Goldfish eggs...what do I do?

[carlyrae1224]

My goldfish released some eggs about a week ago and the tank mates ate them all before they even hatched. However, she is laying eggs AGAIN! Since the eggs had no chance in the tank, I moved the rock they were on into a big bowl to give them at least a small chance of hatching.
Do I need to add a filter, heater, light source, oxygen source, or anything for the eggs?
I do not have a spare tank at the moment but planned on getting one today. Should the eggs be okay in a bowl or should I put them back into their original tank? I do not know what to do!

 

[Andy Sager]

You can leave them in the bowl if you add an oxygen source however, if they all hatch, you will need to get them into another larger vessel rather soon.
But first things first: Are you sure they were even fertilized? Usually, with goldfish, the male and female swim together when spawning and the 2 fish release their eggs and sperm simultaneously. If the female was just releasing eggs by herself, chances are poor that they will survive due to non fertilization.
When I've bred goldfish in the past, I used a dedicated spawning tank because the spawning makes for very cloudy water and it was not something I wanted in my main display tanks. This tank only had a sponge filter and spawning mops for the fish to lay their eggs in and then the breeders were removed back to their regular tank(s) for them to recuperate. You may want to keep this in mind if you are serious about keeping your males and females together. Otherwise, if the female is among other females and releasing eggs, they are a good nutritious food source for your other fish ( as hard as that is to hear ) so I wouldn't do anything when that happens.

Hope this helps.

 

[carlyrae1224]

You can leave them in the bowl if you add an oxygen source however, if they all hatch, you will need to get them into another larger vessel rather soon.
But first things first: Are you sure they were even fertilized? Usually, with goldfish, the male and female swim together when spawning and the 2 fish release their eggs and sperm simultaneously. If the female was just releasing eggs by herself, chances are poor that they will survive due to non fertilization.
When I've bred goldfish in the past, I used a dedicated spawning tank because the spawning makes for very cloudy water and it was not something I wanted in my main display tanks. This tank only had a sponge filter and spawning mops for the fish to lay their eggs in and then the breeders were removed back to their regular tank(s) for them to recuperate. You may want to keep this in mind if you are serious about keeping your males and females together. Otherwise, if the female is among other females and releasing eggs, they are a good nutritious food source for your other fish ( as hard as that is to hear ) so I wouldn't do anything when that happens.

Hope this helps.

From what I've researched, I have 4 males and one female. And from the activity from the "males" and other "female", it seems true. I did have the eggs in their tank an hour or 2 before removing the rock they were on. So I'm thinking they had to of been fertilized with the odds of 4 males and the time spend on the tank. This is my first time "experimenting" with eggs since it happened to suddenly. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and remove them since they might have been dinner anyway ?. I did purchase a small tank and an oxygen source today. I plan on setting it up tomorrow. If they don't make it, at least I tried! ?