Spawning. I Think?

[RedCapMiggi 0]

I bought a small 2 inch Butterfly Moore (Merlin) a few months ago. He has grown to be about 5 inches. Yesterday I noticed he had breeding tuberincles on his side and the white stripe on the front of his gills. I was like wow, i shouldn't let this go to waste, and i had been meaning to get him a friend anyway.

So I went to vvvv (which is a very good fish place here by the way) and I looked at their goldies. I bought a very beautiful, very lively 5 inch Ryukin for $15. She was very very fat around the belly and figured she was a female.

When I brought her home and eventually put her in the tank, Merlin started chasing her about an hour later. Over and over, and i've noticed she never chases him.

So my questions are....Are they for sure spawning, or might my Ryukin be a boy and Merlin is just in heat??

How long will they go at it before some eggs appear, because it's been 24 hours and i still see the same behaviour.

Thank you.

Edited May 26, 2005 by RedCapMiggi

[froggydella 0]

Hi,

I think sometimes it can take awhile for them to actually breed. I had my 2 goldies for about 4 months now and I think they are showing signs of breeding but no eggs so far?......I am just being patient ne ways seeing as I have no clue what to do with the fry if they do end up having babies!!

you might want to check the breeding section on here that may also help out with some of your questions, otherwise I am sure one of the pro's will be along soon with more help.....

[coyote ugly 0]

My fish had spawned a couple of times now and usually eggs will be dropped after a few hours.I'm not sure if a male will chase another male if they wanted to breed but it could be possible that Merlin is being territorial since he didn't have a tankmate before.Maybe you should try and re-arrange your tank decors and see if Merlin settles down a bit

[RedCapMiggi 0]

I added plants in the middle and nothing changed. He just chases her through the plants now. I do think she is full of eggs though because she is very plump around the stomach. And its not like all of her middle section is plump, I can see where the "egg sac" might end.

[coyote ugly 0]

hmmm...give them a bit more time then.I'm sure she's gonna drop eggs when she's ready.You must watch her closely though since a male can be a little rough when it comes to breeding.If you think that she might be streesed or end up injured,you may want to separate her and give her a rest

[RedCapMiggi 0]

Well..I just examined them really close and I believe that my Ryukin is just infact a fat stomach male. Unless females can have breeding stars too?

[coyote ugly 0]

Nope...only males do

[RedCapMiggi 0]

I've been reading that females have little breeding tubernicles sometimes too. In a couple of different websites. So I think Ryu can still be a she, because she doesn't chase at all, just gets chased. And it said that males when they are in heat, with tubernicles, chase others around. Since my Ryukin doesn't chase the Moor around, i think she's a she.

[coyote ugly 0]

I haven't heard about females having breeding stars so I'm not sure about it.I hope someone with more knowledge about this comes along and help you with it Good luck with your fishies!

[Ranchugirl 17]

Nope, no breeding stars on females, I am afraid.

RedCapMigi, so you see breeding stars on your ryukin then? A ryukin is naturally a really big fat fish, and its almost impossible to tell by a ryukin's body shape if its a female or not. They look like they swallowed a ball anyway....

[RedCapMiggi 0]

Bummer. I was hoping it was still a girl. Oh well, I'm getting a 65 gallon soon and will put a few more fish in there. What are the odds that all of them will be male?

[Ranchugirl 17]

You'd be surprised.... Its always the same - if we wonna breed them, we find ourselves with fish from only one gender. But if we don't want any fry, then there is plenty of both genders around, and they lay eggs all over.