Question
We have a pond approximately 275 gallons which we have kept covered for the winter with some greenhouse plastic. We're in zone 7 and I monitor the water temp on a daily basis first thing in the morning but the water temp did not get below 43 degrees even when the night temps were down in the "10's." As a result, our 7 common goldfish and 2 fantails have been happy as could be all winter, and the 2 fantails and one of the common goldfish are now busy laying eggs.
Last week we noticed that the 2 fantails disappeared. We finally saw one of the fantails hidden under a flat stone near the edge of the pond. All we could see was her tail sticking out from under the rock. She was there for about 3 days when I got worried about her (I thought she was either stuck or dead) and moved the rocks only to find hundreds of eggs. She swam away and looks fine.
We finally found the other fantail also hidden under a rock with only her tail sticking out. She's been there since March 7 (today is March 12). I don't want to move the rocks because she's probably doing the egg thing also; however, we are worried about her. Is this normal when they are laying eggs? I didn't think the females tended the eggs. We still haven't found where the female common goldfish is, but we assume she's hidden under a rock also.
We've checked on-line but haven't been able to find any information on this type of behavior other than general info on spawning.
I guess the question is should we just wait and see or should we try to get her out from under the rocks? I don't want her getting stuck and not being able to back out, but don't want to disturb her if this is normal behavior.  

Answer
I'm glad they did well.  When you cover over a pond for winter, be sure there is aeration and ventilation.  I'm in Zone 6/7, and my fish aren't spawning yet so it must be the extra heat under the plastic that got them going early.

When spawning, females can get beat up pretty bad.  When done, they are totally exhausted and sometimes damaged.  They may take a while to rest and recover.  Adding pond salt and some MelaFix can help them heal.

The fantail is not under the ledge to lay eggs. She is trying to get away from the males and rest.  When the eggs are laid, the male must be there.  If she's alone under the rock, she can't produce fertile eggs.  Probably, the fish spawned under the rock ledge which is why you found the eggs there.  The exhausted females then tried to hide under there.  Also, both males and females will probably try to get under there to eat the eggs and fry which they love to eat.  Neither male nor female tends or helps the eggs; they do the opposite which is why they lay so many eggs.

If the fantail is not stuck, she can stay hidden under the ledge to rest.  If you think she's stuck, then try to get her out without further damage.  She is not laying eggs (since she's alone) nor is she tending eggs.  Good luck!

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com