Artificially induced spring in pond goldfish!?

[jakejanson]

I've just recently moved goldfish from an outdoor pond (water temp about 62F) into an indoor 125g tank for the winter. I just finished a DIY canopy and the lights have caused the water in the tank over the past few days to rise from 64F to nearly 70F, and has begun to level off.

There are about a dozen comet goldfish in he tank, and just recently after the water temp has risen to 70F, I've noticed several pairs "spawn chase," similar to videos I have seen online of breeders.

From reading most breeding sites, it sounds like the fish breed in the spring. I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience of tricking/inducing the fish to believe it is spring, due to the warmer water, and if they are to spawn, what quality the eggs and fry would be. The fish have eaten mainly flake and mosquito larva during the summer, have very bright shiny gold scales, and are in very good overall condition.

[smaug]

theres no reason the spawn wouldnt be viable.

[jakejanson]

Well, it looks as if they have stopped for now, with no apparent egg-laying. I have several different type of bushy and leafy plants, along with several rocks in the tank. Perhaps they were just "happy" about the warmer water, or taking a break?

[VoidParadigm]

When we bring our pondfish into the house in their hibernation pool they spawn. "No apparent egg-laying" doesn't mean much with that many goldies in there. Likely they could have ate any eggs that were spawned.

From my experience Goldfish have to be three years old to have a successful spawn. How old were yours?

Also; I've never seen eggs survive in any tanks/pools/ponds of mine with more than three fish in there.

[Giannis86]

you can induce spawning, however there is more to it than just spring. it is the seasonal change in temperature that can cause it.
in a pond, spawning is likely to happen anyway.
in an aquarium there are a few things that can/should be done and can require months of preparation

-start by feeding your fish a bit more for a while until they gain some body mass (required for when you lower temps as they will be eating less)
-then lower the temp to about 12-15C very slowly! (to avoid any stress) (they are less active at lower temps. if you notice that they are suffering from cold temps raise it a little (again slowly)
-during this time feed VERY sparingly. their extra fat should keep them going.
-then start raising the temp very slowly to about 18 and feed the fish normally. a varied diet is always a good thing
-at this time you should have a seperate tank ready. use a lont of plants for the females to lay eggs on. these can be live plants and even plastic ones. personally i would use moss. provide enough hiding place for the females as they need a break from all this chasing around
-note that before spawning or during this preparation you can also seperate the females and males from each other. reintroduce them to each otherduring spawning period
-raise the temp to about 20C
-put the fish together in the breeder tank (around the evening as goldfish spawn in the morning)
-good water quality is a factor
-put an airstone or 2 in the breeder tank to oxygenate the water well
-very frequent water changes can also induce spawning
-do not remove the fish if you notice that they stop. they do take a few breaks in between.
-once spawning is done, remove the parents from the breeder tank
-after a day some eggs will have fungus attached to them. remove those
-you can also keep an apple snail or 2 which will eat the unfertilized eggs
-the transparent eggs are the fertilized ones

once again i want to note that this procedure can take months for the preparation required. in a pond i would say that it isnt necessary to do all this as nature will do it for you. in an aquarium things are more controllable though

i hope this helps

[jakejanson]

The fish are young. They were feeder fish purchased to stock our pond in the spring, so I wasn't really expecting any eggs, although some of the fish are already 5+ inches long. They seemed to start again today after a 10% water change, but stopped a few hours after.

Now if anyone knows anything about the tadpoles that came in with the fish...?