# how to breed and sex pearlscale goldfish?



## I Love Tetras And Oscar (Jan 12, 2012)

i was thinking of breeding them because they are fat and cute but how do we sex them? how long will they grow to, 2 inch? and what do we need to breed them?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Pearlscale goldfish get a little longer than 2 inches. Try 5 or 6 inches. And they are just as messy as any other goldfish. If you've never properly kept goldfish before I wouldn't recommend breeding them. Goldfish aren't the easiest to sex but it can be done when they are mature. I can't exactly remember how. Something about tubercules. Sexing Goldfish This article explains it better. 

Breeding goldfish isn't that easy. You can't keep the young with the parents. You're going to need a lot of space as those buggers grow fast. Growing goldfish need space to prevent stunting. 

If you want to breed, there are easier things out there. I've heard BN plecos breed very easily. And livebearers are always good to breed.


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## I Love Tetras And Oscar (Jan 12, 2012)

I do raise them before long time ago but i never breed them, also how long will it take them to grow if they are still fry? Can you explain what i need for the breeding please?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I've never bred them. This sounds like a question for the breeding subforum. You can find it here. Fish Breeding 

Or you could PM Lupin, our resident goldfish expert. I'm no expert, but I have kept them for a while. Breeding (in any form) isn't my thing.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

I Love Tetras And Oscar said:


> I do raise them before long time ago but i never breed them, also how long will it take them to grow if they are still fry? Can you explain what i need for the breeding please?


Goldfish reach an inch when they're at least 4-5 weeks. They tend to grow incredibly fast at first especially when they are kept in tubs with plenty of plants. Beware of where you are getting your plants. I lost hundreds of my goldfish fry to dragonfly nymphs!

Please reconsider breeding if you are lacking enough space because these are definitely going to take up a lot of filtration and water changes with plenty of wastes produced. Do not expect all the fry to survive adulthood. On the other hand, it would be much better if you focus on half a dozen fry to raise with than deal with hundreds of stunted fish. Quality over quantity.

Males should have white pustules showing up around the gill covers and first ray of pectoral fins. Be able to familiarize yourself with that since this breeding sign is often confused with the actual white spot disease resulting in aquarists unnecessarily dumping meds into their tanks and killing their perfectly healthy fish. Females tend to get rounder when they start to spawn.

Also, pearlscales do grow bigger than 2 inches. The largest I've seen is 8 inches. Not a common occurrence but it still happens. If you want to breed them, be sure to breed them at their adult stage/size and not while they are young. Pearlies that are able to breed at 2 inches and smaller are most likely stunted. They do not reach sexual maturity until a year.

As goldfish are egg scatterers, I only used floating plants and balls of yarns to do the job. Eggs stick around there like adhesives. They usually spawn in the dawn so be on guard for that. Once they are done fertilizing their eggs, immediately remove the spawning mops with eggs sticking and place them inside another tank with extremely clean water. Leave the rest of the eggs sticking on glass and elsewhere to be served as food for the fish since it's no use removing them with razors. Do a large water change as well to help dilute any resulting foul odor from infertile eggs. Infertile eggs stink a lot and can cause stress on your fish even killing them. A 3-inch goldfish can produce thousands of eggs (though again, with the exception of Siamese dolls, these are still STUNTED).

Hope this helps.


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## I Love Tetras And Oscar (Jan 12, 2012)

is there any smalll goldfish we can breed instead of the pearlscale?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

You could try the Siamese dolls but they are far too uncommon. Seriously, if size is an issue, how would you be able to accommodate the resulting fry?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

If you are just looking to breed an egg-scattering fish, there are plenty of small tetras and danios that can breed in aquaria. They stay much smaller and many don't need half the size tank a goldfish would. 

I'm also curious what you are looking to get out of this experience. Do you think you can sell the fish? Are you just wanting to see the miracle of life?


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