How to Extract Goldfish Fry From Tank to Hatch

If you're planning to raise goldfish, doing some work in advance will make it easier to extract the goldfish eggs from the tank so that they can hatch successfully and grow into adults. If you find yourself already in a situation where goldfish fry are present in your tank and you hadn't planned to raise goldfish, the easiest way to keep the fry safe is to move the parent fish to another tank. If you don't do this quickly, it's likely the adult fish will eat the fry before they have the opportunity to grow. In the event that you are planning to raise goldfish, the easiest method is to remove the parents from the tank where the eggs are spawned, but there are methods to leave the parents in the tank if you wish to do so.

Things You'll Need

  • Dark-colored yarn
  • Cardboard
  • Clothespin
  • Scissors
  • Bucket of water
  • Cork
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Instructions

  1. Make a Spawning Mop

    • 1

      Cut a piece of cardboard that is the same length as the tank or pond in which your goldfish will spawn. If you have a fairly large goldfish pond, you may need to make several spawning mops rather than just one.

    • 2

      Clip the end of the yarn to the cardboard using the clothespin.

    • 3

      Pull several inches of yarn from the skein and pull it down the vertical surface of the cardboard, around the bottom of the cardboard and back up the other side of the cardboard until it meets the end of the yarn that is clipped by the clothespin. The yard should now have made a complete circle around the piece of cardboard. Repeat this 100 times, making 100 loops of yarn around the cardboard.

    • 4

      Cut the yarn from the skein at the end of the hundredth loop, leaving a few extra inches for tying a knot.

    • 5

      Tie the end of the yarn that is clipped by the clothespin to the end that you just cut from the skein.

    • 6

      Slide the yarn loops off the cardboard and onto the floor or table. This is your mop.

    • 7

      Cut a piece of yarn, about 6 inches long, from the skein.

    • 8

      Hold the mop between your thumb and first finger, with half the length of the mop resting against the back of your hand and half the mop resting against your palm. Use your other hand to slide the 6-inch piece of yarn around the center of the mop. Tie the piece of yarn so that it holds the pieces of the mop in place.

    • 9

      Cut the individual loops at each end of the mop so that there are no longer loops; there should now be straight pieces of yarn.

    • 10

      Soak the yarn mop in a bucket of water overnight. The dyes in the yarn will bleed into the bucket of water. This will keep dyes from bleeding into your tank or pond.

    • 11

      Tie the cork to the knot of the spawning mop after the yarn has dried. This cork will keep the spawning mop afloat when it is in the tank.

    Spawning

    • 12

      Place the mop across the top of your tank or pond when spawning time begins. This is usually in early spring.

    • 13

      Watch the yarn for the presence of eggs.

    • 14

      Remove the spawning mop as soon as eggs are present.

    • 15

      Place the spawning mop in a prepared tank or aquarium where the eggs can hatch safely and the fry can grow into adult fish.