Culling: How to cull Shubunkin fry?

I need some mentoring. My Shubunkins just had their first spawn/ my 1st spawn of any fish. It was unplanned & I was unaware till I saw a tiny baby fish one day 2 weeks ago. I have 16 babies, approximately 1/2-1" in a tank and still another 5-8 fry remain in the pond. As they are Shubunkin fry their colors develop more every day. I know I need to do my 1st cull. I'm struggling with knowing what might turn into a nice Shubunkin goldfish. I am sure there's a bit of an eye you have to develop when culling fry but there's so many factors for instance culling out the Metallics and mattes. When do you know for certain if they're metallic, nacreous or matte? As calicoes, at what size have they developed enough to cull for color? If I want to breed American/Japanese Shubunkins at what size are they large enough to cull for fin length and for Bristols when to cull for the B shape? SO MANY FACTORS, and I am sure there have to be multiple cullings to address them all. I have a decent idea what to cull for but I have no idea what to cull for when.

Also struggling with the idea of euthanizing any of them so I need ideas as to what's worked for you to thin your goldfish population. I am ok with them being used as food for other species. I would even happily surrender them to pet stores for free. I just don't know what are realistic potential places that might take them.

 

To cull goldfish i believe you scoop a the amount you want to remove, then put them in a tub and add some clove oil after a little while the fish will fall asleep/die

 

I have almost zero experience raising goldfish fry.

The few goldfish I have had as fry were like any other fry.
I would start by culling out those with any odd shaped bodies or fins. Anything very small is a cull in my tank.

You don’t say how big your grow out tank is . That will be a limiting factor in how many your can raise.

As far as colours ask the shop what they want if you don’t intend to keep a particular colour.

It’s not an easy thing to do I suggest you start as soon as possible or you will find the job harder and harder the longer you have been feeding them .
Multiple water changes each week will help the growth rate ( if they are like other species ? )

 

This is a triggering subject for some people who believe you shouldn't cull for any reason. I'll just say culling is necessary, just as necessary as feeding and daily water changes are.

Some links to information on selection of fish to cull and why.
Goldfish Culling For High Quality Fish

I prefer to use the culls as feeders vs. Euthanizing. I do not suggest you dump defective fish to a pet store or selling them, it just ruins your chances in the future of getting rid of fish to them or selling to them.

If you look up the specific fish types and qualities/attributes you'll find culling info on the internet for it.

I will say with goldfish, and the amount they produce at a spawning, culling the big ones is just as important as culling runts. the fast growers will nip the smaller fish and damage them and they will produce growth inhibiting horomones, the larger ones will stay larger and outcompete the smaller ones and beat them up. if you can cull to similar sizes, it's more productive, or sorting to tanks by similar sizes works also.

 

This is a triggering subject for some people who believe you shouldn't cull for any reason. I'll just say culling is necessary, just as necessary as feeding and daily water changes are.

Some links to information on selection of fish to cull and why.
Goldfish Culling For High Quality Fish

I prefer to use the culls as feeders vs. Euthanizing. I do not suggest you dump defective fish to a pet store or selling them, it just ruins your chances in the future of getting rid of fish to them or selling to them.

If you look up the specific fish types and qualities/attributes you'll find culling info on the internet for it.

I will say with goldfish, and the amount they produce at a spawning, culling the big ones is just as important as culling runts. the fast growers will nip the smaller fish and damage them and they will produce growth inhibiting horomones, the larger ones will stay larger and outcompete the smaller ones and beat them up. if you can cull to similar sizes, it's more productive, or sorting to tanks by similar sizes works also.

This is some helpful advice thank you. Like you I would prefer them to be of us in the food chain. I hate the idea of them dying for nothing but consumerism. Unfortunately I have no other animals that eat fish. I looked up regulations in the state and goldfish fry can be used as live bait. I was thinking of approaching bait shops in the area. Also i thought petco/petsmart had feeder tanks of fish for reptiles, amphibians and such. I wouldn't be trying to to surrender the culls as fish to grow out. Would be as feeder fish. I don't know if I can cull older fish I have four pond goldfish now and they all have names. I know their personalities, I am very personally attached but I am starting a 600gal pond and know i won't want be as attached a I am with these 4. I will have to cull to keep the pond healthy. I know nature would do it. I am dreading it though. Is there a way to euthanize in which they pass quickly but can be fed to other animals after they pass? I may ask around and see if anyone I know has reptiles. Last question if I don't feed the adults when there's a spawn will they predate on the fry more?

 

This is some helpful advice thank you. Like you I would prefer them to be of us in the food chain. I hate the idea of them dying for nothing but consumerism. Unfortunately I have no other animals that eat fish. I looked up regulations in the state and goldfish fry can be used as live bait. I was thinking of approaching bait shops in the area. Also i thought petco/petsmart had feeder tanks of fish for reptiles, amphibians and such. I wouldn't be trying to to surrender the culls as fish to grow out. Would be as feeder fish. I don't know if I can cull older fish I have four pond goldfish now and they all have names. I know their personalities, I am very personally attached but I am starting a 600gal pond and know i won't want be as attached a I am with these 4. I will have to cull to keep the pond healthy. I know nature would do it. I am dreading it though. Is there a way to euthanize in which they pass quickly but can be fed to other animals after they pass? I may ask around and see if anyone I know has reptiles. Last question if I don't feed the adults when there's a spawn will they predate on the fry more?

goldfish in general spawn huge, I was surprised you estimated at 30, but now see you had them in a pond. some will make it because of the size of the spawns and hiding spots, that's what you are left with the survivors.. figure it like this, a female can lay thousands of eggs over the course of a week or so.

fastest way to really euthanize a fish is to cut their head off at the gill in one chop, they bleed out immediately, the brain is severed from the nerves, but it's messy, it cuts everything in the one shot and recommended method for people fishing and stuff, that or brain spiking.

People in the hobby like clove oil and vodka, the clove oil sedating the fish, and vodka killing them. I wouldn't feed a fish to another animal like that though, and don't know if it's safe for the other animal.

there's freezing water to almost a slush, putting the fish in and then letting it finish freezing. the shock of the almost frozen water kills them almost instantly and in seconds, and the freezing finishes it. less messy and hands off and they could be thawed for bait or feeders later if you dechlorinated the water before making it slush. People hate this method, it's clean, it's pretty hands off, but people hate it claiming they feel it, and can somehow unfreeze and come back to life.... I dunno about all that.

Most folks say the clove oil or blunt force methods are the most humane of any methods.

Bait shops won't want them, you can check, but that's a long shot when they got their regular supply of minnows or shiners.

if you have a pond, Id say leave them up to nature really unless you want more fish, the adults should eat almost all of them eventually if not all of them and birds and ect might get the rest. if you need to downsize on adults later on if too many make it, maybe then, concern with selling or gifting or getting rid of them to thin your herd out. Most all should wind up eaten though, and if you got a channel catfish and put one in the pond, it should keep things tidy on eggs and fry, but you'd need to replace it every so often and keep an eye on it, they can get big enough to eat the adults over time.

if you got a bird bath or larger sized tray, that you can put far enough away from your pond, you can put culls there and with pond water and hope the birds take them or feed them to stray cats or raccoons in a bowl of water or something somewhere farther from your pond so they don't start coming to your pond also. feed them to wildlife, Ducks?