I could use a little help understanding spawning (no... not a lecture on the birds & bees!!! :rolleyes: ) Could someone describe a timeline (from crazy chases to fry) of events that I might observe?

...my fish have spawned twice, I believe. I would like to know where they might deposit eggs, and if the eggs are not eaten, what do surviving fry eat?

thanks!
Lori

Our 6 adult goldfish spawned in our potted plants,especially our parrot (which is huge). I didn't feed the fry anything different/extra. They ate whatever was floating in the pond ( I feed the adults flaked food) and algae on the sides of the pond. I took a few pics the other day and counted 22 fish/fry. So we have AT LEAST 20 fry of all different colors and shapes. Hubby wanted to catch some for the aquarium to overwinter. :o I'm in the process of killing plants in the aquarium. I'm not a tank person. :(

After spawning, eggs normally hatch in 6 to 10 days depending on the temperature, but about a week. The fry will cling to whatever is around for almost a week, doing basically nothing. If disturbed, they flail swim. After about a week, they are able to swim. That's called free swimming. Free swimming goldfish fry will swim right below the surface. They eat microscopic animals and plants. The pond will naturally have those. Most fry left in the pond are eaten by the parents and other predators as eggs or as fry during the first few weeks. If they were not, my pond would have about 10,000 new goldfish each year instead of less than a dozen. The free swimming fry remain tiny, like slivers of glass, barely noticeable for about a month. Then, they start to take form. How fast they grow depends on temperature and food availability as well as competition (how crowded things are). It may take 3 months, 6 months, or a year but they eventually get to an inch or so long at which time they normally develop some color. Goldfish can change colors throughout their lives but most color changes occur in the first few years. Shubunkins color up soonest while common goldfish take the longest. By the time the goldfish are about 3 inches, they can spawn, although few eggs are made at that size. That normally takes two or three years before they're really spawning, and the cycle starts again.

Is that the kind of information that you wanted?

Thanks for the info! My pond is murky right now, so if any fry survive, I probably won't see them for awhile. My fish tend to lose their appetites after the big chase, so I figured they were eating eggs. Hopefully the next time this happens my pond will be clear and I can get a better look around.

Lori