goldfish spawning

Question
I have a 120 litre freshwater tank with six goldfish in it, two commets and the rest fantails.  My oldest two fish, one a comet and one a fantail spawned about a month ago and that was really exciting so when I saw what they were doing I got my old 60 litre tank set up and moved them in to it and once the eggs were laid I moved the fish back to the main tank.  The eggs, thousands of them, hatched a few days later and over the next couple of weeks quite a few of them died but I was still left with plenty.  Then the same two fish went and spawned again, this time I left them in the main tank and then moved the rocks and plants covered in eggs out of the tank into the smaller tank and again a few days later they hatched.  Here we are a couple of weeks later and they are spawning again!  I really have no more room for any more fry so left both the fish and the eggs in the tank and they very quickly got eaten up.

My question really is, how do I get them to stop spawning?  I'm quite concerned about the health of the female as with all this constant relentless chasing during spawning she has lost quite a lot of scales off both sides of her body and doesn't have time to recover before they're at it again.  An employee at the pet shop told me I shouldn't have commets and fantails together in a tank but then how come they're breeding so often if that is the case?

Thanks,
Victoria


Answer
Hi Victoria;

The only way to stop their breeding is to separate them. It sounds like it's getting pretty intense in there. Your female could die if she doesn't get a break. She will re-absorb the eggs into her body eventually so don't worry about that. Just don't feed her very much while she looks like she has eggs so her body will be more equipped to absorb them. Keep her digestion clear by feeding peeled green peas 3 or 4 times a week too.

Fantails and Comets are better off in separate tanks and ponds because fantails can't compete for food as well. They are slower and generally more delicate. Sometimes the faster growing and larger comets can get aggressive with slower weaker fantails too. If yours seem to do okay, then don't worry about it. They don't always have trouble together. Just something you should watch out for.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins