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Goldfish Breeding - Part 2

This document discusses the development of goldfish fry from 3 to 6 months of age. [1] By 3 months, 2-3 culls have removed fish with deformities or that don't meet breed standards, with leftover fish donated or humanely destroyed. [2] Between 3-6 months, body style, fins, and coloration take their final form. [3] A fourth cull at 4-5 months selects 5-10 fish out of hundreds or thousands to raise to maturity due to space, food, water quality, and genetic limitations.

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71 views4 pages

Goldfish Breeding - Part 2

This document discusses the development of goldfish fry from 3 to 6 months of age. [1] By 3 months, 2-3 culls have removed fish with deformities or that don't meet breed standards, with leftover fish donated or humanely destroyed. [2] Between 3-6 months, body style, fins, and coloration take their final form. [3] A fourth cull at 4-5 months selects 5-10 fish out of hundreds or thousands to raise to maturity due to space, food, water quality, and genetic limitations.

Uploaded by

andy45
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Goldfish Breeding, Part 2 – Fry Development

In the previous article, we talked about breeding fish from first spawn
through 2 -3 months of age. This article will concentrate on
development from 3 – 6 months of age.

By the time goldfish reach 3 months of age, approximately 2 to 3 culls


will have taken place. The first several culls are performed to remove
fish which have obvious deformities, or do not meet general breed
requirements. Culls from these stages can be donated to folks who
want fish, pet shops, neighborhood children, or humanely destroyed. I
prefer to donate the fish, and there seems to be a ready market of
folks who would like fish. This process usually takes a little longer, but
makes people happy and saves fish.

By three months of age, body style and finnage will begin to take their
final form. Coloration will start taking shape as well, although metallic
fish can take up to a year for de-coloration to occur. Breed
characteristics (like head growth, eyes, etc.) will begin to develop.

Please see the picture below, which shows Orandas at four months old.

A fourth cull should be performed at about 4 – 5 months to select the


fish to be raised through maturity. Out of a spawn of several hundred
to several thousand fish, no more than 5 – 10 fish should be
maintained for final grow-out. There are several reasons for this small

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percentage of fish which are selected for grow-out. The primary
reason is space; there is just not enough space to raise all of the fish
that are spawned. If not given enough space, fish will not grow to
optimal sizes. The second reason is food: raising large numbers of
fish requires a great deal of food. The third reason is water quality;
maintenance of proper water conditions is difficult when faced with
large fish loads. The final reason is genetics: most fish will have
some sort of defect or undesirable characteristic for showing.

By six months of age, fish will look very much like their breed variety,
but not all variety characteristics will be fully developed yet. The
following pictures illustrate 6 month old fish. Telescopes bred by
Steven Smith, Orandas by Peter Ponzio, and Phoenix by Russ Taylor.

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Eventually, the babies will develop into fish which look like their
parents. Presented below is a picture of the male Oranda which was
used in breeding the fry in Article 1 and 2 of this series.

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