Care of the Young Fish 



For two or three days after hatching, goldfish remain very quiet on the bottom of the pond. 

 Tliev take no food tiirough the mouth and require none, as tiiey obtain aU needed nourishment by 

 the absorlitinn nf the yolksac. With the disappearance of tlie yolksac the fry begin to swim along the 

 edges of the pond and to seek food. The earliest swimming efforts are feeble and clumsy, consisting 

 of short spurts without any attempt at continuous movement. Incubation being completed, the 

 materials that served as spawning beds are removed and the tiny fish are either transferred immedi- 

 atelv to a clean pond or are retained for a time in the same pond, the practice varying somewhat 

 with the locality and the variety. 



Cardinal principles in caring for the young fish so that their growth may be favored and their 

 colors developed at the proper time are to give them ample food adapted to their needs, to keep 

 tlieni warm and expose them to the sun's rays, and to renew the water in which they are held 

 without subjecting them to sudden changes of temperature. Considerable experience is required in 

 order to make the young take on their brightest colors at the earliest date. .\ novice may be 

 surprised and chagrined to find that a given lot of fish will not exhibit any red color, while a 

 part of the same lot in the hands of an experienced breeder will ha\e completely changed. 



At Koriyama, after the removal of the willow roots the ponds are drawn down and the fry 

 are transferred to cement rearing ponds, in which the water has just been renewed. During the 

 next five days there is no change of water; then fresh water is supplied, and thereafter there is 

 a renewal about once a week as long as the fry remain in the cement ponds, which is usually 

 for a period of 30 days after hatching. The smallest "mijinko" that can oossiblv be obtained by 



67 



