Steps to Take Care of Your Baby Goldfish

Goldfish are an aesthetic addition to any home and require less care than the average dog or cat. When interested in breeding your fish, or if you just happened to inherit baby goldfish, take the appropriate steps in guaranteeing them a healthy start to a long life.

  1. Spawning

    • After adult goldfish breed, eggs are fertilized. Protect the eggs by moving spawning mops -- the artificial stand-ins for floating vegetation, where fish deposit their eggs -- into another aquarium as soon as possible. Otherwise, adult fish will eat the eggs -- and even the babies, if some manage to survive long enough to hatch. The eggs will typically need a 20-gallon tank with about 6 inches of water from the breeding tank.

    Eggs

    • Keep a water thermometer nearby or in the fish tank to ensure proper temperature.

      Keep the tank for baby goldfish at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In three or four days, the eggs will hatch. Eggs that don't hatch will appear not as transparent as those that do and must be removed to prevent fungi. Over time, you can gradually add water if it has similar quality and temperature.

    Feeding

    • Initially, the baby goldfish will be too small to feed on more than microscopic organisms. After 48 hours, feed them three times daily with liquid fry food, oatmeal paste and yolk from hard-boiled eggs. After two weeks, they will be large enough to eat infusoria and newly hatched brine shrimp; then, you can feed them powdered fish food. Do not feed fish more than what they can eat in 20 minutes. When the babies reach 4 months of age, drop down to feeding them twice daily.

    As the Goldfish Grow

    • Though frequently used, the fish bowl is too small for goldfish.

      In addition to maintaining water temperature -- with indoor tanks being kept around 60 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit -- monitor space and oxygen. As goldfish require 10 gallons of water per fish, the babies must be separated, or placed in a larger tank or pond, to prevent overcrowding. Investing in a filtration system also gives the fish plenty of oxygen. While live plants can give the water a well-oxygenated quality, a bare-bottom tank makes for easier cleaning.