Hi guys. I joined Koko a few days ago after looking for someone to help me with bringing up fry. I was referred from a UK based website for Animals and Nature Questions.

Anyway, being a new gold fish owner (not that new but started last year....) I had lost a lot of fish in the first three months and was devastated and my husband told me that that's the way gold fish live.

I started searching around the web last year and found that gold fish are supposed to live for 30+ years!!!! I was amazed and had to further learn how to keep them alive. I am left now with 6 beautiful fish (3 different kinds) and they are quite happy. Still learning to keep them but have succeeded not to let any of them die which is the first thing that is important to me right now.

Nobody in Hong Kong cares much about gold fish and they buy them for fung shui reasons which I totally disagree with. Basically, if you keep odd numbers, they are good fung shui but unfortunately, they die quicker for some weird reason such as, the gold fish are absorbing the bad luck of the people taking care of them. Hence, I decided to keep even numbers now.

4 of the other goldfish I bought from the market where they were placed in a plastic bag with air. These small goldfish were supposed to be given to bigger fish for food (don't know what other fish would eat them, really) so I decided to save them.

They were really tiny when I got them at first, around 2" and god bless them, 3 of them are 3 1/2" long. But one of them is ill (fin rot) and never seem to have recovered but still quite strong, is about 2 1/2" long.

The other two original ones that I have now for 1 year are quite big 4".

They made fry a month ago. I only got to save one but died on me when I accidently put methylene blue. Then last week I had 30+ fry and all hatched but some died a few days later and the others I accidently put them together with the big tank in a small plastic hatching tub but they unfortunately went through, so they're dead too. Yesterday I found more than a hundred fry egg but none had hatched this morning.
(Sorry for sounding a bit clueless but this is my first time with fry) Still waiting.

Thanks for listening.

Hi Hope,and welcome to Koko's.
Sorry to hear that you lost your fry.
What do the eggs you have now look like?Have they only been there a day now?

Hi Devs,

I did not know I was on this forum until I looked around. OMG, thank you for getting back to me!!!!

There were a good hundred eggs> Placed them in a tub (plastic) about 14x14" with about an inch of water and a live plant covered half way with newspaper ('coz I have cats and I did not want them to think it was drinking water.

They look pretty small and are see through but I can see their "see-through" belly quite visibly. Tonight, I came home to find around 10-15 hatched but there are still some eggs that seem to have two eyes peaking and am not sure if they are going to hatch at all. I actually thought nothing was going to hatch but found out that the newspaper made it dark for me to see that there were already some that did!!!!

I started giving them liquid food from "JBL" liquid fluid. Started siphoning the ones that seem hopeless to hatch at all and cleaned the water a bit.

Please tell me what to do next...is the water too small. Can I add more water, do add more water, can I move them, etc. Do I add bubbles for them to breath? Is the plastic tub small or is it toxic? Please help???

P.S. Got the eggs on 21st morning. Saw them tonight hatched. So not sure if they are one day or two days old.

Well congrats to you Hope. If you're seeing little eyes peaking out of some eggs,be prepared because they sound ready to enter the world. Unless the eggs are looking fungusy and fuzzy,I'd leave them alone.I almost threw eggs away that I thought weren't hatching,and for some reason just left them in instead.They happened to be Cory eggs,but almost all of them ended up hatching.
As for Goldfish fry experience,I have one fry named Won Ton. I found the eggs after they were just about all eaten by the fish
Fry are really vulnerable,so these next two weeks are a bit nerve wracking.They'll definately need some more water,and if there's almost a hundred of them,it sounds like you'll need a bigger tub.Alot of people use sponge filter's in their fry tanks,as they are safer for the fry.Airstone tubing can be used,or a turkey baster to suck up any waste or uneaten food as they get older.Any water changes should be done carefully.Evenly matched temp & treated water is needed.You have to be really careful adding it to the tank,otherwise the fry could get hurt rather easily.
I'll tell you the truth,there have been a few really great threads in this Breeding section with people that had much success with their fry rearing.I think it would be in your best interest to take a look through these as you'll get lots of tips on "To Do's,and "Do Nots". Therre's just so much information that you need to be aware of.
By the way,Have you ever hatched Brine Shrimp? You may want to pick some eggs up and get started.You are in for alot of work!
If after reading all the threads,you still have questions,we'll be here so ask away.GOOD LUCK!!!

