Preggers or just a chubbie shubbie?

[Tish]

I've read the posts on spawning and I have my suspicions but would like to see some votes. Thumbs up for eggers and thumbs down for not or can't really tell. I've had these 3 fish for a year now. I brought the shubunkin and sarassa into an aquarium for the winter and left the gold comet in the stock tank pond. Awhile ago the shubunkin started getting fat and acting crazy. all it wanted to do was eat eat eat. When I got some floating pond plants I put a couple in the aquarium and it went at them like mad. It even started tearing apart the moss balls which had been ignored all winter. It just wouldn't settle down. Thanks to an unseasonable May heat wave the afternoon temp in the pond was the same as the aquarium and I was able to get them back out there. I was curious to see the reunion. First they all circled around each other like sharks and then the fish party began!!! They were racing around, skipping across the surface, rolling under the fountain. Happy Happy Fishes!
Once that calmed down the 2 comets started closely following the fat one. Nothing too extreme but they were shadowing it like a pair of outriders. The shubbie would go in a fish cave and a comet would follow it in while the other stood vigil outside. They were close on its tail for the rest of the day and I presume the evening. The next morning I Found some long strings of translucent white stuff floating beneath the surface. The chasing had stopped and the fish weren't even that hungry for the rest of the week. I did not find any eggs. Breeding stars? The gold comet has a darker discoloration on and behind his gills. It may be fading now. The shubbie is still chubby but more symetrical in shape. I took the first photo the day I put it in the pond and its belly looks lumpy to me. Maybe just the water. It has cooled off now so I am guessing I wont see any more action until
the weather heats up again. Does a 1 year old shubunkin have that much broader of a body than a similar age comet?

 

[GBBUDD]

They all look a bit chunky i'd have to vote for over feeding. They can't all be pregnant

 

[Tish]

They all look a bit chunky i'd have to vote for over feeding. They can't all be pregnant

Huh, I didn't think the comets were too fat but you are probably right. It's alarming how fast they grew. Up to 5 in. over last summer and the shubbie is over that already. They exceeded any growth charts for goldfish that I could find. I was hoping to be able to keep them in this pond for a few years. It's 4 by 3.5 ft. and 18 in. deep. around 85 gal, I think. Only 3 of them but now I'm wondering if I may have to re-home them or get a Bigger Pond ? (Oh No...This is how it starts isn't it?) Those divas are going on a diet starting now. This photo is last year but now there is about 30% coverage of floating plants and still a film of algea on the sides and they love their salad. Thanks, I always learn something on this forum.

 

[GBBUDD]

Look at the food you give your fish in size to body ratio. One pellet of food is equal to a hamburger . 3 of those a day would be all the food they need. When i see people say i feed my fish enough food to where they eat it in over five minutes i always say holly cow that's a lot the manufacturer is loving you.... if it takes my fish a minute to eat all that i give them they got lucky. That and if they get a lot of food it gets pushed through their system and does not get fully digested which can contribute to algae and disease.

 

[Tish]

Look at the food you give your fish in size to body ratio. One pellet of food is equal to a hamburger . 3 of those a day would be all the food they need. When i see people say i feed my fish enough food to where they eat it in over five minutes i always say holly cow that's a lot the manufacturer is loving you.... if it takes my fish a minute to eat all that i give them they got lucky. That and if they get a lot of food it gets pushed through their system and does not get fully digested which can contribute to algae and disease.

Got it. I like the hamburger comparison. Puts it in perspective for me.

 

[netvine]

GBBUDS hamburger comparison is the only thing that clicked with me about feeding

 

[Tish]

GBBUDS hamburger comparison is the only thing that clicked with me about feeding

Yah, right? things are gonna be different now for my little piglets.

 

[Lisak1]

Also remember - fish don't get "pregnant" (unless they are live bearing). The females carry eggs that get released into the water and fertilized after the fact. So it's not like a mammal where you would expect the mother to get bigger and bigger until the babies are born.

A fish CAN get egg-bound, but that's a different issue.

 

[j.w]

I only feed my goldfish once a week on Friday,(Fish Day)

 

[Tish]

I only feed my goldfish once a week on Friday,(Fish Day)

and the fishes say " T.G.I.F.

 

[Jhn]

Agree with others looks like, some beefy fish, at least mine, when carrying eggs seem to have big bellies more so than what yours look like.

I feed my fish when the mood hits me, but I buy 50lb. bags of food, they get fed more than I used to feed years back, since I added turtles to my pond, as these guys require more regular feeding. Also feeding less keeps the fish from growing quickly and adding to the nutrient load in the pond. Even now though the one that seems to grow the most is my fat channel cat, of course it is like a giant street sweeper hoovering up all the floating food in seconds.

 

[GBBUDD]

Agree with others looks like, some beefy fish, at least mine, when carrying eggs seem to have big bellies more so than what yours look like.

I feed my fish when the mood hits me, but I buy 50lb. bags of food, they get fed more than I used to feed years back, since I added turtles to my pond, as these guys require more regular feeding. Also feeding less keeps the fish from growing quickly and adding to the nutrient load in the pond. Even now though the one that seems to grow the most is my fat channel cat, of course it is like a giant street sweeper hoovering up all the floating food in seconds.

Mine did as well in three years it was over 24 inches and was it ever a power shovel on the food it skimmed the surface with that wide mouth and it was all gone.

 

[Tish]

Agree with others looks like, some beefy fish, at least mine, when carrying eggs seem to have big bellies more so than what yours look like.

I feed my fish when the mood hits me, but I buy 50lb. bags of food, they get fed more than I used to feed years back, since I added turtles to my pond, as these guys require more regular feeding. Also feeding less keeps the fish from growing quickly and adding to the nutrient load in the pond. Even now though the one that seems to grow the most is my fat channel cat, of course it is like a giant street sweeper hoovering up all the floating food in seconds.

Yah, thanks, even the fish that spent the winter outdoors has filled back out. These fish can get aggressive at feeding times. Yesterday my big fat shubbie was chasing my sarasa and he jumped clear of the water. He was near the center and just landed on the floating plants but if he had have been closer to the edge. Yikes!! I used to think that behavior was caused by not feeding enough.

 

[GBBUDD]

When you feed less the fish spend more time grazing throughout the pond thus making it even harder for string algae or other forms to start growing as the fish will inadvertantly much on them as they start to grow

 

[Tish]

When you feed less the fish spend more time grazing throughout the pond thus making it even harder for string algae or other forms to start growing as the fish will inadvertantly much on them as they start to grow

LOL! These fish don't graze, they attack! The floating water lettuce and hyasinth is constantly on the move with one or more fish aggressively chomping on the roots. It's fortunate that those plants multiply so quickly. There is still a fine film of algae on the sides of the tank and they munch on that also. That was another reason that I thought they needed more food.