Shubunkins gone a spawnin'!!

[Mickowitz]

My trio of shubbies started their latest spawning sparring yesterday. This morning I came out to a pond that was strangely cloudy, and for the first time I found eggs all over the filter enclosure!!

I need good basic advice on trying to hatch and raise the fry. Apparently I need to move those eggs to another tank, but can anyone point me to good info online, or a basic guide? I don't have anything close to a "pro" setup—the shubbies are in a 40 gallon water trough, below an overhanging balcony.

 

[poconojoe]

Shubunkins are great. They're colorful, usually have nice beautiful flowing fins and don't grow too large.
A 40 gallon container doesn't seem large enough for your original three shubunkin, let alone trying to keep (and grow) additional hatched frys.
Unless you intend on starting a larger pond or tank, where are these new fish going to live?
I think you have caught the "pond bug"...
Time to start a new (and bigger) fun project!
We can help you with some ideas if you want to go this route.

 

[Mickowitz]

Thank you poconojoe. I wish I had more space for a larger or additional pond, but this is what I can manage in my condo patio. It may be possible to switch to a larger version of this trough, but I need to look at what will still fit in this ideal space.

I'm just very interested in seeing if I can actually, successfully raise some fry from these eggs, just for the delight of observing them. If any actually hatch and survive (I don't even know if they were fertilized), I'll just give them to some pond-owning friends or others who might be interested. At the moment, the filter and the filter with the eggs have been moved to a bucket filled with water from the pond.

Looking forward to ideas and advice!

 

[addy1]

Get a gentle aerator going, add some algae, under water plants, give them micro stuff to eat.
Disclaimer: Mine just grow in the pond, I have not tried to save any.

 

[poconojoe]

Yes, it is nice to observe nature. Unfortunately you don't have a lot of space, so you are limited. If they do hatch, maybe you can keep them for a while, then hopefully re-home them.
I lost 3 giant koi this year and thinking of replacing them with a couple shubunkin. Koi just get too big! I still have a few big ones, but shubbies are nice and they don't grow so large.

 

[addy1]

love my shubbies, to me as pretty if not prettier than koi. And smaller easy to care for.

 

[poconojoe]

Nice addy!

 

[addy1]

Thanks most are pond born

 

[Tula]

Honestly, I've never tried to enhance their hatching rate.....but some always seem to survive! They seem to be fairly hardy and find little nooks and crannies to hide in

 

[poconojoe]

Yes, it's amazing how they hide, then all of a sudden you see a new fish seemingly out of nowhere start feeding with all the "big boys". That fish might be as big as 3 or 4 inches long and you wonder where was that guy hiding all this time? I had one recently like this. A cool looking black one with orange spots. Can't tell exactly what he is yet, probably just a goldfish or hybrid but I'm hoping a shubunkin.

 

[addy1]

Honestly, I've never tried to enhance their hatching rate.....but some always seem to survive! They seem to be fairly hardy and find little nooks and crannies to hide in

I don't want to enhance their hatching rate, then we would be over whelmed with fish. Right now we stay at a nice balance.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

@Mickowitz Cute little water trough pond.

You can use a rubbermaid storage bin for the babies. Just don't fill it to the top as they tend to bow from the weight of the water. I would use a sponge filter (powered by an airpump) and make sure to do lots of water changes. They sell food for fry which is very small granules almost like a powder. Or you can buy something like Omega One goldfish flakes but you will need to pinch them between your fingers to break them up.

Good luck with the babies and keep us updated : )

 

[Mickowitz]

Thank you @bettasngoldfish! I found out that the eggs will hatch in only 4–7 days, so it won't take much longer to know if i have any new babies. I assume that I can crush some of the small pellet food for the adults to feed the babies. Most of the eggs have disappeared, though, and I keep closely scanning the water, but see no new little life forms yet. I suppose that I'll give up at the two week mark. Still hoping...

In the meantime, the trio kept spawning and the water is very milky, so I have to get going on water changes. Frisky little buggers, aren't they?