# I need help breeding my Telescope goldfish



## Emily (Dec 14, 2009)

I would like to breed my to telescope goldfish.
My male I think, has breeding spots ( which I read on the net means thats its breeding season for them) I've also read that I one must lower the temperature of the aquarium for a while and then slowly worm it up again to simulate spring so that they will spawn. I just want to know If anyone can tell me if this is in fact right, and if anyone can give me any other pointers. Also what is the minimum time period that the aquarium should be at a low temperature?
:fish:
thanks 
Emily


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

first a sew questions......
how big are the fish?
how old are they?
what do you mean by breeding spots?

in general ; goldfish need a pretty good cooling of their environment for a month or 2 before a warming..temps should go down into the 50's or even a bit lower...then gradually raised to the low to mid 60's...you will need some good spawning mats or java moss and pull the adults right after they spawn..


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## Emily (Dec 14, 2009)

They are about 2 inches from head to tail.
I don't know how old they are, and I'm not sure how to tell.
And I read that the male gets white spots on his body when he is in breeding season but I'm probably wrong. 
How would one lower the temperature of an Aquarium?
and I'm not sure what you mean by the whole gallon to air thing.
I'm quite new to this.
But thanks for all of your help.
It's great to talk to someone who knows what he's talking about.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Two inches?
They're still babies. Spawning won't be an option for quite awhile yet, like maybe next year.

Breeding goldfish is very easy to do outdoors, but pretty hard to do indoors.

The males do indeed get these little pimples all over their opercula, that is, their gill covers or "cheeks," at spawning time. They use these to goose the females into releasing their eggs.

Indoors or out, what you need to do to make goldies spawn is:

1- give them a lot of floating plants. I don't mean duckweed, either, but something substantial that can catch the eggs, like hornwort, hyacinth, or anacharis.
2- Give them lots of room. They spawn by chasing each other around in a wide area.
3- let them chill..literally, for a couple of months with temps in the 50's F. They won't eat much when cold, but what they do get must be very good stuff. This is the time they make and ripen the eggs, and that takes good nutrition.
4- Photoperiod is optional, but very useful. Wintertime is marked by shorter days and longer nights. Reducing the time the lights are on to only 8 hours a day will help simulate the winter.
5- two months later, start increasing the temperature and increase the feedings. Raise the temp one degree every other day. Increase the photoperiod by 15 minutes every other day as well to match. This triggers their breeding hormones. In about a month or so the fish will be ready to spawn like crazy.

Like I said, doing this outdoors in a pool is easy, since nature does all the work for you. It is doable in a very large aquarium, though, using this method.

To chill a tank, either put it in an unheated room in your house over the winter, or get yourself a thing called an aquarium chiller. Yes, they really exist. Saltwater people use them a lot because saltwater equipment can make the tank very hot, you see. Chillers are expensive, though. Very expensive.

The air thing that Lohachata mentioned refers to how he has tanks sitting empty with no fish in them. It doesn't have anything to do with breeding goldfish.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

Another question - How big is your tank ?

Are you seeing spots on the fishes whole body ? if so, that may be "ich" (also called "white spot disease" ).
In fact, I would suspect ich to be more likely than goldfish courtship in a typical home aquarium.


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