breeding goldfish

[pisceanbliss]

I've been keeping goldfish with my children for about 1 1/2 years. They are growing and thriving - same ones this whole time.
My 9 year old asked me why they haven't had babies and didn't know why. So I am here looking for insight and information on the breeding habits of goldfish - how? what do we need to do to give them the set up they want? etc. Any insight from anyone here would be appreciated. I've worked with Mollies, and guppies before, but can't find info on the goldfish.
Thanks

 

[DepotFish]

First, how big is your tank? What breed of goldfish are we talking about? Different breeds become sexually mature at different rates. Commons take about 3 years, comets sometimes take 5, fancy varieties can take more. What age are the fish, size? Do you have both genders? here's a diagram of the genders, females will have what looks like a scale sticking out on their vent whereas males will just be rounded without the vent sticking out.

Breeding can be very difficult in tanks, and in ponds too. People sometimes say its easy without realizing that even in ponds there are several hundred less fry than there should be if breeding were easy. The second eggs are layed the adults will start feasting, you need to either remove the adults to a new tank or attempt to scrape up as many sticky eggs as possible. The water with the eggs should be about 6 inches. You will need fry food and you will also need to clean the tank daily, which can be difficult with tiny fry in there.