So They Spawned. Now What?

I rescued 3 fancy goldfish from a shop 3 weeks ago and have nursed them back to health at home. Whatever ailed them before is has now cleared up and all three seem to be strong and healthy. Yay!

This morning, the male ryukin was chasing the female oranda like MAD around the tank. I decided I didn't want fish eggs all over my plants in the 45 gallon, so I rushed to whip up a spawning mop (yay for being a crochet fiend and always having yarn on hand!), set it in boiling water to clean it, and then set up the nearest fish-friendly container on hand (5 gallon bucket) with some aquarium water and some clean water. Popped the fish and the mop in and huzzah! It worked! They are still going at it as I type, actually, and the water in there is getting a bit cloudy from their efforts.

So my question is NOW what do I do? After they calm down a bit, I pop them back in their tank, right? But what's the ideal thing to pop the spawning mop into - what does the set-up look like? I'm not experienced with this and would be happy to make a go of it... but I'm getting conflicting advice from websites.

I am presently planning on putting an air stone into the 5 gallon once I put the fish back into their tank. This afternoon, I can head out and pick up supplies for this endeavor, so what's my shopping list? What are the steps? Anybody got some good resources to point me to? Thanks!

 

When I get fry I have a 5 gallon rubbermaid bin that I put an sponge filter and a heater (if needed). That works fine for me. You can leave the spawn mop and let them hatch or pick the eggs as you like.

 

Do you wanna raise the fry yourself? To feed the fry get first bites. Very handy. If they don't eat fish bites crush some of your flakes up really fine. Next do you have a cycled sponge filter?

 

We happen to have an empty 55 gallon, which I would imagine would be good to grow the fry in once they are swimming well and eating proper food, yeah? My husband and I would like to take a stab at raising them if possible, recognizing that we're inexperienced and it might not work out, lol.

I've read that feeding them hard boiled egg yolk shaken up into tiny bits in some tank water works well after they are first swimming. Any thoughts on that? And then first bites?

A question about picking the eggs - are they terribly fragile? I'm inclined to just leave the mop in there and let them hatch from there... but then I get nervous about taking the mop out after they (hopefully) hatch. Thanks for your help - and DCL415, thanks especially for making this sound more relaxed!

 

Do you want the resulting fish. If not it could be a lot of hassle for nothing.

When I looked after the school Goldfish for the summer holidays they spawned in my water butt. But that was a well established large body of water which had all sorts of live creatures in there for the fry to eat. Yours sounds a bit sterile.

The resulting fish were bronze coloured and not something I wanted to keep but a friend took them for her pond.

Aquaria for fry need to be cycled and not overstocked with fry otherwise they will be lost.

Not being down on your project, just adding some realism for you to consider to avoid disappointment later. It could still be fun!

 

How many eggs do you think you have? Around 50, 100, or a 1000?

You'll need a tank of at least 10 gallons with a cycled sponge filter. You should start off feeding freshly hatched baby brine shrimp, while doing large water changes at least every other day. As they grow up, you can mix boiled egg yolk, gel food, and daphnia into their diet. Feeding a good amount of soft foods is very important at this stage.

One of the most important things you'll also need to do is cull regularly. Hybrid goldfish like yours will often have more defects than normal (ex: crooked spines, abnormal fins). These fry should be culled with clove oil. I would proceed with the first cull at 2 weeks of age.

 

I fed my fry egg yolk until they started eating Northfin fry starter. Baby brine shrimp is good but too complicated because you need a hatchery and other things.

 

I fed my fry egg yolk until they started eating Northfin fry starter. Baby brine shrimp is good but too complicated because you need a hatchery and other things.

It becomes simple routine after a while. It's 100% worth it in my opinion, it yields the best results and is recommended as the best fry food by most professionals.

 

Thank you all for the info! I had no plans to breed these fish at all or to try and raise fry, but surprise! I'm not going to be heartbroken if they don't make it, but I would like to think I'm giving it my best shot.

I'm guessing I managed to catch somewhere between 50-150 eggs. It's a wide range, I know, but the color yarn I used for the mop is very effective at masking them. I have a source for brine shrimp and I'll see how likely it is to set up a proper hatchery and all that good stuff. As of right now, I've got the mop in a 10 gallon tub with a sponge filter that I am praying is cycled enough (seeded with filter media from cycled filters in another tank) since this was all rather a surprise and a rush. At least if nothing works out right this time, I've got the gear should it happen again! I've also got a heater to keep their temp regular.

Not going to lie - I'm very nervous about culling. Not so much about having to cull as knowing that I'm doing it right and looking for the right things. Any pointers or resources to check into regarding culling 101, as it were? Thanks again, everyone!

 

Thank you all for the info! I had no plans to breed these fish at all or to try and raise fry, but surprise! I'm not going to be heartbroken if they don't make it, but I would like to think I'm giving it my best shot.

I'm guessing I managed to catch somewhere between 50-150 eggs. It's a wide range, I know, but the color yarn I used for the mop is very effective at masking them. I have a source for brine shrimp and I'll see how likely it is to set up a proper hatchery and all that good stuff. As of right now, I've got the mop in a 10 gallon tub with a sponge filter that I am praying is cycled enough (seeded with filter media from cycled filters in another tank) since this was all rather a surprise and a rush. At least if nothing works out right this time, I've got the gear should it happen again! I've also got a heater to keep their temp regular.

Not going to lie - I'm very nervous about culling. Not so much about having to cull as knowing that I'm doing it right and looking for the right things. Any pointers or resources to check into regarding culling 101, as it were? Thanks again, everyone!

Your setup sounds good. As the babies get bigger, you'll want to move them to the 55 gallon as early as 3-4 weeks of age.

Culling can be difficult at first, but it's a learning process. The main things I would look for when culling are bulging eyes, crooked spine, missing/abnormal fins, blindness, misshaped mouth, fused tails.

Anyway, there are several great culling articles on the Goldfishkeepers forum. I would look into those and do a bit of research.

 

Your setup sounds good. As the babies get bigger, you'll want to move them to the 55 gallon as early as 3-4 weeks of age.

Culling can be difficult at first, but it's a learning process. The main things I would look for when culling are bulging eyes, crooked spine, missing/abnormal fins, blindness, misshaped mouth, fused tails.

Anyway, there are several great culling articles on the Goldfishkeepers forum. I would look into those and do a bit of research.

Should they make it to the 55 gallon, do I transfer the sponge filter with them (I've got a big one) or go for the hang on backs?