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Goldfish Care: How to take care of goldfish :

Courtesy to : the gold fish tank.com website ..

Unfortunately, many people don’t bother to find out about proper goldfish care, and think that goldfish can simply be kept in small, unfiltered bowls. It’s one ofthe biggest mistakes new goldfish keepers make. Often, this isn’t the fault of the person caring for the goldfish, but the fault of pet shop staff.

The sad fact is that there are far too many pet shops still selling small bowls (some places have banned this, but unfortunately it’s still legal in many countries) and far too many ill-informed pet shop employees that give very bad advice to inexperienced goldfish keepers. This inevitably leads to poor goldfish care, goldfish living very short lives and some very unhappy fishkeepers.

So, whether this is your first experience of keeping goldfish, or whether you’ve made some of these common mistakes in the past: well done for putting the effort in to get it right this time!

The Care Guide :

1. What not to do: 12 mistakes new goldfish keepers make:

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. And, usually, new goldfish keepers make a lot of mistakes when they get their first goldfish!

You shouldn’t feel bad about this. Yes, ideally, everyone would research the correct way to care for goldfish and properly cycle their tank before getting their first fish, but a lack of knowledge, combined with bad advice from some pet stores, often means that this is not the case.

The important thing, of course, is that we learn and become better goldfish keepers over time. This means learning not just from our own mistakes, but from other people’s mistakes too. And that’s why we’ve put this list together – to help new goldfish keepers learn from other people’s mistakes.

Here, in no particular order, are 12 mistakes new goldfish keepers make…

Mistake #1: Buying a goldfish bowl or very small tank

You should NEVER keep goldfish in a bowl. Goldfish can grow to be over a foot long and need a lot of space to swim around. They also produce a lot of waste, which means that you need a large amount of water to dilute their waste and a large colony of bacteria to convert the waste into less harmful chemicals. All of these things require a big tank.

Mistake #2: Putting too many fish in a tank

As mentioned above, goldfish need a lot of space and can pollute water quickly. You should therefore take care not to crowd your goldfish tank with too many fish.

Mistake #3: Not cycling the tank:

Goldfish produce a lot of ammonia, which is very bad for them to swim around in. Fortunately, there are types of “good” bacteria, that can convert this ammonia into less harmful chemicals. Before you even get your fish, you should “cycle” your tank to build up a colony of this bacteria.

Mistake #4: Feeding too much :

Goldfish don’t have stomachs, which means that food passes through their bodies very quickly. Also, goldfish will continue eating and eating as long as there is food available, without ever getting “full up”. Because of this, you should feed your goldfish a few very small meals per day, rather than giving them a lot of food at once. Too much food at once can cause constipation and swimming problems.

Mistake #5: Not doing enough water changes :

Generally, you should change some of your goldfish’s water once per week. Use atest kit , to keep an eye on your water parameters and do a water change more regularly if you see spikes in ammonia or nitrite ..

Mistake #6: Changing too much water at once :

You should NOT change all of your goldfish’s water at once. We suggest regular water changes of around a third of the tank’s water. Use an aquarium siphon to vacuum your gravel and remove both water and waste from your tank.

Mistake #7: Not treating tap water

Water contains chemicals that can harm the colony of “good” bacteria in your tank. You should therefore use a product such asSeachem Prime [BUY NOW] to treat your tap water and remove dangerous chemicals before adding fresh water to your tank.

Mistake #8: Cleaning filters, gravel and decorations

Your filter sponges, gravel and decorations are where the good bacteria in your tank live! NEVER wash your filter, filter sponges, gravel or decorations in tap water! Instead, remove a bucket of tank water and use that to clean them.

Mistake #9: Keeping incompatible fish together

Not many fish are compatible with goldfish, so it can be a big mistake to put other fish in your goldfish tank.

Mistake #10: Buying poor quality fish

Sometimes you can do everything right and care for your goldfish really well, but it will still live a short life. This can be due to buying “poor quality” fish, which are already weak, stunted or ill before you even bring them home from the pet store.

Mistake #11: Not quarantining new fish

New fish can sometimes carry diseases, which will spread to your other fish if you add them to your main tank straight away. For this reason, you should “quarantine” any new fish in a separate tank for two weeks, to make sure that they appear healthy and that no diseases appear.

