How Often Do Goldfish Reproduce?

[Guest goldfishnewbie2]

Ok, another beginner question! The fish in my pond, I have 5 goldfish (called em feeders at the store) and 2 that have a resemblence of a koi (multicolored, only much smaller) appear to have reproduced in the 3 months they have been in the pond. I had 2 black fish with the larger eyes (don't know their names) in the pond, but the cats got them. However, now I am seeing about 5 black fish (they are about 1/2 inch long), 1 that is about 1 1/2 inch long (black), and 4-5 multicolored that are about 3/4 inch long. Could they have possibly reproduced this fast? The black fish lasted about 2 months before the cats got them. If so, how do I slow this down...I'm not sure my pond can handle too many more fish! Also, when I bring them in for the winter, assuming that all survive and there are no others, what size of a tank am I going to need?

[blinky000 32]

sounds like you have a lot of babies! congrats!!! :carrot usually fish need at least 10 gals each but the other rule is 3 gals per inch so..... hold on im terrible at maths..... ah well, ill get back to you on that. the black fish with bulgey eyes are called black moors if that helps once fish get going, they spawn once a week so id say that it is definately possible! also, not many fry survive from the pond as the adults usually eat the eggs and the fry so id say you were very lucky! but if you really dont want the babies, you could sell them for a few bucks each to the pet shop. the next batch might not be so lucky. gimme a few mins and ill try and work out how much space youre gonna need

[blinky000 32]

ok, at the moment you'll need about a 30 gal but they will get a lot bigger in this time so id say go for a 50 or 60 or you could sell them before winter

[David Dude 0]

sounds like you have a lot of babies! congrats!!! :carrot usually fish need at least 10 gals each but the other rule is 3 gals per inch so..... hold on im terrible at maths..... ah well, ill get back to you on that. the black fish with bulgey eyes are called black moors if that helps once fish get going, they spawn once a week so id say that it is definately possible! also, not many fry survive from the pond as the adults usually eat the eggs and the fry so id say you were very lucky! but if you really dont want the babies, you could sell them for a few bucks each to the pet shop. the next batch might not be so lucky. gimme a few mins and ill try and work out how much space youre gonna need

Hey Blinky, are you sure they need 3 gals. per inch, I thought it was 2 gals. per inch, are you sure?

[Red Cap Oranda 0]

if you mean the black 1 black moore please do your research on names your very confusing and puts over a cargo net on your pond it will keep them safe from birds,racoons,and cats..

[Guest AnnMc]

Blinky, using your 10 gals per fish, I should be okay with 16 in my 160 gal pond. That sounds like a lot, is that right? They are sarasa comets.

Thanks

Ann B)

Edited September 5, 2004 by AnnMc

[blinky000 32]

comet and common usually need about 15-20 gals apparently. but if they are young, id go with the 10 gal rule for now.

[Guest mosquitorancher]

The books on tropicals used to say 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Not positive if that rule bears out on coldwater fish, but I'd think it would be similar. Better to err on the side of caution, perhaps. With those cats getting a handy snack, I wouldn't think over population (Ann) to be a problem!

Say! ponds are downright addictive! Lots of frogs live around ours, no problem. Where there is water there is life. They happily croak and really think they are at a big pond.

[Guest PondCometer]

It dosn't mosquitorancher, tropical fish, generally are small with some exceptions, freshwater fish ESPECIALLY GoldFish, Koi, Comets/Commons whatever you want to call them..they can reach LARGE sizes and produce a lot of waste, without a strong filtration and a good stocking number you would be creating a death trap not an aquarium or pond, so for goldfish and such 1 inch rule does not apply instead a 20 gallon for comets and 10 gallon for fancy rule is IMO

[jacky_ckw 0]

<_< its still abit messy on the calculation.

i still do not know how to calculate 1 inch thingy.

is there any age, i mean puberty age?

[Guest PondCometer]

1 inch per gallon rule is mainly with tropical fish

with goldfish

10 gallon for 1 fancy goldfish

20 gallon for 1 comet

[Guest AnnMc]

Thanks for that. I'll stick to 20 gals each then. That leaves me with the problem of too many babies. I've got 4 adults and at least 8 surviving fry. Anyone interested?

[jacky_ckw 0]

1 inch per gallon rule is mainly with tropical fish

with goldfish

10 gallon for 1 fancy goldfish

20 gallon for 1 comet

hi PondCometer,

thanks for the simple explanation. seems to be able to get in my head now