I've had my fish for years and during that time only once have I had a large number of fry. That time we had 32 that I brought in and out of that only 8 or 9 really made it to go out to the pond the following year.

This year I've spotted 6 that are already 2 inches long and swimming with the big guys. Then I've caught 30 that I brought in. There seems to be even more fry in the pond.

What do you do with all the young? Mine had never had so many before. I was lucky if one survived or that I even found one.

mugs

I've only raised fry twice in the six or seven years I've been ponding. The first time was year 3 when I got my first spawn. Collected about 20 eggs. I was so excited that I raised and released about 18 of them to the pond. I still have most of that group.

The second time I raised fry from eggs was last summer when I had two fish in quarentine being medicated and they decided to spawn. Well, I removed one hyacinth that was full of eggs and put it in a seperate container. I started with about 150 plus fry. I ended up giving 20 -30 fish away to someone I knew had a pond and kept about 18 that I released to the pond. In the fall, I was able to find and catch 5 to bring in for the winter . Those 5 are now in the pond.

I did it the first time only because of the novelty, and the second time because the fish were in the house and the momma was a shubunkin. Other wise I leave it to mother nature to take care of the little fry...

If you get too many, you can always give them away to your grandson and or put an ad on craigslist.

Congrats!

I don't do anything with my goldfish fry. Of course, my fish stay in the pond every day of the year. It's survival of the fittest and some make it on their own each year. I've raised some in tub ponds in years past but only a few survived.

If I'm understanding what you've said, you lost most of your adult fish over the last winter, right? Or was it all of them? Either way, I'm assuming you have fewer adults right now. That would explain why there are more surviving fry this year since the adults eat them.

I have only 4 large adults and then 8 that are about 4 to 6 inches long. That's what survived after last winter when all my adults died. I'm not catching or gathering eggs. I was catching the really small babies from under one plant that they all seem to go and hide in. I'm to the point of what survives come fall is what I'll bring in then. The big guys will go in their holding pen and the little ones will go in my fish tank. At least the babies give me something to watch during the day.

mugs