Hi there folks, i know you will all find goldfish boring to the types of fish some of you have lol, but i was wondering how it is possible to tell the age and sex of goldfish, and how you actually get them to mate, i know it can take a fair few months for goldfish to breed from the brief research i have carried out, i have 3 goldfish and 2 saras comments in a tank that measures approx 40cm long by 25cm wide and 25cm tall, i have gravel in the bottom and a few artificial plants, i have a filter in the tank but no heating element, please could someone point me in the right direction please as to breeding and sexing goldfish.

Thanks

Deano

Put them in a pond. Babies will follow.... lol.

I think a winter temp drop helps... which being indoors, they may not have had. If the water is less than about 20C, then swith the heater on at about 1C more than the curret temp, raising it over some weeks to 20C.

Then, feed really well with alsorts of foods, live foods and frozen, get them nice and fat. Make sure the water quality remains good though.

Add some dense plants to the tank, like spawning mops and elodea and things, and hopefully they will go for it when the temp is warm.

Sexing: males have tubercles (sp?) on their gills/nose. Females will be bigger and deeper bodied... hopefully full of eggs

Hope that helps. Also check out this website, its really useful : Google

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Thank you very much for your quicky reply, however i am not able to put the fish in a pond, as i am living in a rented property and would not be aloud permission for this, i am considering on getting a larger tank within the next month, thinking around a 2ft-3ft long tank, as i say i do not have a heating source in my tank at the moment but would purchase one if someone could give me details of a fairly cheap one, also what type of plants could i use in an indoor tank, also you say the temp should drop to help breeding, the room the fish are being kept in is a bedroom which used to be a garage so is fairly cool as compared to a normal room, i am going to get a thermometer from Wilkinsons this weekend that you still inside the tank, so will have a idea then of temperature.

Many Thanks

Deano

Thats k. I'm sure other people will help too. I have only ever personally bred them in a pond.

The larger tank the better. Tbh, for golfish, I would recommend a 3ft minimum.... or a 4ft. Would give you the best chances of spawning.

Sounds really good that it might have been cooled over winter slightly. Yeh, buy a thermometer, which are cheap, and a heater possibly.. which are 20 quid or so.

Raise the temps over 6 weeks or so from whatever it is now to 20C.

As for plants: elodea, or fake ones, or spawning mops

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Ok i will look for a heater from ebay, wot sort would u reccomend, i have just had a brief look and they have power in Watts, what sort of size heater would i need for a 3ft tank as that is what im going to get.

Thanks

Deano

you wont need to heat it the water temp would of droped`anyhow ....in a tank breeding will be hard as the eggs will get eaten when they are scattered ...how bigs the tank you have now .....get a gd 4 ft one and plant it well nice bushy real plants ....you can try some pond plants

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Erm, guess its about 100 litres, so maybe 100/200 watt heater? Should say on the auction page hopefully...

yeh, take the adults out (or eggs out) after spawning. They will hopefully be attached to the plants.

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Ive just had some baby goldfish from my two and i didnt change the temps but thats just me there in a 1 foot tank (upgradin soon) and just feed them 3 times a day so there all fattend up

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You want some breeding mops, these can be small leafed dense plants.

if you get the bunches, hang them in the top of the tank, you will need another tank that you can move the eggs into, doens have to be to big and I would advise no filter on the eggs tank as eggs and babys may get sucked up the intake.

Use water from the main tank to fill the egg tank.

In terms of inducing breeding a slight raise in temperature, lenthening of the light period, and more frequent water-changes coupled with more fresh food would induce them into breeding

Sexing goldfish is pretty simple if they are big enough, males have the tube things that look a little like pieces of skin on the end of thier faces/noses, and females dont

Hope this helps

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