Unlike some other aquarium fishes that are livebearers, goldfish lay eggs. This means that goldfish lay eggs rather than giving birth to their young ones alive.
How Many Eggs Can A Goldfish Lay? A female goldfish will lay 1000 eggs and can lay up to 10,000 eggs. Only a small amount of these eggs will hatch due to not all of them will get fertilized and some will be lost to predators.
Healthy goldfish eggs can have a wide variety of colours ranging from white, yellow to orange. They appear small, and they also sometimes look like transparent bubbles. Likewise, as a survival strategy, the eggs are also very sticky to help them adhere to the surface of their aquarium plants.
Likewise, goldfish can spawn multiple times weekly during the breeding season. These fertilized eggs remain outside the body of the goldfish until they hatch before eventually growing to free swimmers.
Goldfish can also lay eggs without spawning with males, just like some chickens. These eggs are, however, infertile and cannot hatch. They end up getting decomposed in water or eaten up by other tank members. If you want to be sure the eggs are fertilized and can hatch, you can find out by checking for tiny black specks in the eggs after 2-3 days.
What Do Goldfish Eggs Look Like?
It is one of the well-known goldfish facts that a female goldfish can lay about a thousand eggs in one spawning. In case you are wondering what spawning is, spawning is defined as the release or deposit of eggs by fishes. Goldfish eggs have unique features, and they take distinct shapes.
Goldfish eggs are small, and they appear like round bubbles. They can take orange, yellow, in a few cases, but they often have transparent colors with a dark spot in the middle. They are also able to adhere to surfaces because they are sticky.
However, you will most likely find your goldfish eggs attached to the surface of aquarium plants.
Also, since goldfish are not livebearers, they don’t carry their young ones alive. Therefore it is wrong to say goldfish are pregnant, and it is more appropriate to say they are egg-bind.
How To Know Your Goldfish Is Ready To Lay Eggs
Aquarium owners must be very observant if they want to know when it’s almost time for goldfish to lay eggs. Males get the signal that it is time for the female goldfish to spawn when they release pheromones into the water. But it takes a little more in the case of aquarium owners. Here are five ways your goldfish is egg-bind and ready to lay.
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Being Chased Down By Other Goldfish
You should be observant about the behavior of your goldfish towards one another, mainly adult male and female. When female goldfish are ready to release their eggs, they release particular pheromones into the water. This hormone sends a signal to male goldfish that the female is in a breeding condition. The male consequently starts chasing down the female till they release the eggs.
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Chubby Stomach
Chubby stomach might be a simple way to know your goldfish is ready to spawn if you pay keen attention to their physical outlook. The stomach won’t be swollen, and it will just give a plump protrusion that looks like gravid. Nevertheless, you should also know that your fish might look completely normal physically and still be carrying eggs.
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Lopsided Belly
If you view your goldfish from above and you discover it has a lopsided belly, it might be an indication of spawning. This lopsidedness often occurs as a result of eggs filling one side of the abdomen while the other remains normal.
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Breeding tubercles In Males
You can shift away from the females and even use your male goldfish to discover when female goldfish are spawning. It is common for male goldfish to develop breeding tubercles on their gills and pectoral fin during spawning. However, this is not a sign that can fully guarantee that your goldfish is ready to spawn. It can, however, provide a lead.
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Eggs In Goldfish Tank
Yes, you read that right. You can have goldfish eggs stuck on your hand if you dip your hand in their tank during spawning. This can be a positive sign that your goldfish is pregnant.
Hatching Time For Goldfish
After the release of eggs and fertilization, goldfish eggs can hatch in 2-7 days. The environmental conditions of the tanks, especially the water temperature, can significantly affect the hatching time. Typically, it takes only about 46-54 hours for goldfish egg to hatch at a temperature of 84oF. Likewise, it can take up to five to seven days at a temperature of 70-75oF.
Goldfish fry is left without parent supervision once they are free-swimming. Goldfish fry gets their nutrient supply for the first three days from the yolk sac they carry. You can now feed the fry with live food such as brine shrimp and daphnia once the yolk sac is empty. They can also feed on functional liquid food and powdered flakes.
You can feed the goldfish fry three times a day after their yolk sac gets empty. This frequent feeding is to enable them to keep up with their rapid metabolism and active growth. However, care must be taken so as not to overfeed the fry.
Goldfish fry is often predated by adult goldfish and other predators because of their small size, and you can protect your goldfish fry by preparing a separate tank for fry. It would help if you placed a spawning mat or a new clean mop head as an alternative.
Conclusion
Goldfish lay eggs rather than giving birth to young ones alive. Their eggs are sticky to allow them to adhere to the plant surfaces in the tank. It would help if you also were observant about your goldfish to know when they are pregnant because you might need to protect your fry.
Goldfish can lay up to a thousand eggs during one spawning. Although goldfish can lay eggs without males, these eggs are sterile and cannot hatch into fry. This is why this kind of breeding is prevented in female goldfish because it is equivalent to a waste.
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