Mistake #12: Not using an appropriate filter

As previously mentioned, goldfish produce a lot of waste, which can pollute their tank water. You should always use a filter in a goldfish tank in order to build up a colony of bacteria in your filter sponges and keep your tank water safe for your fish. Be sure to buy a filter that is large enough for your tank! Some filter series (such as the Fluval U Series ) have various sizes of a particular filter design available.

So, those are 12 mistakes new goldfish keepers make! We hope that any new goldfish keepers reading this will learn from these mistakes and avoid making similar mistakes themselves.

2. Essential kit: what you need to keep goldfish

To keep goldfish healthy and happy, you of course need the right equipment: essential kit such as a big tank, a filter and a supply of nutritious food.

3. Tank Size: Do goldfish need a big tank?

In order to take care of goldfish properly, you need to ensure that they have a suitable place to live. That means buying an appropriate tank. Goldfish need a lot of room so you should buy a big tank, not a small bowl.

4. Tank Setup: Cycling a goldfish tank

What does “cycling a goldfish tank” mean?!

This may sound complicated at first, but don’t worry, it’s not too bad really and cycling your goldfish tank is very important – so stick with it!

Like all animals, goldfish produce waste. This isn’t a problem for them in the wild, as there is so much water in rivers and in the sea that their waste gets diluted and doesn’t do them any harm. However, in a tank – even quite a big tank – their waste will build up in the water (even if you do lots of water changes) and will damage their health.

This is where “cycling” comes in! When we talk about “cycling” a goldfish tank, what we’re referring to is building up a colony of “good bacteria” in your tank – mainly in your filter and gravel. These bacteria take your water through something called “the Nitrogen Cycle” and make it safe for your fish to live in.

here are two stages to this process:

1. Ammonia (a harmful chemical in fish waste) is turned into something called “nitrite”

This is good – because ammonia is bad for your fish, so you want to get rid of it! Unfortunately, nitrite isn’t very good for them either. So we need to get rid of that too!

2. Nitrite gets turned into something called “nitrate”

Bacteria to the rescue again! Fortunately, bacteria can turn nitrite into something called “nitrate“. Now, nitrate is still not “good” for your fish, but it’s a lot less bad than ammonia and nitrite, and is only harmful in high quantities. (You’ll prevent nitrate getting too high by doing regular water changes.)

How to cycle a goldfish tank?

Cycling a goldfish tank is really easy. All you need to do is set up your tank as if the fish were already in it – including adding gravel (if you want gravel!), installing a suitable aquarium filter and switching your filter on – then regularly add ammonia until your water tests show zero ammonia, zero nitrite and some nitrate.

Great! Wait, what? tests?! Yeah, this will feel a bit like chemistry class, but it’s important (and can be fun!). You need to test your water during the cycling process to see whether you’ve built up a bacteria colony that are getting rid of your ammonia and nitrite and turning them into nitrate. You do this using a test kit (don’t worry – they come with instructions and are really easy to use!).

As well as a test kit, you’ll also need a source of ammonia.

Once you have your ammonia and your test kit – and you’ve setup your tank, with water added and the filter running – simply start adding one drop of ammonia per day for every gallon of water in your tank. If you’re using this product then one drop per gallon will equal 2 ppm (“parts per million”) of ammonia. You can also buy other bottled ammonia, though the strength may vary.

After a few days, test your water for ammonia and for nitrites. You should see quite a high ammonia reading (as you’re adding it!) and maybe some nitrites. if you don’t see any nitrites then don’t worry – just keep adding ammonia each day until you do.

Once you get a nitrite reading, all you have to do is keep adding ammonia and start testing for nitrates. After a few more days – or possibly weeks – you’ll see nitrates start to appear. Once this happens, keep adding ammonia and keep testing for all three substances. Eventually, you will see ammonia go down to zero and nitrites go down to zero, while nitrate readings stay high. Congratulations! Your tank is cycled!

What to do once your tank is cycled?

Keep adding ammonia until the day before you get your fish – this is to keep the bacteria “fed” until your fish arrive and start adding their own ammonia (waste)
Do a water change of at least 50% to lower nitrates before you add any fish
Add your fish one at a time and continue testing your water – adding too many fish could upset the delicate balance of bacteria in your tank and see ammonia or nitrites reappear

And that’s it! Follow this simple (even if it may sound a bit complicated at first!) cycling process and you’ll soon be ready to buy your first goldfish!

