How Often Do Goldfish Breed? (Surprising Answer!)

If you’re wondering, how often do goldfish breed then you’re in the right place.

In this article, I’m going to answer the same question.

In the wild and in a pond, goldfish spawn in the spring and summer seasons. If the water temperature stays warm for a long time then they can spawn 2 to 3 times in a season. In a fish tank, if you maintain a warmer temperature then goldfish can spawn throughout the year.

If you create an ideal environment for goldfish, the goldfish can breed very easily. But goldfish eat their babies that’s why you’ll need to separate the goldfish eggs from their parents and care for them separately.

I’m going to tell you how you can breed goldfish successfully.

Keep reading…

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How often do goldfish breed in a tank?

A warmer water temperature triggers goldfish spawning. So if you maintain a warmer temperature in your fish tank then the goldfish can spawn multiple times a year in your fish tank.

How to breed goldfish in a tank? (step-by-step)

Breeding goldfish in a fish tank is very easy. You’ll just need to emulate and create the natural environment that goldfish need to spawn.

1. Raise the temperature in the fish tank

If you want to encourage spawning, you should gradually increase the temperature in your fish tank.

Remember you should slowly increase the temperature. This is important because increasing temperature drastically can stress the fish which can lead to diseases.

Before raising the temperature in your fish tank, set your goldfish tank to a cooler temperature of around 50° F (10° C).

Then gradually increase the temperature to 68° F (20° C)

You should gradually raise the temperature from 50° F to 68° F (10° C to 20° C) over a couple of days.

2. Add spawning mop and/or plants in the tank

In the wild, goldfish lay their eggs on the vegetation. You should emulate the same and put a spawning mop in your fish tank.

You can easily create a spawning mop using acrylic wool. Just make sure to soak the acrylic wool mop in a hot water for an hour or so to make it clean and safe for your fish.

Once the spawning mop is cleaned then put the mop in your fish tank.

You could keep the mop anywhere in your fish tank. I like to keep it near the button corner of the fish tank.

Instead of spawning mop, you could also add fake or live aquarium plants in your fish tank.

3. Goldfish lays the eggs

After raising the temperature and adding a spawning mop or fake or live aquarium plants in the tank, the female will lay eggs on the mop or the plants.

The eggs look like apricot-colored dots.

After the eggs are laid, you should wait for a couple of hours to make sure that the eggs are fertilized by the goldfish sperm.

After a couple of hours, you should take out the spawning mop or the plants from the tank and put in a separate tank.

How to set up a tank for the goldfish eggs?

In the beginning, you don’t need to have beneficial bacteria for the goldfish eggs tank. So you don’t have to cycle the tank.

You can use tap water for the tank. Just make sure to dechlorinate the water.

To make sure that the tank contains optimum oxygen, add can an air pump (link to Amazon) in the tank.

Also, you’ll need to put a heater (link to Amazon) in the tank and set the temperature to around 78° F (25° C).

In the beginning, you don’t need to have a filter for this tank.

Goldfish eggs are susceptible to fungus

After adding the spawning mop or the plants in the tank, you should add methylene blue liquid to the tank to prevent the eggs from catching fungus.

Methylene blue is an anti-fungal agent so it will prevent the eggs from fungus.

The concentration of methylene blue should be 10 drops per gallon of water.

4. Keep the tank water clean

Now you’ll need to wait for the goldfish eggs to hatch.

It can take anywhere between 2 to 4 days for the eggs to hatch.

During this period you’ll need to keep the tank water clean.

To make sure that the tank water is clean you’ll need to do water changes a couple of times every day.

And after every water change, make sure to add methylene blue in the tank.

5. Goldfish eggs start to hatch

After about 2 to 3 days from the fertilization, you should see the goldfish eggs starting to hatch and babies coming out in the tank.

Now you’ll need to add a filter in the fish tank. You can use a filter from your established tank to cycle the fish tank instantly.

Also, at this point, you should stop adding methylene blue in the fish tank because methylene blue can kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

At this point, you don’t need to feed the babies. Because first, the babies will eat their yolk sac.

You can know they’re eating their yolk sac when they are just stuck to the wall of the tank or to the bottom of the tank without moving.

Once the babies started to move and swim again, at this point, they’ve eaten their yolk sac. And now you should start feeding the babies.

You can feed them baby brine shrimp, daphnia, egg yolk.

Remember, at this stage, the goldfish babies are at the growth stage and they’ll grow pretty fast. So you’ll need to feed them at least 2 to 3 times per day.

How often do goldfish breed in a pond?

In a pond, goldfish can breed 2 to 3 times during warm seasons. Goldfish will spawn more times in a pond if the temperature of the water stays warmer for a long time.

