eggs the next day to stop fungus, not with hatched fry.
Two days is a very short gestation period for goldfish, 4 days is better. In your climate this is probably difficult, but keep the container in the shade and as cool as possible, around 75 F is ideal.
Sep 11, 2014
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starstarstarstarstar 		Available Feed
by: Howard

Grant

What is available is frozen un-cooked shrimp called raw sea bob. In the past I have boiled them ground them fine and fed this to try to condition. Your comments said "feed only live food" so I stopped in favor of the live hatched out brine shrimp. Should I do both for 2 weeks?
Sep 11, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Conditioning fish
by: Howard

Thanks Grant,
The water was aerated. I did not do any water change or try to move the eggs. The eggs were covered with an amber colored substance which I thought was the milt settled on them. After 2 days 4 hatched and I added methylene blue. the water became cloudy after a while perhaps next day and it seemed that the amber colored substance that settled on the eggs started to circulate in the water. After that the 4 fry could not be seen and the water developed a smell. I have never tried to remove eggs from the spawning drum. Some eggs were on the floating string and some at the bottom. Most of the eggs were white. I thought that moving eggs and changing water would stop the eggs from hatching. There were many eggs.
Sep 11, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Spawning Problems
by: Grant

Hi Howard

No, the water at 7-8 inches is fine.
Your goldfish sound like they are at the ideal age to spawn.
Females need about two weeks of heavy feeding to get ready to spawn again, the males slightly less.
You are doing everything right, so why weren't the eggs fertile?
Did they all get covered with fungus? Fertile eggs will get smothered with fungus if there are enough dead eggs around them. Use methylene blue to control the fungus.
Was the water the eggs were in aerated?
Did you move the eggs to clean water, or at least do a partial water change?
Feeding newly hatched brine shrimp seems like hard work to me for such large fish.
What about white worms or earth worms instead?
Can you get frozen or freeze dried food such as adult brine shrimp and the like?
Sep 09, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Not hatching
by: Howard

Thanks Grant,
The females are approx 3 yrs. The males were chasing but the water did not look clouded with milt. Is the water too deep at 7-8 " the females are reasonable large 7-8" long males 6-7" two males to one female

Will the hatched out brine shrimp do a better job than the decap or the frozen shrimp?

How long should I feed them before trying again
Sep 09, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Spawning not hatching
by: Grant

Hi Howard

Was the male ready?
Obviously the females were, but if nothing hatched that would indicate the eggs weren't fertilized.
Did you observe the male chasing the female(s)?

Females will drop eggs even if the male isn't chasing.

Another option could be the parents could be too old. Ideal breeding age is 2-5 years. Older than that and fertility declines.

Be careful using rain water as it contains NO chemicals and fish can't live in pure rainwater. If you had the eggs in pure rainwater, that could be the reason for them not hatching.

Goldfish color at different ages, but metallic goldfish should have colored within 6 months, especially in your hot climate.
If they haven't changed color after 12 months old they may never color.
Don't use them as breeders as their fry will also be slow to color.
Sep 07, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish colour
by: Howard

Hi Grant
I have goldfish 2-5 inches long that still have not changed color .They are in 45" dia pools 2' deep

what can I Do?
Sep 07, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Results so far
by: Howard

Hi Grant
I now have my shrimp hatchery and it is working. However before I got it going I conditioned The first fish along with a second with decap brine shrimp for 7 days. Next I did water changes using rain water from recent weather and used frozen 2 liter water bottles to chill the water. Result was both fishes spawned but despite many eggs nothing hatched.
The water was 7-8 " deep in the plastic half drum.
I am trying again using hatched out brine shrimp because I have no steady source of mosquitoes large of daphnia.

What do you think?
Aug 15, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish Spawning Problems
by: Grant

Hi Howard

I have greater success breeding Goldfish outdoors. It is probably the combination of natural light, and the greater temperature fluctuation between night and day.
If you can, get hold of some mosquito wrigglers. Goldfish love them, and they condition the adults very quickly.
For the fry live brine shrimp are best. Hatching brine shrimp should be very easy in your climate. Read the page on brine shrimp to identify why you are having difficulties.
Keep the sexes apart while conditioning as they have already spawned once.
Goldfish spawn when water cools after a period of hot weather. Partially changing their water (in the evening) makes the goldfish think rain has freshened their water, making it an ideal time to spawn.
In the US you can get refrigeration units for aquariums, but try cooling the water for the partial water change with bags of ice. Aim for a 15-20 degree drop in temperature.
Aug 14, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Goldfish Spawning
by: Howard

Thanks Grant. I live in Kingston Jamaica. Temperatures are in the 80’s. Fish are brought indoors and placed in ½ 55 gallon plastic drums to spawn.
I have been using Cooked Frozen shrimp to condition. I have some brine shrimp eggs, do I have to hatch them which is sometimes difficult or can I strip them with bleach water and agitation and feed?
Do I feed the females for two weeks and then introduce the males or keep them all together? Most of the year breeders are fed on Aquamax pellets. Do I have to wait on the full moon or just keep changing the water? If temp too high how can I cool the water?

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