We know cycling can be frustrating, and may mean that you can’t bring home that first fish as soon as you’d like though, so see below for a few tips on how to speed the process up, a few warnings to make sure you don’t mess the process up, and a summary of the main points presented in this article.

Speeding up the cycling process

There are a few things that may help speed up the cycling of a fish tank.

High temperature: Keeping your water slightly warmer than you would usually can make bacteria reproduce more quickly.
Bacteria in a bottle: You can buy bacteria in a bottle to help start your bacteria colony. How well these products work is debatable. And don’t believe what they say about adding fish “instantly”. you should still add ammonia and test your water until it is properly cycled!
Borrow bacteria from a friend! “Eww…what?!”… Don’t worry, it’s not as disgusting as it sounds! We just mean that, if you know someone who already has a well established, cycled fish tank (which is free of diseases) then it can help to “seed” your tank with bacteria from there tank. Simply take some of their gravel or cut a piece of their filter sponge off and add it to your own tank to transfer the bacteria!

Warnings!

DO NOT clean your filter or gravel in tap water at any point during the cycling process or afterwards. Your filter sponges and your gravel are where the bacteria live and you don’t want to kill them! You should only ever clean your filter in water from your tank.
DO NOT listen to people who tell you to add “feeder” fish straight away as a source of ammonia. It’s cruel and they will almost certainly die. The above “fishless” cycle using bottled ammonia is much kinder!
DO NOT add too many fish at once – as mentioned above, this can ruin all of your hard work.
STAY PATIENT! Cycling a fish tank can take weeks – or even longer – but it’s much better than having unhealthy, unhappy fish that die soon after you buy them.

Summary

We know that cycling is a complicated topic and can seem confusing at first, but it’s important to realize that goldfish care starts before you get your fish, not when you get your fish. Here are the main things to remember:

Cycling is a vital part of keeping healthy fish
Cycling should be done before adding any fish
Cycling means adding ammonia until enough bacteria exists to “eat” all of the ammonia and nitrites in your tank
You start the process off by adding bottled ammonia to your tank
Your tank should be fully setup – including the filter running – when you do this
You measure the levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates using test kits
You can tell when enough bacteria exists by test readings that show zero ammonia, zero nitrite and some nitrate
Once your tank is cycled, it’s important to add fish slowly (not too many at once) and still do regular water changes

5. Tank Mates: Keeping other fish with goldfish

The first thing to realise when considering which other fish you can keep in the same tank as goldfish is that goldfish have very specific requirements and any fish you keep with goldfish will therefore need to thrive in similar living conditions.

When deciding which fish would make a suitable tank mate for a goldfish, we need to consider the facts that…

- Goldfish like relatively low temperatures. Goldfish are not tropical fish and will not be comfortable in high temperature environments.

- Goldfish can grow to be very large and need a lot of space. You should never keep goldfish in a bowl, or in a tank that is too small for them. Any other fish that you add will be taking valuable space away from your goldfish.

- Goldfish eat a lot and will try to eat anything that will fit in their mouths… including smaller fish!

- Goldfish produce a lot of waste. This waste pollutes the tank water and more than one fish puts even more strain on your aquarium filter.

- Goldfish scales can be damaged fairly easily. Plus, some fancy goldfish have “bubble eyes” that can be easily damaged too.

What other fish can you keep with goldfish?

Considering the requirements above, to keep other fish with goldfish you’d need to find a type of fish that:

1. Likes similar temperatures

2. Will not do any harm to your goldfish

3. Is big or quick enough for your goldfish not to eat them!

4. You can fit into your goldfish tank while still having enough space.

That’s quite a lot to ask! Which is why our advice is to only keep goldfish with other goldfish.

Not only that; we also advise against mixing common and comet goldfish with fancy goldfish. This is because the slower moving, poorly-sighted fancy fish may struggle to compete for food and have their long, flowing fins nipped by the other fish.

We know this probably isn’t the answer you wanted to hear, as it can be very tempting to add more fish to your tank! However, we would strongly advise that, if you do want to start keeping other types of fish, you get a new tank and keep them separately rather than keeping them together with your goldfish.

