My Fish are Going to Spawn Soon.

ZmanArt007

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You make some excellent points, Zman, thanks. I had goldfish and koi together, and decided to separate them so no cross breeding would happen. Didn't know about the fantails not intermingling with the koi. I guess I figured if a female spawned, the males are ready all the time, so either could have fertilized the eggs. You know, guys are always ready, girls have to be in the right "time". :) That's why I figured likely to cross breed, but I am so excited to see your baby fantails. There is hope for them yet! I have 3 fantails that have been in my pond for 4 years now. How large or old are your fantails that spawned? Just curious if they have to be older or a certain size. I think Addy posted that her regular goldfish and Comets, 2-3" when put in the first year, spawned that same year. So did mine.
I didn't mean that the fancy goldfish and the fantails can't spawn, Country, what I meant was that I'm pretty sure the gene that causes the fancy tail in fancy goldfish is not passed down to koi/fancy hybrids. I have one Moore, one Ryukin, and two Orandas (Only one at spawning size). I just got them last year, they have grown a lot but are still only about three inches long excluding tail. These fry with the fancy tails are likely cross between one of those three fancies and my comets or my young subunkin.
 
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I LOVE those baby fantails! Thanks for explaining the possible crosses, Z-Man. I can sure understand that cross. :)
And, I found 2 baby goldfish in my goldfish pond on Sat., spotted both of them again on Sunday, and this morning spotted a half-sized one with them. All are white with black markings, so guessing them all to be Shubunkins. They are darting back and forth quite a lot,and staying at the bottom of the pond, so no photos worth anything to share. Sooner or later they will figure out to come to the surface for food, but probably will be a while yet. The larger two are about 1.5" long, and the little one is less than an inch, or so it appears. Excited, as I have not had any babies for the last 2 seasons. Putting the mop head in the pond next to where I saw them spawn may have helped, or it may be just good luck.
 

ZmanArt007

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Okay, so a few of the fish have started to display real color. There are several shubunkin-looking single-tailed fish swimming around, probably the offspring of my single shubunkin and one of my female comets:


A more interesting discovery, however, is this little beauty right here:



I know the pictures aren't the best; my phone isn't the greatest at macro-photography. But what we are looking at here is a Calico-colored, double-tailed goldfish. This is an interesting discovery because it might help me determine the parents of the fancy fry (Or at least the ones that end up calico).

So, because of the fancy tail, one of the parents, obviously, are one of these fancy goldfish:

Black Moore (Assumed to be male)


Red Cap Oranda (Male, thought to be sexually immature at the time of spawning)


Orange Oranda (Female)


Calico Ryukin (Female) - Perhaps her Missing Tail is a result of spawning with the large comets?

And, because of all of the common goldfish-bodied fry, born in the same batch, I assume that these fancy-tailed fry are not just a result of fancies, but a crossbreed of fancy and comet/shubunkin. Because of this calico fish, I think I can determine that it is a crossbreed of:

Shubunkin Male and Orange Oranda Female, or
Comet Male and Calico Ryukin Female, or
Shubunkin Male and Calico Ryukin Female.


So far, their bodies resemble more of an oranda than a ryukin, but that very well could be because of the comet/shubunkin genes. (Isn't a watonai a cross between a wakin and a ryukin or something like that?) Because of all the variation, and because I missed the actual spawning, I guess I can't determine their lineage with certainty. It's likely that there was a goldfish-orgy, and there are countless combinations within the nursery tank.

Either way, it's fun that some of them are getting color :D
 
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I have baby shubunkins in my pond, but no fantails yet that I have ever spotted. One day ... maybe one day I will have fantail babies. My fantails are as old as my large goldfish, but never notice them being part of the frenzy when I do see the spawning going on. Thanks again for sharing your photos. Love that little calico fantail!
 

ZmanArt007

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So I caught some of the colored ones to take some photos of them. Here they are:








Two of them have fantails. One of them is not calico, only orange and white, but has a rounder body. I think more fish are getting colors every day. Hopefully I get some good looking specimens!
 

sissy

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your pics in the orange bowl are easier to see the difference in them that the white container .I have to get another popeye for my olive oil she misses her mate after the toad ate him and he was not a small fish either .none of my fish are small
 

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I was in my goldfish pond tonight, it was 97 degrees, and I needed to trim the lilies. Anyhow, while in there, I spotted two of the babies. Not sure how old they are, maybe a month, but they were well over 2" already! My or my how they have grown. Both were calicos, so I'm thrilled. I would ecstatic if I ever got a fantail baby, but so far, only Comets and Shubunkins, but I'm good with that. Oh, and there were at least 2 black ones a week or so ago, so those will be common goldfish, solid red/orange when they mature.
 

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