One of the most interesting aspects of having goldfish to breed them. Some fish, such as the very popular guppy, give birth to free swimming young. However, as you may already know goldfish are egglayers. They also are considered egg scatterers, which means they lay eggs quite indiscriminately and show absolutely no interest in them once laid, other then to EAT them! In nature such eggs would fall into the river beds, or would stick to plants, rocks or any other stucture and thus get have protection from the parents. In you goldfish pond if you have a number of plants you should soon see some new unfamiliar goldfish appearing every so often. You can also try to pair up certain goldfish and place them in an aquarium to try and breed them. You do want to make sure you only breed fit goldfish which demonstrate excellent color and body shape. Goldfish are difficult to tell the sex of but as the spawning period approaches, the female will appear swollen in the abdomin area in a somewhat uneven manner, when viewed from above. The male will develop small white spots on the gill plates, head and pectoral fins. You will notice the male chasing the female around trying to intice her to lay the eggs. He does this by prodding her vent which induces her egg laying. He will then fertilize the scattered eggs. This process will repeat until all the female's eggs are shed. If you are trying to induce spawning in an aquarium try raising the water temperature another couple of degrees. Place the tank where it will catch the early morning rays of the sun, which will help stimulate breeding. Once the eggs are shed the adults should be removed as they will immediately begin eating the eggs. In a few days you will see "fry" swimming around in your tank. Infusoria (microscopic organisms) and algaie are good starter foods. As the young goldfish start to grow you will need to cull out any which are deformed or not up to standards. When the remainder of the fish reach a reasonable size you can introduce them to your commmunity tank or pond.