What if you REALLY want to keep other fish with goldfish?!

Ok, if you absolutely must add another type of fish to your goldfish tank, we’d suggest either White Cloud Mountain Minnows orZebra Danios.

However, you will need to make sure that your goldfish aren’t too big (ie. that they won’t be able to fit the smaller fish in their mouths) – remember; your goldfish will grow! – and that your tank is big enough.

Also, Minnows and Danios are schooling fish that live in groups, so you shouldn’t just add one or two. You should add at leastthree – preferably more like six. That will require quite a big tank when you consider how much space your goldfish already need.

Remember: We strongly recommend that you keep common goldfish with other common goldfish, fancy goldfish with other fancy goldfish, and never mix goldfish with any other species of fish.

6. Filtration: Do goldfish need a filter?

As well as buying a big enough tank, you also need to ensure that your goldfish’s water is properly filtered. A wide range of internal and external filters are available and you need to pick the right filter in order to properly care for your goldfish.

7. Air pumps: Do goldfish need an air pump?

We’ve already found out that you should definitely add a filter to your goldfish tank. But what about an air pump? What is the difference between a filter and an air pump? And is an air pump necessary for goldfish?

8. Goldfish Food: What do goldfish eat?

Feeding your goldfish the right kind of food – and the right amount of food – is a key part of proper goldfish care. Eating the wrong type, or wrong amount, of food can be very bad for your fish.

In this article, we look at the types of food goldfish eat. Including goldfish food available from your local pet shop, some alternative types of food that you may want to add to your fish’s diet, and – most importantly – we tell you how to avoid harming your goldfish through overfeeding!

Is goldfish food different to other fish food?

Goldfish food contains less protein and more carbohydrates than other fish food (such as tropical fish food). Manufacturers of goldfish food have produced food with the specific dietary requirements of goldfish in mind, so you shouldn’t just pick up a tub of generic “fish food”. Your goldfish need to eat proper goldfish food that meets their specific needs.

The goldfish food you buy will be in the form of flakes (which float) or pellets (which usually sink – though floating pellets are also available). There are a few factors to consider when deciding whether to feed your goldfish flakes, pellets or a mixture of both:

Is your fish big enough to eat pellets? Some pellets can be too big to fit in the mouths of young fish.

– Sinking pellets may be more difficult to find and remove. This means that uneaten pellets will rot and pollute your water.

– Goldfish may swallow air when eating flakes or floating pellets off the surface of the water, which can cause digestion problems.

– Flakes can lose some of their nutritional value after the tub is opened and the flakes are exposed to air. Pellets retain their nutritional value better than flakes do.

What else do goldfish eat?

In the wild, goldfish eat crustaceans, plants, insects and will sometimes even eat smaller fish. While you obviously can’t match their natural diet exactly, you should try to feed your goldfish food that is similar to what they would eat in the wild.

As well as flakes and pellets designed specifically for them, goldfish will eat peas (with the shells removed), boiled vegetables,bloodworms [BUY NOW] and brine shrimp [BUY NOW].

The above foods make a great change to flakes and pellets. You can read about other treats for your goldfish here!

If you choose to feed live food – rather than freeze dried – then there is a slight risk of transferring disease to your goldfish. To avoid this, frozen and freeze-dried foods are available. They’re not quite as good as live food, but they do offer many of the same benefits without the same risk of disease.

How much should goldfish eat?

Overfeeding can be very bad for your goldfish. Goldfish don’t have stomachs, so they never get “full up” like humans do. This means that goldfish will eat and eat for as long as there is food available! Adding too much food can cause your goldfish to eat too much, which leads to blocked intestines and swim bladder problems. A long trail of poop behind your goldfish is a sign that your fish has over-eaten!

You should feed your goldfish two or three times per day, but only in very small amounts at a time. Slowly add tiny pinches of food to your tank, for about one minute, never adding more than your goldfish can eat in this time. If you leave food in your tank after feeding then it will get stuck in your filter and rot, which will pollute your water. You should therefore remove any uneaten food after the feeding session. It’s often a good idea to feed just before doing a water change, as you can then remove any uneaten food when changing the tank water.

