Monday 10 March 2014

Breeding - not me!! Gold Fish




A couple of days ago I saw a small almost transparent fish in the pond. I went out to feed 'the girls' and I am sure there was a little extra one.

Now at feeding time they are like a rugby players all jostling for position and this newbie stayed aside and waited for a tiny crumb to float by and then grabbed it.

Today however it was gone, just nowhere to be seen.

I thought it might be cool to have some home-grown fish so I did some research. It all seems very difficult to breed fish. You need special tanks and water testing and natural environments of rocks and plants and hidie holes. Then you need to stroke the bellies of the fish to identify boys and girls and isolate any you think might be good breeders in the new tank. The girlies then leave their eggs and the boys swim over the eggs and drop their 'stuff' and so fry is made.

Then you have to take the big fish out again cos they will eat the eggs and if not the eggs they will the little fishies.

I reckon my little fella that obviously survived quite a long time maybe even a couple of weeks by hiding under something, must have just gotten too cocky and was swallowed up by the biggens. She needed to be smarter longer.

It seems very clear that we are not gonna have a litter of our own, or if we do they are just gonna be fodder for the big girls.

What a strange arrangement. The girls seem friendly enough and often swim as a pack but the reality is that they are only safe as long as they are faster than the rest, or cannier or quicker to strike.

No I am not again discussing IWD.

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