With spring coming around the corner, it’s good to know a bit about the activities that may be happening in your pond. Spring is the ideal time for spawning because the conditions are most comfortable for your fish. Ponds in the temperate zones are just beginning to awaken from the winter months. Although to some pond owners, this is a difficult period due to blanket algae and green water, but to fish it’s the perfect scenario because the extra algae attracts microscopic bugs to eat on the algae which in turn creates food for the fish which makes it a great time for breeding because the little critters feeding on the algae are a perfect meal for newly hatched fish. The green water and blanket algae is unsightly of course, but you should be careful to use products to clear the algae or flush the pond because this will disrupt the natural cycle of breeding.
Fish are classified as either egglayers or livebearers when it comes to breeding. Just as it sounds, egglayers lay eggs while livebearers give birth to live young. Most fish that are kept in ponds are egglayers. These fish will scatter their eggs among plants and then basically be done with it. The remaining eggs and surviving fry will be left to fend for themselves from that point on.
When trying to figure out the sex of your fish, there’s
unfortunately no sure fire way to tell whether you have males or females and it
depends on what species you have. Guppies, for example, are more colorful and also smaller than
females.
Paradise
fish, on the other hand, are larger and have bigger fins than the females. Common pond fish such as goldfish and koi are the most difficult to tell apart. They are very similar to one another, especially outside of the breeding season. However, the males tend to be thinner than the females and have a more square shape about them.
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