If you keep your water at a low temperature then your goldfish should eat even less than this. Your goldfish’s metabolism slows down at lower temperatures, which means they need less food than when kept in warmer water.

The main thing to remember when deciding how much to feed a goldfish is this: it’s extremely unlikely that you’ll ever seriously harm a goldfish by feeding it too little. But you could very easily feed it too much!

How long can goldfish live without food?

If you’re going on holiday then you could buy an automated fish feeder that will release set amounts of food at regular intervals. However, this is risky, as the feeder could malfunction and release too much food!

Another option would be a feeding block – a block of food that sits in the water for your fish to nibble on – but these have their problems too. Feeding blocks can make your water cloudy and throw off your water parameters.

The important thing to realise is that goldfish can live a surprisingly long time without food! If you’re going on holiday for two weeks or less then it’s probably best to just leave your goldfish without food. Trust us, they’ll be fine!

For longer holidays, ask a friend or neighbour to come in and feed your goldfish once or twice, but remember to teach them how to do it properly! Your friend may not know much about feeding goldfish so you should tell them how much to feed them, when to feed them and you should dish out appropriate amounts of food for them in advance.

(If you’re still worried that your fish will starve if not fed for a week or two then maybe the following article will reassure you! These two goldfish lived for four and a half months with virtually no food!)

Where can I buy goldfish food?

Rather than buying goldfish food from the supermarket (where the food on offer tends to be lower quality), you should buy goldfish food from quality pet shops or buy food online [visit amazon now] from well-known brands such as Tetra or Hikari.

9. Water Changes: How to change your goldfish’s tank water

Water changes are an essential aspect of proper goldfish care. In this post, we explain how often you should do a water change, how much water to change each time, and tell you some of the most common water change mistakes to avoid!

10. Lighting: Do goldfish need an aquarium light?

Lighting is certainly less important than feeding, tank size and filtration, but it is still an element of goldfish care that you should consider when setting up your tank.

11. Temperature: What is a suitable goldfish tank temperature?

Goldfish tank temperature:

In this article, we explain what water temperatures are suitable for goldfish. We also suggest that you check out our article on aeration as the amount of oxygen in water is closely linked to the water temperature.

We often hear about how goldfish are hardy fish that can survive a wide range of water conditions – including very cold and quite warm water – but are some temperatures more suitable for goldfish than others? How hot is too hot? How cold is too cold? And what temperature encourages goldfish to breed?

Read on to find out how best to measure your goldfish tank temperature, the right temperatures for breeding goldfish, non-breeding aquarium temperatures, and the importance of air supply in warm water.

Monitoring the temperature of your goldfish tank

How to measure tank temperature

To measure your tank temperature you will need to purchase an aquarium thermometer and follow the instructions. there are types of thermometer that stick to the inside your tank and types that stick to the outside of your tank. We prefer the ones that go inside and float in the water, but both types should be reasonably accurate.

Breeding tank temperature

The correct temperature for goldfish really depends upon whether you intend to breed your fish.

If you intend to breed your goldfish then, rather than maintaining a steady temperature all year round, you should try toreplicate the temperature changes that occur in nature. Goldfish spawn in the spring, when water temperatures rise after the cold winter. Therefore, to encourage your goldfish to lay eggs, you should lower the temperature of your tank in the winter months to between 10°C/50°F and 12°C/54°F. Then, when you want to induce breeding, gradually raise the temperature of the water to between 20°C/68°F and 23°C/74°F.

Non-breeding tank temperature

If you’re not interested in breeding your goldfish then you should keep your temperature at a steady temperature all year round. A tank temperature of approximately 23°C/74°F will be high enough to encourage a good rate of growth in your goldfish, without being so high that your goldfish become stressed.

How hot is too hot? And how cold is too cold?

Your goldfish will become very stressed if kept in water of 30°C/86°F or more. Avoid placing your tank in direct sunlight or near radiators so that your water temperature stays well below this level.

In terms of a minimum temperature, goldfish can survive in water that is close to freezing, however, you should really keep your tank temperature several degrees above this in order to encourage strong growth.

The most important thing is that your tank temperature does not change suddenly. Sudden changes in water temperature can shock your goldfish and contribute to problems such as swim bladder disease.

