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What kind of fishes for outdoor pond?

Pictus

Pictus

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Sacramento, Ca
Firstly some context. I live in northern CA. 500 ft. Elevation. My pond sits on the easterly side of my house and we never get frost in the winters. I set it up beginning of summer and the plants have exploded. I was wondering what kind of fish I can put in here that would be happy with 40°F nights. So far I have two goldfish, two butterfly koi, and a bunch of guppies. I dont want to add any other fish that get bigger than a goldfish. I was thinking some bottom feeders would be nice. Also one of my goldfish is eating the baby guppies. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
 

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How big is your pond? I'm asking because koi get HUGE.

I'm not sure how they'd do with the butterfly koi, but bluegills are my favorite pond fish. They'll go after your guppies, though. Goldfish will eat anything they can fit in their rather large mouths.
 
Fathead minnows work for me. Temps from 85 to freezing, I have a self maintaining population for over 20 years. Smaller than goldfish larger than guppies.
 
Pictus said:
Firstly some context. I live in northern CA. 500 ft. Elevation. My pond sits on the easterly side of my house and we never get frost in the winters. I set it up beginning of summer and the plants have exploded. I was wondering what kind of fish I can put in here that would be happy with 40°F nights. So far I have two goldfish, two butterfly koi, and a bunch of guppies. I dont want to add any other fish that get bigger than a goldfish. I was thinking some bottom feeders would be nice. Also one of my goldfish is eating the baby guppies. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
Click to expand...
i have medium sized pond abit smaller then yours i keep bristlenose plecos in them all year round and they do fine in the hot and cold. and are starting to breed
 
We need pond dimensions (length x width x height).

As mentioned by WhistlingBadger, koi get big (3 feet plus). In a small pond they won't get to 3 ft but they will easily reach 12 inches in length.

The smallest sized pond for koi carp is 20 feet long x 10 ft wide x 3ft deep/ high.

The smallest sized pond for goldfish is 10ft x 4ft x 2ft because goldfish regularly grow to 8 inches and can hit 12 inches long (not including their tail).

Some barbs (rosy, ruby) might survive the cool conditions at night. Most other tropical fishes will struggle when it gets that cold.
 
Pictus said:
I dont want to add any other fish that get bigger than a goldfish. I was thinking some bottom feeders would be nice.
Click to expand...
I would recommend plecos. They are good pond fishies that will clean up the algae and extra food.
Pictus said:
Also one of my goldfish is eating the baby guppies. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
Click to expand...
Also... Goldfish eat anything anything and EVERYTHING they can fit their mouths on so they will without a doubt eat the baby guppies let alone the adult guppies (as the goldfish gets bigger). I would also wonder/think they are being eaten by the koi too. (maybe not though. I am not super knowledgeable about them).
 
Colin_T said:
We need pond dimensions (length x width x height).

As mentioned by WhistlingBadger, koi get big (3 feet plus). In a small pond they won't get to 3 ft but they will easily reach 12 inches in length.

The smallest sized pond for koi carp is 20 feet long x 10 ft wide x 3ft deep/ high.

The smallest sized pond for goldfish is 10ft x 4ft x 2ft because goldfish regularly grow to 8 inches and can hit 12 inches long (not including their tail).

Some barbs (rosy, ruby) might survive the cool conditions at night. Most other tropical fishes will struggle when it gets that cold.
Click to expand...
Here on the east coast, we have cold winters. Barbs probably arent good since the temps may drop for him.
 
As already said: Koi need a bigger space. They grow fast. Goldfish and koi will only eat smaller fish if they are kept in a small environment. Kept in a large environment, they'll leave smaller fish alone.
But as already mentioned, white clouds are good contenders for your pond. They have very wide margin in temperature tolerance and are quite hardy.
 
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