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BREEDING THE GOLDFISH 



DR. FRANK B. HAKINA 



The goldfish is at once the most inter- 

 esting and the most exasperating of the 

 fishes commonly cultivated ; the most 

 easily bred and the hardest to develop to 

 the degree of perfection necessary to a 

 place among the winners at a big show. 

 The problem of selection while the fish 

 are quite small, to eliminate the undesir- 

 ables, is really the important feature and, 

 judging from average results, the least 

 practiced. 



How to breed goldfish is a common 

 question. The answer is that the fish will 

 breed whether you want it to or not, 

 using the term breeding to concern the 

 deposition of eggs, allowance being made 

 for individual barrenness. The control- 

 ling factors, assuming the fish are prop- 

 erly "housed," are foods and tempera- 

 ture. Spawn will be developed during 

 any part of the year if living foods, such 

 as Daphne and mosquito larvae, are pro- 

 vided and the water temperature con- 

 sistently maintained above 60 degrees. 

 Thus sexual activity is not difficult to in- 

 fluence, and this flexibility proves the pit- 

 fall of many. It is not uncommon to 

 hear an aquarist gloating over a spawn 

 in January, thinking an advantage is se- 

 cured over his fellows. Here we wish to 

 emphasize why rearing is more important 

 than mere breeding. The early fry appear 

 when weather conditions are far from 

 favorable, Daphne scarce and the water 

 cool and uncertain in temperature, not 

 to mention its variable condition as to 

 soluble contents due to natural spring 

 thaws. Fry reared under such conditions 

 are outstripped by those hatched three 

 months later. Therefore happy is the 



man, and fortunate, who holds back his 

 fish until April at the earliest, even 

 though he possesses a conservatory. 



For spawning and rearing no recep- 

 tacle excels the common, 24-inch wood 

 or composition washtub. Of course, when 

 a new one is brought into service it must 

 be properly seasoned. Fill with water 

 and furnish a generous mass of Myrio- 

 phyllum, which the writer much prefers 



Black Telescope Goldfish 

 Original Water Color by Franklin Barrett 



to water hyacinth All dealers catering 

 to aquarists carry this "spawning grass" 

 during the spring and summer months. 

 Place in the tub a trio of breeding fish, 

 two males to one female being a good 

 general combination, though often one 

 vigorous male will be sufficient, especially 

 if he is the larger of the two. More than 

 two males may be used if much smaller 

 than the female, it being believed that 

 fewer infertile eggs will result. 



In the parlance of the fancier the p re- 

 nuptial play of the goldfish is called 



