Gold fish breeding?

Question
Dear Chris,
I have a 10 Gallon aquarium with 4 fantail gold fish and 1 black moore.  They have been living to gether for over a year now and have been good neighbors, every one seams healthy.  Two days ago I watched one of my fan tails named spike (I thought it was a male) lay about 400 eggs.  It was extremely exciting.  The eggs settled on the plants (the ones that didn't get eaten) and I left it at that.  I did a lttle research on my watery friends and confirmed that the only male in the tank is my black moore ( his name is "fat Albert").  With my fantail being the female  and the moore being the male is there a possibility that the eggs are even fertilized and if so how long until I expect to see fry?

Answer
Hi Amber;

They are all goldfish, just different varieties, so they all breed with each other. Just like dogs; collies breed with shepherds, poodles breed with cocker spaniels, etc.

The eggs will hatch about 3 or 4 days after they are laid but unfortunately the parents will eat the fry very quickly. The best way to help them survive is to get the eggs to another tank. Just take the plants out with the eggs attached and move them to a "nursery" tank. Keep in mind that goldfish require at least 10 gallons per fish to reach their potential size of 6 inches or larger. Babies need plenty of room too, I would say at least one gallon per baby fish until they get to about 1/2 inch long, and need progressively larger as they grow. Here is a good web page with information on how to care for the eggs and new babies;

http://www.goldfishinfo.com/spawn.htm

Good luck!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins