Goldfish

[Jessie J.]

Hi everyone. I was thinking about stocking my large garden pond with some goldfish sometime next year, but I had a few questions:

1. I was thinking about getting maybe one or two of each Celestial eye, oranda, telescope-eye, butterfly-tail, short-tail ryukin, and maybe some black moor goldfish. Do these thrive in the same conditions and will they crossbreed?
2. How cold can they stand it? The top of the pond freezes every winter and I think that would be too cold for them but I'm not sure.
3. If I bring them in for winter what size plastic tub should I use to house them?
4. The pond is a naturally-formed clay hole, will this hurt the fish (the clay)?
5. It gets murky sometimes, is that okay for the fish? It clears up after a day or so.
6. Creepy fish wash up in the pond every year; this year it's a small baby fish that I can't catch or determine what species it is, last year it was two hundred baby newts, and the year before it was a big, red, spiny fish; will these hurt the goldies?

Thanks!

 

[FishGuest5123]

I can answer a few of these things although others may have different opinions.
1. Fancy goldfish such as the ones you have named above do not do well in outside ponds. The larger eyed ones will damage or destroy their eyes or something else will. The ideal goldfish for ponds are either Koi or comet, common, and shubunkins. You can mix the latter 3 but don’t mix any of them with Koi’s as Koi can actually eat them. Most of the above will cross breed. Birds will pick and eat small fish. Larger Koi’s are less likely to be an easy target for predators.
2. None of the above named do well in extreme heat or cold.
3. Not even going to worry about this as they should not be out there in the first place.
4. Not sure about the clay. Koi may be able to handle it but I would check first.
5. Other fish could hurt the goldies. Especially larger fish. Also, what would keep the goldies from washing out if others wash in?

I keep a Comet, Common, and Shubunkin in my pond. They do fine but I am in the Southern part of the US. I also keep a pond net over mine to prevent predators from getting them. I would really recommend that you look into Koi’s. There are hundreds of different patterns and colors and they are pretty hardy. In the winter, you will need a de-icer to keep a hole in the ice for gasses to escape. You also will need a spring/Summer food and a Fall/Winter food. Never feed them if temp drops below 50F. They will be fine and metabolism slows way down. You will also need a lot of plants for protection against predators and for shade. Hornwort, anacharis, duckweed, and water lettuce are good choices. Hope this helps at least a little.

 

[NickAu]

Creepy fish wash up in the pond every year; this year it's a small baby fish that I can't catch or determine what species it is, last year it was two hundred baby newts, and the year before it was a big, red, spiny fish;

It sounds like the " clay pond " is totally unsuitable for fish.

 

[Jessie J.]

Thanks! And about the fish washing in; they only get into the pond system when the upper stream floods- it drains via a small channel that is blocked/filtered by leaves and sticks so it drains slowly.

 

[Colin_T]

All goldfish can tolerate cold water that is just above freezing but the more unusual fantail goldfish do better in warm water. If the water freezes solid they die regardless of what sort of goldfish. All the different varieties of Fantail goldfish would do better if brought indoors during the freezing weather.

You will need to keep them in an indoor pond, tub or aquarium that is suitably sized for the fish. If the fish are small (1-2 inches) they will be fine in a 3ft tank. If the fish are 6 inches they will need a bigger tank or pond.

----------------------
If you had them outdoors in summer they would be fine if you cover the pond with netting to stop the birds, foxes, racoons and other animals getting them. Colourful fish (white and orange) are easily seen by birds and they will be easily eaten due to being slower swimming, which is caused by their weird body shapes and double tail.

Single tailed fish (comets, common and shubunkins) are much quicker and will have more chance of escaping the birds and other predators that might try to get them.

Dark coloured fish (bronze or black) will usually be fine in ponds because they are much harder to see.

----------------------
All goldfish regardless of how many tails, eyes and body shapes they have, will breed with each other because they are all the same species. They are just man made mutations of the same fish. However, it is not advisable to breed single tailed with double tail/ fantail fish because the single tail males can harass the females fantails and cause them a great deal of stress. The fantails literally can't swim fast enough to deal with the single tailed fish.

----------------------
Fish are fine in clay ponds as long as there is oxygen in the water. If there is lots of sediment in the water it can cover the gills and the fish have more trouble breathing. They can tolerate a few days of cloudy water but any more than a week will potentially kill them.

----------------------
If you have river water flowing into the pond at various times of the year, you will have to watch the fish that end up in the pond because some fish will eat the goldfish. And if the water from the pond washes back into the river, then the goldfish could get washed out or worse, they might introduce diseases into the river that affect the native fishes.

Most states have a fisheries department (fish and game) and they usually have a website with images of endemic fish. You might also be able to find books or a field guide to fishes of north America and that should help you identify the fish that appear in your pond. See following links.
https://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Freshwater-Fishes-Second-Guides/dp/0547242069&tag=ff0d01-20

https://kenanaonline.com/files/0066/66837/Freshwater Fish.pdf

 

[Jessie J.]

It sounds like the " clay pond " is totally unsuitable for fish.

Why would you say that?

 

[NickAu]

Why would you say that?

I am just going on what you said.

Creepy fish wash up in the pond every year; this year it's a small baby fish that I can't catch or determine what species it is, last year it was two hundred baby newts, and the year before it was a big, red, spiny fish