And they're at it...again!

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Stop feeding and the hungry fish will eat the eggs.....or so I’m told.
Years ago I had a little 150 ish gallon preformed pond with no filter, plants, and a homemade pond spitter. I got 4 for a dollar feeders, and the two of the four that didn't get eaten by the neighbor's cat just happened to be a pair! I never fed the fish. Then, one day when I finally decided to clear out some hyacinth, I found babies. EIGHT FIVE one inch long babies! So I guess the fish weren't hungry enough to eat their own eggs. :wacky:

They continued to spawn like mad, and I continued to give away babies (nobody wanted the adults!), up until the overly amorous male landed outside the pond from chasing the female, and I didn't find him in time.

So with my luck, even if I don't feed the fish, I'll probably have 1,000 by Spring! :LOL: I already have four fry in the house that came in on a plant I put in our nano tank...:censored:
 
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So with any luck my goldfish can breed and stay ahead of the heron’s evil beak so the pond will always have goldfish flashing in the sun.
Well if you run out we'll probably have plenty of stock for you!

P.S. - Hope you enjoyed your travels.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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I have shubunkins, goldfish mix. They do eat up eggs as they get laid. I don't see that many fry in the pond. Still have plenty of water room for them.

I feed them very lightly, average once every two weeks or so sometimes less. Increase the feeding as winter approaches.
 
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Years ago I had a little 150 ish gallon preformed pond with no filter, plants, and a homemade pond spitter. I got 4 for a dollar feeders, and the two of the four that didn't get eaten by the neighbor's cat just happened to be a pair! I never fed the fish. Then, one day when I finally decided to clear out some hyacinth, I found babies. EIGHT FIVE one inch long babies! So I guess the fish weren't hungry enough to eat their own eggs. :wacky:

They continued to spawn like mad, and I continued to give away babies (nobody wanted the adults!), up until the overly amorous male landed outside the pond from chasing the female, and I didn't find him in time.

So with my luck, even if I don't feed the fish, I'll probably have 1,000 by Spring! :LOL: I already have four fry in the house that came in on a plant I put in our nano tank...:censored:
Hi Something Fishy. I at one time had 7 goldfish and now have about 70 with no help from me. The number has stayed pretty constant the last few years. At some point when you have a lot of fish the number of babies will dramatically decrease because there are too many hungry mouths swimming around!
 
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Here it is, the middle of September, and went out to the pond to find more spawning evidence! :censored: And while I'm standing there, out swims a little white baby goldfish! Maybe about 3/4" long, dashing from one clump of hornwort to another! :eek:
 
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Here it is, the middle of September, and went out to the pond to find more spawning evidence! :censored: And while I'm standing there, out swims a little white baby goldfish! Maybe about 3/4" long, dashing from one clump of hornwort to another! :eek:

Counted THREE babies at one time today! Two white, one dark. They are big enough that they must feel comfortable leaving the shelter of the hornwort forests to enter the open water. The big fish see 'em, but don't give chase. Who knows how many are really in there! *Sigh* Of course I expected this eventually, but not in a 3 month old pond stocked with fish that are all under a year old!
 
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I rounded up six of at least 8 babies from the pond and have them indoors, along with two other fry I raised indoors. In the pond we had at our previous home I never found the babies until the end of the season when they were already a couple inches long. So its been a lot of fun being able to watch these guys grow, and develop their colors.

babies.jpg


loki.jpg



Poor little Shmoo with the kinked tail just isn't developing very fast, but it keeps right up with the big ones at feeding time.
shmoo.jpg
 

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