Breeding comets/shibunkins

[DLV082]

Just a question or two I have two ponds one with comets and the other with shibunkins. In the past I have just let nature take its course with regard to them breeding and when I have to many in the pond take out the fish I don't want and sell them to a LFS.

My first question, is if I decided to take out some of the female's (I have a couple of gravid ones at the moment) and select males for them would they breed or do they like to choose their own partners so to speak.

My second question, is a 100 litre plastic garbage bin large enough as a breeding tank. They are food safe as I have used them to age water for my Discus and also as QT tanks when my other tanks are full. Of course they would have appropriate filtration etc.

And any other tips on how this might work would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Flaringshutter]

You can definitely select partners - fish aren't picky and if you have a male and female together under the right conditions, they should spawn in no time. I would use a larger tank for spawning - about twice that size - as they do a lot of vigorous chasing and more room is always better. You'll need a spawning mop or soft silk/real plants for them to spawn in.
A large water change with slightly cooler water usually does it for my gang - and goldfish usually spawn in the early morning. You'll want to catch them at it if you can, so to remove as many eggs as possible before they eat them all.

 

[DLV082]

I would probably use real plants. You say to move the eggs once they have spawned. Is is better to move the eggs? I would have thought it would be easier to move the parents and leave the eggs behind. Is this ok to do as I was going to return the parents back to the pond once the spawning was complete.

 

[Flaringshutter]

Sure, you can move the parents. I only say move the eggs only because mine don't like being netted at all (I rarely move them) and so they would swim all over, knocking into plants and squishing eggs. All while eating as many as possible. But it depends - in some cases it's easier to move eggs, some cases easier to move parents. Both are fine.