When and how many times goldfish will spawn in your pond depends on the weather in your region.

Generally, goldfish will spawn during the summer months i.e. between June to September.

How to breed goldfish in a pond?

You cannot breed goldfish in a pond. The reason is, after laying the eggs, when the goldfish fry will appear, it will get eaten by the adult goldfish.

Besides, other aquatic invertebrates will also eat the goldfish fry.

However, goldfish lays hundreds to thousands of eggs every time so some fry will survive in the pond.

Let’s say out of a thousand eggs, 10 fry will survive and grow adult.

That being said, if you want to breed goldfish and want a lot of fry to survive then you can add a spawning mop or brushes in the shallow, south-facing area of your pond.

The female goldfish will lay eggs on the spawning mop or brushes. The eggs look like small apricot-colored dots.

Once the eggs are laid, you can take out the spawning mop or brushes and put them in a tank.

Make sure to add an air pump in the tank to keep the tank well oxygenated.

You’ll need to put a heater (link to Amazon) in the tank and set the temperature to around 78° F (25° C).

Also, add methylene blue in the tank to prevent the eggs from catching fungus.

Now you’ll need to keep the tank water clean by doing water changes a couple of times every day until the eggs hatch.

Not all eggs are going to hatch. The unfertilized eggs will look like white dots.

Goldfish eggs can hatch anywhere between 2 to 4 days.

Once you start to see the goldfish fry swimming freely in the tank then you’ll need to add a filter from an established tank to cycle the tank instantly. And feed the daphnia, baby brine shrimp, and eggs yolk at least a couple of times every day to the goldfish fry.

The fry will grow pretty fast and soon you’ll have a lot of baby goldfish in the tank.

How do I stop goldfish from breeding?

Goldfish are not easy breeders. They need specific conditions to breed in a tank or pond.

Even if the goldfish laid eggs, the eggs and the fry will get eaten by the adult goldfish or aquatic invertebrates in the tank or pond. That’s why it is very unlikely you’ll end up with goldfish babies in your tank or pond.

That being said, there’s a possibility that some goldfish fry will survive. Goldfish fry will survive if they get a lot of hiding places in the tank or pond.

It is very easy to control or stop goldfish from breeding in a tank as you can control the conditions in a tank.

A goldfish need a warmer water temperature for breeding, you can keep the water temperature lower to stop them from breeding.

Besides, you can make sure that your tank doesn’t have any hiding places for the goldfish fry so all the goldfish fry will get eaten by the adult goldfish.

FAQ

How do I know if my goldfish are breeding?

If the male goldfish are continuously chasing and nudging female goldfish then it’s a sign that your goldfish are probably breeding. You’ll also see white spots on the male goldfish’s gill covers during the breeding season. As the female goldfish will be carrying eggs in their bodies, you’ll notice that the females have bigger rounder bellies.

Will goldfish eat their babies?

Goldfish can eat their babies. Every time goldfish spawns, it can lay hundreds of eggs. The eggs will hatch within 2 to 7 days depending on the temperature of the water. Most, if not all the fry, will get eaten by adult goldfish.

Will baby goldfish survive in a pond?

Goldfish can lay hundreds of eggs at a time. Goldfish eat their fry so most, if not all, will get eaten by the adult goldfish. If you have got a lot of hiding places in your pond then some fry may survive in the pond.

How do you tell if your goldfish has laid eggs?

Goldfish eggs look like apricot-colored dots. Once the female goldfish has laid eggs the male goldfish will stop chasing the female goldfish. However, sometimes the male will continue chasing the female even when the female has laid eggs.

How do I stop my goldfish from mating?

Goldfish need warmer water to spawn. So maintaining a cooler temperature in a tank can stop them from breeding. Besides, goldfish eat their fry so most of the goldfish fry will not survive.

How can you tell a male and female goldfish?

Can goldfish lay eggs without male?

A female goldfish will not lay eggs on its own. Naturally, male goldfish chase and nudge female goldfish until the female lays eggs. However, female goldfish can lay eggs if you carefully apply pressure to the belly of female goldfish. Once the eggs are laid, male goldfish will fertilize the eggs by releasing sperm in the tank.

Conclusion

In a pond, goldfish spawn in the spring and summer seasons. In a tank, if the temperature of the water is warmer then the goldfish can spawn throughout the year.

Goldfish eat their babies. So once the eggs are laid, you’ll need to keep the eggs in a separate tank and take care of them.

I hope you found the article helpful.

If you do, please share it.

Let me know if you’ve any questions regarding the topic.

Also, please comment below if you have anything to add about the topic.

Happy fishkeeping!