Air supply:

It’s important to realize that the hotter your goldfish’s water gets, the less oxygen there is in the water. Of course, goldfish need oxygen to live, so you must ensure that your tank has an adequate “aeration system” (a system of adding air into the water). We recommend buying a tank that has a large surface area – avoid “tall” tanks that have a poor surface area to volume ratio – andadding an air pump.

11. Temperature: What is a suitable goldfish tank temperature?

What temperature is best for goldfish? How hot is too hot? How cold is too cold?And what temperature encourages goldfish to breed?

12. Breeding: How to breed goldfish

Goldfish breeding is not an easy task, but it is possible to breed goldfish in a tank or pond – it just takes good care, the right conditions and plenty of patience!

Breeding Goldfish Successfuly ... A Step-By-Step Guide :

Below information is courtesy to : http://goldfish2care4.com/

When you've had your goldfish for a while it's normal to think about breeding them. It seems that everyone that has been keeping goldfish successfully goes down this path. Breeding goldfish in an aquarium will require some preparationand attention to detail.

It's not as easy as how you breed goldfish in outdoor ponds. This is because in their natural habitat fish have more, space, oxygen and plants to leave their eggs on.

Let's go step-by-step trough the things that you need to do in order to provide the ideal conditions to encourage goldfish to breed successfully.

It's a fact that goldfish are ready to breed from 1-2 years old, but usually they breed best at 3 years.

They spawn once a month from April to August, when the weather is warmer. Spawning provides a wonderful opportunity to learn more about your goldfish.

Luckily you don't have to be a geneticist like Clay Siegall to understand the biology involved in breeding your goldfish. As a zoologist, Mr. Siegall has an understanding of many animals.

How to Sex Goldfish

Sexing goldfish is not as simple as telling the difference between a duck and a mouse. The only way to sex your goldfish is during the breeding season. You must know how many males and females you have before you can start breeding goldfish. Here are the differences:

The "Chase":

Males start to pursue goldfish relentlessly, creating quite a splash. The males are persistent, determined and don't give up. This behavior is normal, although males may start to appear "aggressive". The chase will continue as the male nudges the female's stomach area, encouraging her to release their eggs so he can release the milt.

The process of external fertilization means that both the milt(soft roe) and the eggs(hard roe) are released from the male and female outside their bodies. Females can lay up to 1000 eggs, though only a small portion of these become fertilized and grown into healthy adults.

Goldfish Breeding Cycle:

The process is initiated by the female. She sends out pheromones to let the male goldfish know it's time to prepare for breeding. This encourages the production of milt.

Your male starts to nudge the female and chase to encourage her to release the eggs. He will follow by spraying his milt onto the roe to fertilize them.

Now, breeding goldfish is not that easy. Sometimes knowing how to breed goldfish is not enough. It often takes a bit of trial and error before you get successful results. You have to be patient and encourage your fish to start the breeding process.

Encourage Your Fish to Breed: Step-by-Step :

1-Goldfish are pre-programmed to reproduce when it's warmer. A heater is useful and consistency to water temperature or you can wait till the temperature changes naturally.

2-Add some protein to their diets. Protein-rich foods like daphnia, insect larvae, bloodworms, brine shrimp should always be used as treats. Also add vegetables and fruit to their diet to keep them healthy and not constipated

3-Feed your goldfish 3 times a day to trigger the breeding response

4-Fresh water helps goldfish have more energy. Change 20% of the water every day to remove the waste resulted from extra foods.

5-Keep a consistent water temperature of 70oF(21oC) during the day and 50oF(10oC) during the night

6-Sex the males and females .

7-Separate the males and females into different tanks for 3 days, to create a greater desire to breed. You need to prepare the second tank a week in advance - later this will become the "fry tank" for the young goldfish

8-Reintroduce the fish together.

9-Keep doing daily 20% water changes to maintain water conditions.Always treat the water with purifying conditioner before adding to the tank.

10-Create a "spawning mop" and add it to the tank you want to breed in. This will help catch the eggs later, so you can remove them to a separate tank, to allow the fry to emerge.

- Female :

- has abdomen swollen

- more rounded than the males (easier to observe when looked at from the top)

- when she is ready to spawn, vent becomes protruded

Male : :

-has breeding tubercles or white "stars" covering its gills and pectoral fins

- when he is ready to spawn, the vent becomes more open and longer

How to Make A "Spawning Mop" :

In the wild, goldfish naturally mate amongst plants and vegetation.

