Any fish keepers, help ?

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

My goldfish have spawned, theres hundreds off eggs all over some netting which I deliberatley placed in the pond, 24hrs later I have sacked everything up to stop them eating all the eggs, what do I do now just wait ? and how long before those eggs hatch ? Thanks Anthony

[TF_Man of Kent]

Ant

Not speaking from any position of knowledge or experience, but it makes sense to me that the eggs need to be kept well oxygenated to give the embryos any kind of fighting chance. Also don’t put them in tap water, as the chlorine will probably kill them. Can you put them in a dark bucket of pond/rain water with an aerator?

I think you should be able to see the embryos starting to form in a few days, but not sure how long before they hatch.

good luck

[TF_Gavin]

For carp they take 5-8 days normally, I’m guessing the same or similar for goldfish (my carp spawned Monday)

If you just leave them in the pond the fish will eat the hatchlings – it’s nature, but some will survive providing they have cover.

If you want to take some out, their egg sack will feed them for the first few days, but after that they’ll need feeding. Small foodstuff’s, A friend of mine recommended using a hard-boiled egg yolk mashed with a bit of water, almost to ketchup consistency so they can eat it. After a while they’ll be fine fed with standard aquarium flakes, but break them up very small, or again you can make a very soft paste of it for them.

Obviously those left in the pond should have natural food stuff for them if you have weed cover.

By the way, if you ever leave a bucket of water out and have noticed the little water fleas in it, the small fish love them!

[TF_JohnH]

I have quite a large pond with about 25 gold fish in up to about 10oz. Every year I lose the odd one but likewise every year the odd hatchling survives so numbers remain even. However last year I had a big problem with chick weed but as I netted it off I found a large number of fry less than 1 inch long so I left it over winter. I have now treated the water and skimmed off the weed filtering out the hatchlings, now about 2 inches long. To my amazement I now have at least 30 small hatchlings from last year.
My advice therefore if you want to breed on is to provide loads of cover, there seems to be enough food to sustain them naturally.
Obviously well oxygenated water is essential too as well as nets to cover the pond as a single visit from a heron can clear you out of fish in no time..

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Thanks for replies, I dont think its been a success the eggs are now white / opaque in colour think there dead.

[TF_Smed]

yep they are probs dead now, plant some canadian pond weed now for next year and just leave eggs in the pond. ive done this for last few years and had hundreds of fish, cant give em away!
youll also get the benifit of oxygen from the pond weed, but you have to keep it under control cos its invasive! it provides a brilliant medium for the eggs and loads of cover for the young fish.
brilliant to watch the fish spawning on top of the weed, and great for the kids to see the stages from eggs to fry…
mine took exactly 10 days to hatch btw…
all fish were brown in colour for maybe 6 months, some still are, but strangly the ones i fetched indoors for my tank all turned gold within a few weeks :confused:
some have fantails, some dont, some are half/half yellow/orange/brown
lol a right mish mash!
good fun though!

good luck!

oh and they may spawn again!

[TF_AnthonywatersParticipant]

Thanks Smed,I have had my goldfish 3 and a half years now,they have spawned last two years but no babies. Im wondering if the males are upto the job yet or maybe they are still too young, incidentally i do have canadian pond weed i planted some new this march and to be honest its not took of this year its growth has been very poor.I will try to encourage more weed habitat and have another crack next year I may even invest in a couple of bigger 6 year old males.

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