Gold The goldfish is one of the most familiar aquarium fish. These are beautiful fresh water fishes. They can be easily seen in movies and easily available at pet store. Goldfish have memory span of about 3 months and can distinguish between various colors and shapes. Goldfish are omnivorous, they can accept wide range of foods. Give them only two minute of food. They have healthy lifespan and gorgeous looks.
They are tough, resilient and demands less care which make them excellent choice for beginners. Goldfish have good appetite which may pollute water much more rapidly so maintain good quality water by partial water changes. The sudden change of temperature in the aquarium should be avoided. It may kill your fish within no time.
They are available in many varieties like comet, black moor goldfish, fantail bubble eye and many many more.
Temperature : 20°C (68 °F) and 22 °C (72 °F)
Life span :About 10 yrs
Breeding : Egg layers
Care : Easy
Tank region : all over the tank
Nature : Peaceful
Breeding Difficulty : Moderate
Tank Size : 20 gallons
Difference between male and female goldfish
Generally the female gold fishes are slightly bigger then males. They have bigger stomach and believed to have small fins as compared to males. The most important difference is that males develop white spot on their gills and pecotals during the time of spawning which are know as breeding tubcles .
Male gold fish have firm abdomen while in females area between pelvic fin and anal fin is more pliable. The other difference is male goldfish have long and pointed pectoral as well as stiff fin ray while females have more rounded pectorals and shorter, finer front fin ray.
Male goldfish have smaller and more oval anal opening while females have larger and rounder anal opening. Males have less thicker anal fins and it is generally observed that males chases females. By time and experience you may also become expert in distinguishing them.
Breeding goldfish at home
Breeding goldfish is not a easy task especially for begginers. If this is your first time you can opt for molly fish which is extremely easy for breeding even in small tanks. However if you determined for goldfish breeding then you need lots of work to do. You will need approx 20 gallon tank with live plants in it and 2 females goldfish with 3 males. Ensure the fishes are in healthy state. I hope you have already differentiated between their sexes. However it is easy to differentiate them at the time of spawning. Feed them live food like insect larvae, worms and brine shrimps.
How to spot spawning time:
Females goldfish become heavier and thicker due to eggs.
Males develop white spot on gills when they got ready.
Spawning usually occurs in the morning.
Color of fishes become more brighter.
Males chase females at random.
Then particular males chases one particular female more then before.
The male goldfish gets aggresive and push against females till she ejects egg.
When the eggs are out male deposits milt on them.
Then the eggs fall in water and on plants till they hatch.
The spawning may begin after some days of rest.
Note:The goldfish are egg eaters so remove them after spawning.
Set temperature to 21ºC .
Put few drops of methylene blue to prevent eggs from fungus. Babies are not needed to be fed up to 24 hrs because they have egg yolk sac. After hacthing they will sink to bottom of the tank. Try not to disturb them at this stage. The process of sinking is normal. When sac is absorbed feed them baby goldfish food or hard boiled egg yolk. After it shiphone the uneaten food but not babies.