Breeding Fantail Goldfish

[Hoxinator246]

So I need a bit of help, friends. I have a 10 gallon tank with four comet goldfish (young), a large calico fantail, a mystery tadpole, and I recently added a large black moor to buddy up with my fantail.

(Please don't chastise me for having goldfish in a 10 gallon, I know they need a lot of room, but the 10 gallon is all that I can afford right now, and I didn't realize these 19 cent feeder fish would grow into foot long beasts if given the opportunity. So my bad, but the 10 gallon is still roomier than the crowded tanks or bowls.)

Anyways, ever since I got the fantail, about a month or so ago, he's always been nudging and chasing after the comets. I figured it was because they were single finned, so I gave the fantail a little bit of time in the 10 gallon then put him in a bowl for the rest of the time, because I didn't know if he was trying to nibble the fish or not.
Thinking he was just lonely, I got him a large black moor so he wouldn't focus on the comet goldfish, which are now about his size. However, my fantail is relentlessly nudging and pushing and chasing the poor black moor! I've been studying up and I'm thinking the fantail wants to mate? I don't know what to do... I feel bad for the rest of the goldfish in the tank, and even in a 10 gallon by himself, this fantail still seems anxious to breed. Advice?

 

[Andy Sager]

Spawning fantails: It should be done in multiple tanks. You will need a big tank with spawning mops to spawn them in and grow the fry out. They can produce hundreds to thousands of eggs. The spawning will actually pollute the water so you do not want to do this in your main tank and you will need to remove the parents after the spawn and remove the mops to the grow out tank as well. It's a lot of work and rarely successful in smaller aquariums.

In your situation, it's as likely that the pushing and nudging is aggression due to the limited space as it is breeding behavior. You know the 10 gal is too small for these fish and now you got to see why so I don't need to expound on that. As for the 10 gal being all you can afford, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that at all and I applaud your not over extending your budget. There's nothing worse than buying too big a tank and skimping on the equipment due to financial constraints. I would suggest however, that you trade in the fish you have and get other fish more appropriate for a 10 gal tank size. That would be a better solution than trying to breed the ones you have.

Hope this helps

 

[Hoxinator246]

Thank you very much for the help and understanding!

I feel bad for getting these guys now.. And I have no idea where to send them off to or what to do with them. I wish I could keep them, especially the comet goldfish.. But I understand that they could be in a much better environment. It wasn't til after I bought them (just thinking I'd save the lives of a few feeder fish) that I learned they can grow pretty dang long! Any idea what to do with them now, I guess?

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you very much for the help and understanding!

I feel bad for getting these guys now.. And I have no idea where to send them off to or what to do with them. I wish I could keep them, especially the comet goldfish.. But I understand that they could be in a much better environment. It wasn't til after I bought them (just thinking I'd save the lives of a few feeder fish) that I learned they can grow pretty dang long! Any idea what to do with them now, I guess?

Please don't take this the wrong way as it's not meant mean but the problem with ideologies as yours regarding "saving some fish" is that you created an even worse condition for the fish. The fish that are raised for feeders are not top quality fish and so they are not expected to have a typical long life. Yes some do but the majority of them don't. Also, in regards to fish such as Bettas or Feeder Guppies, what you do by buying the fish is tell the store owners that what they are doing is selling fish so they continue doing it the way they are doing it. The way to save the fish is to not buy them and let the store owners know you won't buy their fish because of the way they are keeping them. That says a lot more than buying the fish to save them. You might save 1 or 2 your way but you save hundreds and thousands the other way. I've worked in stores so I know of what I speak. Keeping fish needs to come from the head, not the heart. They can not successfully be impulse buys. You need to either have faith in your store of choice or do research yourself before going to a store or internet to buy a fish or setup. But enough about that.


But now, what do you do? I would suggest going back to the place you got them from and see if they would let you trade them in for other fish or supplies. They may be more receptive if they know they are not giving back money but trading how the money they have already collected is distributed. If that does not work, try other LFSs or an ad on places like Craigslist.

Hope this helps