Breeding goldfish in a small fountain pond

Here's a story,

Of a fish named Shinto.

Who was busy in a small pond of his own.

He disappeared for days...We

thought he was gone-

But he was just alone.

Here's a story

Of a fish named Queen B.

Who was introduced into the pond, a girl.

She had fins of gold,

Like no other

So pretty when unfurled.


Till the one day when this new fish met this fellow

And we knew that it was much more than a hunch,

That these two might somehow form a family.

and that is how we got to have some eggs for lunch.


Eggs for lunch!

There's eggs for lunch!

That's the way we other fish got eggs for lunch!


Moving the breeding mop to an isolated environment ensures a larger fry hatching.

The other fish will notify you with their excited behavior that new eggs have been laid in the mop. If you do nothing, they will eat the eggs.
One day old goldfish fry look like little eyelashes with eyes


You may decide to leave the eggs to hatch in the pond environment. The new hatchlings will have plenty of mirco-baterica to eat. The 1st days after hatching they eat their yolk sac.



One way to protect an active spawning mop with fertile eggs: a sterile cheesecloth wrap. Cheesecloth prevents the other fish from eating the eggs easily, and you can remove the mop a few days later.



 

 

Torii Gate Aquarium
The little fry at 120 days.
They're still golden-bronze metallic, the natural carp color.

 

 

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Making a spawning mop



Wrap yarn around a book (or anything) 40 times to make a skein.

 

 

Cut one side open
 

Tie the other side together to make a "mop". Immerse in boiling water for a few minutes to sterilize, and leach out any harsh dies that might be harmful to your fish. Cool to pond temperature with pond water. No chlorine!
 


Immerse your cooled, sterilized yarn mop into their environment. Secure waterline position with tie string.
 


Queen B. in her breeding mop

p.s. The fish don't care what color the yarn is.

At first I used brown yarn, which had too strong a dye AND made it easy for the fish to spot the eggs and eat them. Now I use white, undyed organic yarn (synthetic fiber is okay). But YOU won't be able to see the eggs easily. Watch for breeding behavior and/or the other fish chowing down on the eggs.

 

 

 

 



Here is how it looks around the mop. I sewed the cheesecloth to envelop the spawning mop.