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Fish Spawning Question

19 years ago

I found one of my favorite Orandas very lethargic, sort of floating on the top of the water down on the opposite end of the pond from all the other fish. There is not any obvious thing wrong with (him or her) except all it's fins and tail is very worn and ragged on the edges. I believe it is a female and the males have beaten her up. A few days before I noticed she was being chased by several other fish a lot. I took the fish, I call it Holloween, because it is orange and black and ordinarily very beautiful out and put it in an aquarium. It eats very good, just like it normally does. Now my question? If it is a she and she has eggs, what happens now? Will she lay eggs even though they won't be fertile? She is very fat and has a very fat belly all the time anyway, so don't know if it is a she and had eggs or not. Since I have recently added Bream or Blugills, I'm wondering if they somehow had something to do with this. I surely hope not. My pond has finally cleared all the way to the 4 1/2 ft. bottom. Glenda

Comments (6)

  • 19 years ago

    Glenda, your little fish is probably a female and has been run ragged by the males, just as you suspected.
    She could discharge her eggs in the isolation tank, but if there is no male around to fertilise them as they are discharged, they will not be viable.
    Part of the male fish's job is to nudge the female fishes abdomen to encourage the eggs to be discharged.
    Having her on her own she could become egg bound. You could, if you hold her, gentle massage her abdomen, to help her spawn her eggs.
    It maybe better however, to add one male to the isolation tank and keep an eye on the "goings on".
    You can hang a string mop-head or a cut up hank of wool, into the water for her to spawn onto. Once she spawns remove the male. Let her rest up until her bumps and bruises heal.
    "Horton"

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks Horton, I have another Oranda that I believe is a male only because I have seen it chasing some of the other fish. I might can catch it because it will swim into my hands when I reach into the pond. All the other fishes, Comets, Shubunkins, Wakin and Ryukins are much too fast for me to catch and much too large to put into the aquarium. I guess if she had already laid the eggs while she was getting all ragged and worn and I put a male in with her, there just wouldn't be any spawning activity. How often do fish usually spawn a year, do you know? My Wakin is really being chased right now. But is as big as all the others and I think will be allright. Glenda

  • 19 years ago

    Glenda, goldfish usually spawn in the spring when the water warms up, but I have seen them flashing, it seemed, all summer. Just like rabbits!LOL
    "Horton"

  • 19 years ago

    Aren't blugills aggressive fishes? I think they might be the ones that are the cause of your Orandas' ragged fins and tails. I'm not sure what Breams are but I've dealt with Blugills as a kid and they are somewhat aggressive fishes.

  • 19 years ago

    I really don't know what possessed me to even think of putting the wild fish in there. Wish I hadn't, but now don't know quite how to get them out. My pond is very deep and rather large. And after waiting a month for the pond to clear, wouldn't want to drain it and start all over. Glenda

  • 19 years ago

    Depending on how big and deep your pond is and how important the fancy fishes are to you, personally, I'd drain it, get the wild fishes out and start over. A month is not that long to wait for the water to clear. Otherwise the bluegills might be the only fishes in your pond. bluegills are fast swimming fishes and has razor sharp dorsal fins.

    Here is a link that might be useful: bluegill info