I'VE FED MY HATCHED FRY AROUND 8:30 THIS EVENING (HK TIME) AND IT'S NOW MIDNIGHT...DO I FEED THEM AGAIN?
AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ME UNTIL I'VE READ ALL THE RELEVANT INFO TOMORROW MORNING

p.s. I am about to introduce live plants to my GF tomorrow...are all plants ok? I've got them from the market for "fish" but my hubby said some might be only for "marine" and not for goldfish....we're both virgins on these stuff...I said that it should be ok... but I definitely got them from a store who caters for fish "pets"....

GAWD....I can't sleep now until I get some reply...sorry for being such a pain. I want to keep all my fish and fry alive. They are part of me now. Help me, please.

I should change my name to "Desperate" and not "Hope28", real name Mary Ann (by the way).

Hi Hope,Don't panic Hun.I'm not the expert with fry,but I'll help as much as I can.
From what I understand,most people keep their fry in about water that's around 6 inches deep. Apparently,water pressure is too much and can damage the fry and also make it hard for them to reach the surface. Because you have so many fry,you may have to move them to a larger container,but I'd leave them for now. A good investment for the fry would be to buy a bottle of Prime if you don't allready use it.It not only detoxifys Chlorine,etc,it also does Nitrites/Ammonia/Nitrates.
When fry hatch,the first two days or so they basically,just hang on the side until they're free swimming--They don't need to be fed until they are considered free swimming because they'll absorb their egg sac.
After they begin to swim around is when food needs to begin.They must be fed at least three times a day,although some choose to feed between 4-6 times a day. Brine Shrimp Eggs are excellent for their first fry food. Shrimp eggs can be bought at most pet stores with simple instructions on how to hatch them. It takes at least 24 hours to hatch Brine Shrimp,and you'll have to continue to do this for 3-4 weeks.Each little amount of eggs that hatch,last a day or two,sometimes a bit longer.When they get a little older,you can begin feeding something like frozen daphnia,etc.

Some people use cooked hard egg yolk and crumble it,but you have to be really careful with that as it will spoil the water fast,and it's quite messy on water params.The best way to go is keeping a continuous supply of live food.Feeding is tricky,you have to put in enough food for them to find it,but not overfeed and spoil the water. Hikari also makes First Bites.I used that after the fry got a little bit older and was in between hatching shrimp.
Okay Hun,we'll start with that info and see how it goes.

Thanks Dev....Got your reply. I don't know where the other guy came from but my fry are very well comfortable and asleep hanging on the live plants.

It's just weird that I had to get more criticism before I get the right results (The good results are from you, by the way LOL)

Thanx. I'll keep u updated on my little babies.

I feel violated right now......hmmmm

What in the world is going on here?
Hope please accept my apologies. BadBoyzon9 is a very new member and only speaking for himself.Do not let him upset you.


BadBoyzon9, DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE ONTO THIS THREAD!!!!!!
I understand that you are new here,but we do NOT treat our member's like that.I am warning you now,don't make me do something that you'll regret.

Hope I am so sorry. Please realize that you cannot take this member seriously.He will be dealt with.
I forgot to mention that plants were indeed great and that the little fry would love them. If you have any questions hUN,feel free.This is an odd time,but there has been quite a few with fry that will be more than happy to help you through this.Hang in there dear.{{{hugs}}}

Thank you very much Devs. I'll let u know what the input is later this morning at my side of the earth (LOL).

It's 3:35am...My cats don't understand why I'm still awake.. he he he...

Thanx again.

These comments were totally uncalled for. Hope has joined a Goldfish forum because we are here to help---that is indeed our purpose.
I also want to state that in no way did Hope discriminate against asian people-only asian merchant'swho couldn't be bothered to help her in any way. And what was that last comment's meaning????? Did you put a curse on her fish or what?
This is the last that I will say about this unfortunate incident. BadBoyzon9, keep your nasty opinions to yourself and calm down.And by the way,you need to read over the forum rules.http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...?act=boardrules

Welcome to the site, Hope!

Dont let him bother you. Apparently he doesnt know how to be nice to people. I cant read half of what he said but what I could understand wasnt nice at all.

Good luck with your fry! I hope they grow into beauties for you.

As Sharon has already said..Cool It, And Fast too. You have now offended me too, And made us as a whole board look like rude, immature people. And I don't think that Hope in the least bit was being Racist in any way shape or form, I have a son that is half Asian, And her post did not come across as rude to me. I think you need to look back at your post's and think about what you said.







