How to Breed Goldfish

The work of breeding goldfish is not as easy as one might think. The steps required to breed goldfish are to create the right environment for the fish, to find fingerlings with good reproductive potential, and to ensure proper implementation during incubation and hatching. This process can take a lot of time and money, so it is difficult for you to make a profit when you want to start a business. However, if done right, the results you get will be surprising. As with many other tasks, the key here is patience and attention to detail.

Table of Contents

Create favorable conditions for goldfish to breed

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Plan a long time in advance. It will take a long time to create a good breeding environment for goldfish, so you should buy fish at least a year in advance. The best time to buy is July and August, as goldfish usually spawn in the spring. ^{[1] X Research Resources} Goldfish need to acclimate to their environment and reduce stress before spawning season, so try to plan ahead long enough!

The first thing you need to do (assuming you already have a small aquarium that can hold at least 15 liters of water) is to wash the newly purchased fingerlings. By adding 80 drops of formaldehyde, 6 drops of copper sulfate and a small amount of terramycin, you can clean your goldfish and aquarium to keep it healthy.

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Create a good environment in the aquarium. The spawning tank for fish needs to hold at least 75 liters of water. In addition, you should also add a few things needed to create a natural scene in the goldfish’s habitat. Usually these are real or artificial bushes or bundles of long fibers.

When females lay eggs, they often cling to solid objects. If you want them to breed naturally, you will need a luxuriant green environment. This isn’t required if you’re going to artificially spawn your fish, but plants can increase the quality of life (and act as a great filter) when the fish are not spawning.
Consider buying yarn bundles for spawning. The fiber bundles for spawning are made of floating nylon rope for the female fish to cling to when laying eggs. ^{[2] X Research Source} You don’t need these bundles if you have a lot of shrubs, plants, or other fibrous material in your aquarium, but it’s an easy and effective way to protect your goldfish eggs , as adult goldfish often eat eggs that have no attachment.

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Start raising the goldfish diet. Avoid sudden changes in your fish’s diet. Start introducing fish to non-pellet foods such as saltwater shrimp or live worms in the tank, mimicking those found in the wild in spring, the goldfish’s favorite spawning time. In general, there are two points to keep in mind when feeding goldfish as follows:

Feed the fish in small amounts but often. You should feed the fish three times a day, taking care not to overfeed the required amount. Many goldfish owners make the mistake of overfeeding their fish; Uneaten food debris will sink to the bottom of the tank, decompose and contaminate the water.
Regardless of the type of food used, you need to grind it to fit the goldfish’s mouth.

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Simulate spring by lowering the temperature, then gradually increasing the temperature to warmer. Goldfish spawn in the spring, so you need to reproduce the rise in temperature in the water. First, lower the temperature to between 10°C – 12°C. Then, when you’re ready to spawn, you need to gradually increase the temperature by 2°C each day until the temperature is between 20°C – 23°C.

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Ensure water circulation every day. Partial water changes per day are important for the overall health of the fish and especially for stimulating spawning. You should change about 20% of the water in the tank every day, remember not to change more than this amount.

Be sure to add the water treatment solution to the new water. This product has the effect of neutralizing chemicals harmful to fish as well as removing chlorine and reducing chloramines. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Sex discrimination and isolation of goldfish

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Know the external characteristics of female goldfish. Sexing goldfish is perhaps the most important task in spawning; Obviously, if you put a bunch of males together because you can’t tell the difference between the male and the female, you won’t get any fry. Female goldfish have the following physical characteristics:

Observe the shape of the acupoint. The acupoint is a small hole between the anus and anal fin where the fish lays eggs or releases semen, depending on the sex of the fish. ^{[4] X Research Source} The female fish’s acupoints are round and convex.
Touch the fish belly. The female’s abdomen is located between the oars and anal fins and is very soft and movable.
Look at the pectoral fins. The pectoral fins of the female are round and short.
In general, female goldfish are usually larger and rounder, while male goldfish are usually longer and more oblong. However, this is not a reliable feature to distinguish.

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Know the external characteristics of male goldfish. Male goldfish are usually smaller than female goldfish of the same litter. They are also often distinguished by the following characteristics:

The appearance of small white dots, also called nodules. These are small nodules that appear on the fins, head and even gills of fish when they reach the reproductive stage.
Concave point. Male goldfish have recesses instead of protrusions.
Touch the fish belly. The belly of the male fish is harder and firmer than the belly of the female fish.
Look at the pectoral fins. The pectoral fins of males are more pointed and longer than the pectoral fins which are shorter and more rounded in females.

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Observe the behavior of goldfish to distinguish male and female fish. During the spawning season, the male begins to chase the female, slowly at first, gradually becoming more aggressive. Try putting a goldfish you already know is a female in the tank and see how the other fish react: The male goldfish is very interested, while the females are completely indifferent!

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Consider isolating males and females for a few weeks before you spawn them. Many breeders separate male and female fish at least a few weeks before breeding to stimulate their desire. Just like humans, the further away the more yearning!

Breeding Goldfish

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Choose good brood fish. Healthy young fish are ideal, as they are fertile and full of energy. Choose females with large tails and pectoral fins; With males, look for large (about 10-15 cm) and fast swimmers. Males with multiple nodules on the back of the head on the gills are good breeders.

For the ideal combination, you should try to isolate three males and two females preferably.

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Put five goldfish in the same tank and watch the fish spawn naturally. You will notice that the male yellow patch will be lighter in color in the abdomen and swim briskly around the tank, often chasing the female. The female will lay eggs on a green plant in the tank, and the male will release semen onto the eggs to fertilize them. If you can’t witness fertilization but see acorns in the plant, chances are that the eggs have been fertilized.

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If the goldfish’s natural spawning process is unsuccessful, you need to artificially fertilize the fish. Place one female and one male in a shallow tank. Pick up the male fish and gently stroke its point to release semen. Stir the semen into the water and repeat this movement with the female to force the eggs out. Stir the water again to combine the egg and sperm.

Be very careful when artificial insemination. Goldfish are very easy to bruise, so you have to be very gentle when handling.
You don’t have to keep the fish underwater when clawing the fish’s grave. As with other fish, goldfish can breathe even out of the water, although not very well. Just be careful not to let the fish out of the water for more than 30 seconds at a time.

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Separate the brood from the eggs. Unfortunately, captive goldfish usually eat most of their eggs, so you need to separate the brood from the eggs almost immediately to ensure the entire batch can hatch. The fertilized egg will hatch in about 4-7 days, depending on the temperature of the water.

Once the fry have hatched, you can feed them the same food as the adults, but make sure the food is smaller than the adult fish for them to swallow.
Try to put the eggs in the tank where the fish has spawned. There is a risk if you move your eggs elsewhere.

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Be patient while the fish is growing and reaching maturity. Soon you will have a whole school of baby goldfish swimming around the tank. Make sure the aquarium is large enough to accommodate the fry.

Warning

Do not pick up goldfish unless absolutely necessary. Not only is this stressful for the fish, but it can also damage the fish scales.

Steps

Create favorable conditions for goldfish to breed

Sex discrimination and isolation of goldfish

Breeding Goldfish

Warning

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