Goldfish Question

[Mimi]

I would like to get some goldfish for my pond now that it has become more established.  My question is what care if any will they need.  The pond has developed into a nice place for little beasties.  So far we have seen tadpoles, watersnails waterboatmen, waterbeatles, and damsel flys and to date just one toad.  The pond has some marginals, oxygenators  and waterlilies,(which are growing at a fantastic rate)  It is 3 1/2ft at one end with a sloping end to the bog garden which is planted up with hostas,mimulus,lobelia cardinal, and daylilies(and a couple of grasses) The other end is 2 1/2ft deep and we intend to have a small fountain there eventually(other end of the pond from the lilies) Any advice would be a help thanks.

[Mimi]

OOOOOO sorry forgot to minimise.

[Mrs Ava]

Ooooooooooooooooooooo Mimi, tis a lovely pond, and a lovely garden too!  Didn't know Day lillies were bog lovers - I have several dotted around the patch so I might move one in the autumn.

Thats it tho, no help whatsoever, just wanted to say how lovely it is.  

[Anthony]

Hi mimi,

The pond looks really nice and extremely well thought out.  There are a number of schools of thought about the best way to do things but ultimately it will probably boil down to the amount of time and money you have to spend keeping it up and running.  And I guess in that only you will be best placed to answer this question.

Here are a couple of suggestions at each end of the time/budget spectrum ( I assume you'll probably fit somewhere in the middle)

Cheap non-time consuming way to do things

With the depth that you have in the pond and the number of plants already present, it will be quite able to sustain a number of smaller goldfish without having to do much else other than feed them every couple of days.  The introduction of a fountain/waterfall will undoubtedly help on hotter days by keeping the temp of the pond cooler for longer and by adding additional oxygen to the water.

More expensive/time consuming way to do things.

For the cost of not much more than £100 you could install a filter with UV and pump (you'll need some sort of pump for the fountain/waterfall anyway) - The pond is deep enough to be able to accomodate more expensive fish e.g. koi etc and with a filter you'll be able to stock the pond with a lot more fish than otherwise.  You'll probably need to clean the filter out every couple of weeks and if you're going to buy fish such as koi and have more fish in there, then they'll probably need feeding more often, especially on hot days. (probably twice a day)  ***Remember though that frogs/toads etc are generally not suited to ponds with filters/pumps in them and although they can/ will live in there, it is not their ideal living conditions)


Whichever path you chose I'd definately be inclined to do the two following things:

1)  Only ever introduce a couple of fish at a time, even with a filter the "good" bacteria present will need time to catch up with the amount of waste it is having to cope with.  Overstocking will cause increased Nitrate/Nitrite levels and the fish will die.
2)  Cover the pond with a temporary net that can be removed as and when required.  Predators such as herons/cats will be quickly on the scene if they know there is a meal going cheap.

Hope this helps

Tony

[Mimi]

Thank you very much for your very comprehensive answer Anthony.  I think that it will be the cheaper non-time consuming option for the time being.. By the way am now the proud owner of one biggy shibunkin and four littlies.   So your advice came just in the nick of time.

[Anthony]

Excellent, you'll have to let us know how they are getting on.  I know that Shubs are notoriously hardy and assuming the "littlies" are goldfish then it's a good choice to start.  I know Margaret will slaughter me for saying this but the temptation to buy more is very great and unfortunately one that I have succumbed to on more than one occasion!!  If you can control this urge then the fish you have will be a lot healthier in the long run and should live a long time and grow relatively big.

Good Luck

Tony