THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOLDFISH 



latingfood and the frequent addition of well-aerated water also greatly aid the 

 spawning. As soon as the spawn is deposited and fecundated, which usually 

 takes place early in the morning, the plants to which it adheres should be 

 placed in the hatching dishes or the parents removed from the tank or rear- 

 ing trough, to prevent their devouring both the spawn and later the young 

 fishes. The fry also prey on each other, and hatchings of different dates 

 should be isolated until the fishes have acquired considerable growth 

 and are of equal size; those of slower development and smaller size to be 

 either put by themselves or with the next younger hatch; where their 

 chances of obtaining food are improved, or the larger and more vigorous 

 ones removed. In breeding fine fishes it will be noticed that the single-tail 

 "sports" always make the most rapid growth, as they are better able to 

 get about than their finer double-tailed brethren. They are also the natural 

 cannibals and prey upon the smaller more perfect fishes. 



The depth of water for hatching and for the fry should best not exceed 

 6 to 8 inches and when transfers are made, the dishes and their contents 

 should be submerged and the fry permitted to make their exit at will. 

 Change in the temperature of the water is also usually fatal and must be 

 guarded against in making tranfers and at other times. 



If there are no facilities for separating the parents and spawn, as in the 

 small way in the house aquarium, a movable partition will serve; but it 

 is best to hatch the spawn in separate vessels which can be placed in good 

 but not too strong light, where eggs and fry will remain undisturbed. 

 Shallow glass, porcelain or enameled dishes, fruit or candy jars, or other simi- 

 lar receptacles will fully answer the purpose, and are generally employed. 



The relative size and vigor of the fishes regulate the number of males 

 and females mated, to which individual judgment is the best guide. With 

 the facilities at hand each female ready to spawn should be placed in a 

 separate compartment with one, two or three males, dependent upon their 

 size; but when the spawning has begun, selection of the finest male should 

 be made, if he is of sufficient size, and -the others removed to prevent too 

 great exhaustion of the female. Care should also be exercised to prevent 

 inbreeding by mating fishes of different strain or parentage. Where the 

 number of fishes to be bred is large and of the same breed, it is advisable to 

 select two or three males to one female, when she is the larger, three females 

 and four males when of one size, and six females and four males when the 

 latter are the larger fishes; but this, like much else relating to the culture, 

 of the goldfish is a matter of experience and applies more to the breeding 

 of the ordinary than the finely bred varieties. A change of males is also 

 advisable at different spawnings. 



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