HOPE- Hang in there. Looks like Dev's is doing a wonderful job already.

Welcome to Koko's Hope, I sure do hope that you will stay with us... This board is a wonderful place with wonderful information, and wonderful people. I am truely embarssed too see the posts that BadBoyz has left here. Im sorry for that. This is not how we treat people here, I promise!! Keep us posted..Get some sleep!!

Thanx a lot guys....as said....my fry(s) are asleep and they are doing great. God Forbid anything happens to them.....I'd be devastated again!!! And no...just to let u guys know....I ain't that old and I am happily with friends and husband (HA HA HA ) It's just funny and sad at the same time that someone would be so cruel....

I am the sort of person who has 7 cats who saved everyone of them from the street and "dead sentence" not because I am an old sad person....but because I "CARE".

I don't know why I had to explain myself...but I feel that I need to...to make people understand that "LIFE...WHATEVER OR WHOEVER IT IS" that cannot speak...needs our help....For God's Sake.... Mary Ann

Oh no....Another animal saver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could be our lost sister!!!!
And by the way Mary Ann,if you're old,well I guess that I am prehistoric!

You don't have to explain yourself to us Mary Ann, We all understand and already know that you are a caring person, Afterall you ended up here! That show's you care.

Anyway's, So glad to hear the Fry are doing well so far. Will be waiting to hear the progress. It's alaway's exciting.

HA HA HA HA

I feel like I'd found myself some new friends...."Badboyzone9 could be right!!!!"...

Am I being a "*****" right now? hmmmm




Edited to keep the peace.

Oh, You Definatly found yourself some new friends alright. We are a tight bunch around here. You'll fit in just finnnnnne.

I have 4 rescued cats and Id have more if I didnt live in an apartment! Glad to have you aboard, youre fitting in just great already!

You guys are GREAT!!! Stick with me....the most important thing to me right now is to make sure that the fry makes it.

You guys should have seen me last week going "buzzoooka" with dead fry(s)....

It was not a good site....

Okay guys,we will now behave and go back to topic please....No more acting up.
Hey Mary Ann,you haven't seen any fry free swimming yet have you?

K Dev, not sure if u were serious...but they r swimming around. Some stick to the side of the plastic tub that I put them into and some are just horizontally swimming and some are sticking to the "top?" of the water. They are alive.....

What else do I do to make their life simplier?....But then....you know were they are stored....do I shift them somewhere else? or will that hurt them? I have no idea what to do......

Guyz....can I ask a question? If the BadBoyzon9 is part of the member that is appearing ....does that mean he is reading what is going on?

It feels like Dr. Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell.......

If you see his name at the bottom, yes. But dont worry about him.

K. It's now 5:05 am HK time. All my fry are doing ok. Asleep after feeding them...I will have myself at least 6 hours hours sleep from now. Which is not bad...because they said that sleeping more than eight hours would make you look older (check the web....whatever!!!)

Will inform u if not ask d ? that needed 2 b asked 2 make sure that my GF and my GF fry make it!!! Thx

Once they start swimming like most fish do ,they are considered free swimming.I guess that they have been hatching at different times and that's why the different stages.The ones just sticking at the top and on the sides are probably still living off their egg sac's,but if some are swimming around now,they'll need to start being fed..
They're in a 14 x 14 container-I'd probably leave them for now.Is there still only an inch of water in there? Hopefully we get some of the Pro's on this,but personally,I'd probably start slowly adding a little more water to the container.It has to be temp matched and treated of course.Where are all the fry people?
Okay take a sleep,and we'll work on some more answers for you.Nighty nite!

K. B4 I'm off 2 bed. 6:00am...OMG...I just looked out of the window of the computer room....it's...beautiful...the sea...the clouds....I don't understand why people keep complaining in Hong Kong...It's so beautiful......

"Good night/morning guys"....c u in a few hours? C u at 12:00pm...really...I need my sleep....he he he....

Thnx again....

Goodnight hun. Jeez, if I went to sleep at 6am, Id be sleeping till 4!

Hi Hope... welcome to koko's. And you've got yourself a great guardian angel there.... DEVS! She's a sweetheart.

Congrats on the Fry. Keep us posted. And if you can take pictures.. even if they are just microscopic dots... We'd love to see them!

