Raising the fish which have been breed by you is really a very exciting experience. But before you proceed to breed your fish you must be aware that, by breeding the fish you are going to take up responsibility of 1000's of young fish, so make sure you have enough space for these fish as they will grow up. The step involved in breeding goldfish are described below.
- Selection of breeding pair: To start with breeding goldfish, you must have at least male goldfish though two male goldfish will be better and a female goldfish. Now how to determine the sex of your goldfish, this can be done easily in the breeding season, the male can be seen chasing the female around the tank. The male also may develop white breeding tubercles on its head, finally females have more rounder bodies then the males .
- Preparing of fish for breeding: Now that you have the pair you need to prepare them for breeding, by feeding them good live food like earth worm, tubifex, bloodworms extra for a few months. Conditioning of the fish results in a better quality of fry.
- Inducing the will to breed: I will describe the natural method here because I don't think anyone will be interested in the artificial method using hormones. It will be better to separate males from the female fish. Now drop the water temperature gradually over a period of several days to around 12oC and maintain this temp. for a few weeks. During this low temperature period reduce feeding to minimum.
- Breeding fish: After a few weeks gradually raise the water temperature, as the water warms bring the Males in the same tank with the female. Feed the fish high protein food. Add some water plants and breeding mops in the tank. The male will be seen driving the female around the tank into the breeding mops. Where the female will release her eggs and the male will follow by fertilizing them with his milt. The spawning takes place usually in the early morning. You must remove the parent fish immediately from the tank or they will eat up the eggs. Don't worry if you missed the action on the first day, the fish will spawn over again in the next few days.
