Are there any other fish besides goldfish that I may put in my goldfish pool? I'd heard guppies, but they're so small I'm afraid something will eat them.
Also, do I need any "algae eater" fish? I live in zone 8, South Mississippi.
Nancy
What type fish besides GOLDFISH may I put in my pool?
Nancy, what size pond are you working with? If it's 50 gallons then you won't be putting too much into it anyway; if it's 50,000 gallons that's a different story. Another factor will be whether you intend to feed or not feed the fish (one goldfish in a 75 gallon pond may be able to exist without feeding). The higher the fish density then the more you'll have to feed them. Having said that - I've got shubunkins, sarrasa, comets and koi in our pond. While guppies would probably work in your zone I doubt if they'd be very visible looking down from the top of your pond. I know people have included fantails and others as well. I'm not sure that an algae eater would make any significant difference on the amount of algae formed in your pond.
I put feeder guppies, black mollies, platties and swordtails in my. I have both large and small ponds and they even overwinter.
A placostmus would do fine for an alge eater and can grow quite large.
Betty
This message was edited Aug 5, 2005 9:52 PM
I have two cory catfish and four placostmus in mine. I know that this winter they will have to be moved inside but I like em anyway.
I have comets, shubunkins, a koi, some white cloud minnows and some mosquito fish. I recommend AGAINST the mosquito fish. I appear to be the proud grandma of about 500 baby mosquito fish, all of which appear to be thriving. I don't know what I am going to do with them all. (See my thread asking for help.)
The white clouds are reproducing as well, but not that much.
I don't supplement feed my fish, but my pond 4500 gallons, so there's plenty of natural food.
Hey Pixie!
Several years ago I was doodling around with various schemes and was thinking about putting a few mosquito fish in my pond. I did the usual Google thing to find suppliers - one guy wanted over $100 just for a few fish!!!!! He was one of these commercial/industrial folks wanting to sell zillions of fish to state agencies and others as a biological method of mosquito control and obviously not interested in us 'little folk'. Needless to say I didn't do that plus they're not hardy around here. My problem has been that the comets are reproducing like crazy and I have to catch & remove 3-4 dozen (>1 inch) each fall just to make sure that I don't overwhelm the system come winter.
My pond is about 250 gallons. I've about 18 little goldfish & loads of plants that keep my water clear. I'd like to have a lot of goldfish, but have been told that this is about as many as I need to have. Could I put more? Do goldfish multiply rapidly?
During this winter, when the plants are dormant, will I need to feed the fish? I've only had my pool about 3 months, so there's a lot I need to learn.
Thank you for all your help, everyone!
Nancy
Nancy, goldfish/comets will spawn 3-4 times a year. In our pond it seems that they are continuously spawning! Shubunkins and Sarassa will do about the same; Koi will generally spawn about once a year. In any event you will end up with more fish than your pond can support even with supplemental feeding. If you were not going to provide feeding to your fish then you pond would probably be only able to continuously support about 5-8 medium sized goldfish. As the population density increases the foodsupply becomes a limiting factor on growth and health maintenance. I periodically remove anywhere from 2 to 4 dozen fish from my pond each year. I give them to a local aquarium store where he sells them as either feeder fish or that first fish for little kids.
As to when to feed - watch you pond's water temperature. When it drops below 50°F or so discontinue feeding. In your zone this may not be a factor until December. For me it's around mid October or even earlier. Also, remember that your pond temp is going to fluctuate from day to day. So if it only dips down for one morning I wouldn't worry about it unless you can see that the weather ahead is going to definitely cool off.
TOO COOL!!!
I WANTED to feed my goldfish, but felt there was so many little squigglies in the pond water & plants they'd be fine. I'll get some food & begin feeding!
Nancy
I have African Cichlids some White Clouds and a couple of pairs of Gouramis and some feather fin catfish. I'm lucky to live in the sub-tropics, but I bet you can experiment in your climate.
Nancy, just a thought. I feed flake food indoors, but I always feed pellet food outside. It makes less mess and is easier for the fish to find. With flake food, a lot of it seemed to end up in plants, filters, corners, and so on. Pellet food gets eaten up like crazy, but buy a small size if your fish are still little with small mouths.
Whoops! Forgot to 'watch' this thread!
So DRH2 , are you saying I could sell these fish for 100$? If so- please point me in the right direction! LOL I will definitely take 100$ for as many mosquito fish as I can catch! I'm thinking I'll be giving them back to the seller if I can catch them!
I know my shubunkins and comets are breeding as well. Some of the little fish may be their spawn, but they're so tiny I can't tell yet. I know the white cloud minnows had some success as I've seen several little ones of those. They appear to be doing well, but likely will not survive the winter.