[/quote]
Hi Hope,Don't panic Hun.I'm not the expert with fry,but I'll help as much as I can.
From what I understand,most people keep their fry in about water that's around 6 inches deep. Apparently,water pressure is too much and can damage the fry and also make it hard for them to reach the surface. Because you have so many fry,you may have to move them to a larger container,but I'd leave them for now. A good investment for the fry would be to buy a bottle of Prime if you don't allready use it.It not only detoxifys Chlorine,etc,it also does Nitrites/Ammonia/Nitrates. (THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS HERE THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE THE SAME NAME BRAND AS WHAT YOU CAN GET FROM THE U.S. BUT I THINK I HAVE THE CHLORINE THING SORTED....I USED WHATEVER THAT I USE FOR MY OLDER GOLDFISH, HOPEFULLY THAT WORKS AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU MENTIONED).When fry hatch,the first two days or so they basically,just hang on the side until they're free swimming--They don't need to be fed until they are considered free swimming because they'll absorb their egg sac.
After they begin to swim around is when food needs to begin.(OK...WOKE UP THIS MORNING AND ALL THEY WERE DOING WAS HANGING VERTICALLY ON THE SIDE WALL OF THE PLASTIC TUB AND VERTICALLY FLOATING IN THE WATER...WHICH I THINK IS A GOOD SIGN....NEVER SEEN THIS HAPPENED WITH THE LAST BATCH(ES) THAT I HAD BEFORE....I MENTIONED YESTERDAY THAT I DID THROW MOST OF THEIR EGGS/UNHATCHED EGG AND LEFT THE ONES WITH TWO EYES PEEKING EGGS WHICH I CAN'T SEEM TO FIND THIS MORNING....ALL I SEE ARE 9 HANGING ON THE SIDES/FLOATING VERTICALLY.......I PUT SOME NEW LIQUID FOOD BEFORE I GOT BACK TO THE SITE...HOPE THE FOOD IS OK....I SHALL ADD SOME AIR BUBBLE LATER TODAY) They must be fed at least three times a day,although some choose to feed between 4-6 times a day. Brine Shrimp Eggs are excellent for their first fry food. Shrimp eggs can be bought at most pet stores with simple instructions on how to hatch them. It takes at least 24 hours to hatch Brine Shrimp,and you'll have to continue to do this for 3-4 weeks.Each little amount of eggs that hatch,last a day or two,sometimes a bit longer.When they get a little older,you can begin feeding something like frozen daphnia,etc. (TOTALLY SOMETHING NEW HERE.....NEVER HEARD OF BRINE SHRIMP EGGS THAT NEEDS HATCHING OR FROZEN DAPHNIA....BUT I SHALL GO SHOPPING TODAY TO FIND THEM)
Some people use cooked hard egg yolk and crumble it,but you have to be really careful with that as it will spoil the water fast,and it's quite messy on water params.The best way to go is keeping a continuous supply of live food.Feeding is tricky,you have to put in enough food for them to find it,but not overfeed and spoil the water. Hikari also makes First Bites. (NOW....HIKARI I'VE SEEN YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS SHOPPING FOR MY OLDER GF, I SHALL GO AND LOOK FOR "FIRST BITE" DEFINITELY) I used that after the fry got a little bit older and was in between hatching shrimp.
Okay Hun,we'll start with that info and see how it goes.
[/quote]

I'M SO EXCITED....TODAY I RENOVATE MY GF AQUARIUM.....

Added air/bubbles to the fry tub......so excited!!!!! they are not disturbed by it (it seems). You guys should see me now.....my smile is ear to ear.....God, I am a new mom!

Hi Barbra44...I will add some pictures soon on the fry (is camera with flash ok? or will it scare them?)

Also, I tried adding some avatar before but the site told me it was too big even when I shrank it to 1MB through AC/DSee.

He he he...a bit hopeless on the computer side as well

Well, I can't help ya too much with the avatar bit, I always have problems doing that, this is why mine hasn't changed for a LONG time.

Now, I don't know if anyone's mentioned it (I'm too tired to read right now), but have you done any water changes yet? They need to be very tenderly done, so that the baby's backs don't break from the force of the water coming into the container. I find that using airline tubing works great for putting the water back IN their container. For taking the water out, I also used airline tubing, but had my face plastered so close to the tank so that I could avoid the babies. I don't know how others have done it, but that's what I did with my little stinkers.