To create a natural environment in captivity you need

to create a "spawning mop".

You need:

a shier(dark green) of acrylic yarn
a cork(from wine bottle)
A4-size hardcover book
pair of scissors

Steps to making the spawning mop:

Boil the yarn in the water to sterilize the wool and ensure it's not harmful to the fish
Open the book and put the start of the sting inside it(right behind cover). Remember where you started
Take the rest of the wool and wrap it about 50 times around the length of the book
Once you finish Step #3 cut off the sting from the book to the yarn. Then cut of a 5" piece of sting. Tie it together around the middle of the 50 strands of wool. This will keep them together
Turn the book over and cut the wool around the back right along the middle. This will create 2 equal length strands
Tie or pin the cork using the loose strand of the wool on the top t allow the mop to float. This will make it resemble the natural plants in the wild
Add it to your "breeding tank"

The Healthy Female Goldfish:

When breeding goldfish, you must know that males can sometimes become "aggressive" towards females, constantly nudging them and forcing them to release the eggs. If this goes on for more than a week, you need to move the females into a separate tank to give them some rest.

This way you can prevent the female from losing too much scales, getting over-stressed and affecting the immune system. You must keep a close eye on them. Good Luck!

Pumpkins fly. You'll get for my Free "Goldfish Care Minicourse" sooner or later, anyway.

Goldfish Babies - Essential Care Tips :

If you are thinking about having goldfish babies, called fry, you need to have a second tank ready and set up for them. Make sure you extract the eggs in the spawning mop as soon as you see them, or they will be eaten by the adult goldfish.

You know that you can add the eggs as soon as they appear, but must have a "fry tank" set up and ready for at least a week before you add the spawning mop. It needs to be properly cycled. The secret to ensure the cycling process is kick-started properly in the fry tank is to use 20% of the water from the main tank.

Guidelines on Setting Up A "Fry Tank"

-Get a 10 gallon aquarium

-Ensure that your fry tank is properly-cycled and the water temperature is the same as the tank where the eggs will come from

-A low-strength internal water filter will help preventing the fry getting sucked up

-Have a bare bottom with no gravel to see any debris and dead fry much more easily

-Ensure water is not deeper than 6 inches(15cm). So the fry can get to the top and feed

-Rinse the spawning mop gently into the fry tank to release the eggs and milt

-Use a water heater to keep the temperature at an even 70oF(21oC)

-At 70oF the fry will hatch in 3 to 4 days

-Keep and eye out for clear eggs as they are the ones that hatch

-Remove the clowdy looking eggs at once, as these will not hatch

Fry are too small to eat the same food as adult goldfish. After 48 hours, you can start to feed them liquid food, especially designed for them. The protein in cooked yolk of hard-boiled eggs will help them grow.

At two months, they will be able to manage larger food. Newly-hatched brine shrimp make an excellent snack for them.

You can buy brine shrimp eggs from the pet stores and hatch them at home. They take a couple of days to hatch, so you will start hatching them as soon as the fry start to develop.

Infusoria are a popular food for fry. Infusoria are single-celled organisms that can be cultivated at home. Take a piece of fruit like a banana or lettuce leaf and place it in a jar with some aquarium water. Put it in direct sunlight or a week.

You are looking for the water to become clowdy, which indicates the infusoria organisms are growing. Add 3 tablespoons of the water to each feeding. Algae also make excellent food for the goldfish babies. So, leave any algae that grows in the fry tank.

How Often To Feed My Goldfish Babies?

In the first month, fry need to feed at least 3 and as much as 6 times a day. If they are gobbling down the food, then you can carry with your schedule. For the first 4 months feed them 3 times a day and only give them what they can eat in 2 minutes to keep the water as clean as possible.

Regular water changes in the first month will provide optimum conditions for your new goldfish babies (fry). Aim to do a water change every other day. You will have to be very careful not to siphon the fry into the bucket because they are so small. Remove any dead fry with a net immediately to keep the water quality pure.

The Goldfish Care Minicourse, can help you overcome your problems when caring for goldfish. Take advantage of this now.

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