What is airline tubing? Describe it....I was thinking is it like the white(ish) tube that is about half a centimeter in diameter? The ones that we use to get air bubbler to the tanks?

I was thinking of adding more water as Devs suggested. But I am trying to learn the temperature and make sure that I absolutely do it correctly. Never thought about what you said, like, breaking the back of the fry....should be careful with that me.

BTW, thanx as well.

Quick update...siphoned water in. I thought that might be the safest way for a starter like me...so far...counted....15 fry. All still vertical sticking to a plant or the wall.

Siphoned off some food and dirt but can't seem to totally clean it all.

Off to shop for more GF stuff.

Airline tubing is indeed that thin tubing you use for airpumps and bubblers.

I did briefly mention airline tubing and being very careful with water changes,etc,but it was said in the very beginning somewhere when Mary Ann was in full panic. AS many babies as I've hatched out from other eggs-I still remember that Panicked feeling-quite nervewracking!

Just got back from shopping. Hikari First Bite is not carried in stores that I went to (about 10 different stores). They all carry Hikari brand though.

I guess I will just have to stick with liquid food for now.

Got them some light, too. So I think I am up and running quite well....so far.

Did you look into the Brine Shrimp eggs?That is something very tasty and full of protein for little growing bodies,and one of my fry's most important foods the first 3-4 weeks.As he grew,I added into the diet,but I'll tell you that his choice was definately chasing live food.

Shoooooot....I forgot about that one. Do they come in a bag with water? Or do I look for a packaged bag? It's Typhoon 1 here today and feet were soaking wet but had fun browsing around all the GF stores...

I just sent out some other questions in some other areas of the forum about Black Moor and Neritina Natalensis. I had other questions but I put them together with the Black Moor.

So far...the babies are doing well...still sticking around the walls of the tub. Got them light btw and they seem to stay and stick on the wall where the light shines on. I could not get a filter for them coz all were too big....and would suck them in....the nice lady at the shop today said that it's fine if I just give them air and that they were too small to get a filter...Looked everywhere and nobody seems to have a filter that's catered for fry.

I have to go and get some good sleep and give my cats some love too...been too occupied with the fry (which I have siphoned some more water into this evening....first time I have had fry that lived this long...)

Thank you so very much, again ...I am so glad and happy that I was recommended this site by someone from UK in the Animal and Nature Question site.

Will update again later this morning.

Brine shrimp comes in a number of different ways-Container's packet's etc. The trick to hatching Brine shrimp is that they need salt added to their water.Luckily in the states you can buy these little made pkg.'s that come ready to go.The eggs and the salt are in the packet,& all you have to do is add the measured dose of tap water that they tell you. Can't get it any easier for me.
The container's that you may find may just be all Shrimp eggs,but directions should tell you how to do it up with the water and how much salt to add.
Once mine is mixed up,I place in a jar with an airstone and put it somewhere warm as to speed up the hatching.


I'm glad to hear that fry continue to do well.

I'll try and browse around for that....

On another topic, I opened up a package that I bought from a GF shop I've recently frequent who's sold me some fry food...guess what? It's Hikari! It's all in Japanese...but I guess it must be "First Bite".

Some of the fry are totally swimming around this morning, gave them food. There are two that seems to be limp-like on top of the plant, not sure if they're dead but they're definitely not active.

Let's hope that they'll be okay.Now that you've been feeding,you'll really have to keep a close eye on those params.

Hi Devs,

Got myself a filter for the fry and covered every single holes on them and made it to work at its most minimum (tried it first in another tub of the same size).

Just making sure and probably need a "go-ahead, it's Okay to put it in with the fry" from someone who's done this before....is it?

As long as the fry can't get caught up the filter,and once you turn it on-it doesn't swish the fry all over the place,it should be okay.
Fry are really vulnerable at this stage so they need something that's really going to be gentle on them.The littlest forced movement could hurt these guys . I had mine in a small Eclipse with the filter flow that came with it.I made it alot better by using alot of live plants to slow up the flow rate and also keep them protected more.

Don't think this thing that I bought would be good. It shakes up the water a bit which obviously meant it would hurt the fry. I siphoned as much as I could and as clean as I can get it but I'm sure it's not perfect.

The other thing is I put in new water as much as I siphon out.

Fingers crossed.

Thank you.