Goldfish in a bathtub

[Ferret_Friend]

So, after reading an article in a fish mag about goldfish, I'm more interested in keeping them. I live in the Northeast US, and the article was about someone in PA who had a small goldfish pond and all the fish were able to survive throughout the winter. As long as the pond didn't freeze completely solid, they made it through the winter. The article also mentioned that goldfish actually seem to be healthier if they experience the temperate changes associated with the seasons.

So, with that being said, I've considered getting one of those classic styled cast iron bathtubs, cleaning it out as good as possible, then setting it up in my garage to make a small goldfish pond out of.

Whether or not I get around to this this year is a mystery to me, but I'm trying to figure out what the cheapest way to keep the water in the tub from freezing solid will be. In fact, I'm still not convinced I'll keep it in the garage. I may keep it behind my garage outside. We'll see what happens. I do know I'll need one aquarium heater to keep the top from freezing 100% solid. A small hole to deliver food to the goldfish 1-2 times a week will be neccesary, but then I'm still trying to figure out how I would keep the rest of the tub from freezing over completely. I don't have the money or material to do any kind of insulating of the tub, and the tub itself I'm only hoping to stumble upon at my local recycling barn (you can find so much cool stuff there).

This may end up just being a pipe dream. I'd make a true goldfish pond, but it's illegal in my state to have goldfish ponds in case of flooding. They are considered and invasive species. I don't see why. They'll just get eaten by the other more aggressive fish out there anyhow. Meh.

Does this sound do-able to anyone else out there, or should I perhaps focus my efforts on something else?

 

[hc8719]

maybe you should rethink it, goldfish have incredibly long lifespans (mine lived for 11 years, and would have lived longer if not for my sister) the world record is 44 years!

another trick is that (i thought at least) the pond/bathtub had to be a certain deepness to make it through the winter, but maybe you can cheat with a heater

remember if you keep it outside, you'll have to clean up leaves (many leaves including most evergreen like trees and fresh oak contain some type of poisons {i learned the hard way with some tadpoles) not to mention getting circulation and filtering (yes just because your outside doesnt mean you can get away with it) and you'll have to dechlor your water as well, can just set the hose in every pwc

i'd recommend not doing it (for the goldfish sake) not to mention the weirdness in explaining it to your neighbors

the reason your state is banning them is because goldfish get huge (mine were 10-11") and their mouthes get huge as well. but i dont see them eatting a bass or pike or something if they get loose

btw what state do you live in that they have goldfish bans?

 

[DepotFish]

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish in there, and when they get over 10 inches you might reduce that to two. You CANNOT feed them in winter. Goldfish will eat the food but they don't digest in less than 55 degrees. If you get a heater it will be best to have one that will regulate the water to 50 degrees or so in winter.

Yes hc, they will eat a bass or pike, the babies of those species and more. Goldfish can outcompete almost any native fish and in years be the only fish in a large area, with the exception of the fish that were already too large for them to eat when they were introduced.

 

[frostby]

I've had a 25 cent 2.5" goldfish swallow my feeder guppies whole!

 

[hc8719]

didnt think about the native fry...

 

[src]

Sorry to intrude, but I saw the subject line and it reminded me of a practical joke a friend played on me. I came home after work to find 50 goldfish in my bathtub - about 1/2 were dead already because the joker didn't bother to wash the tub out before the fish were added.

 

[lmw80]

Sorry to intrude, but I saw the subject line and it reminded me of a practical joke a friend played on me. I came home after work to find 50 goldfish in my bathtub - about 1/2 were dead already because the joker didn't bother to wash the tub out before the fish were added.

Please stay on subject. This post is neither appropriate or helpful.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Agreed with DepotFish. You CANNOT feed goldfish in the winter. As soon as the temperatures drop you stop feeding them. Else you will kill them.

Ferret, I like the idea of the bathtub, but please do keep in mind that the fish will get huge. The bathtub would need to be huge as well, else this wouldn't work.

I thought I heard that a hollow pole through the middle of the pond will keep it from freezing solid.

You could also keep it outside and move it inside when the temperatures start to drop.

 

[Ineubis]

you can also break up the ice on top manually. A friend of mine keeps a successful outdoor Koi pond in Wisconsin year round.

 

[tropicfishman]

omg thats an aweosme idea, except I woulkd have a red tail cat in there LOL

 

[Guest]

A redtail cat needs something the size of a large pool, not a bathtub and they are not coldwater fish either. IMO the RTC is one of my favorite fish and the most abused.

As far as the goldfish, I like the creativity in your idea, however I would not recommend it.

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish

I dont even know about that many.

Obviously having a large pond is a lot of work but people do it. Maybe someday you can reach a goal like a pond that would be more suitable to the fish.

Just my thoughts...Good Luck

 

[jsoong]

I think the bathtub idea could work for the summer, but I don't think you can overwinter fish in it. Goldfish overwinter in pond that is in ground. The ground acts as insulation and if deep enough (6-8' in my latitude), the water won't freeze solid. An above ground pond would freeze solid. Even with a heater, an uninsulated tub would be dicy (plus you'd need high watts - prob several pond heaters - just think of the electricity bill!).

Most people up here in the north keep their golds indoors. I know of one friend that keep koi outdoor in a deep pond, and use a heater to melt a hole in the ice to let gases escape. <BTW - golds & koi hibernate in winter & should not be fed.>

With a bath tub, you would have problem keeping comets (50 gal is small in gold fish terms), but you can keep hardy fantails (moors or self-metallics) outdoors, and bring them in for the winter. Lots of people use feeding trough/big tubs in the house for this purpose. If you keep the water temp low (say 40-50 - an unheated crawl space is ideal) the fish will hibernate and you won't need to feed or filter the tubs.

I heard of one guy (over the net) that put the golds in tupperware tubs in a fridge overwinter .... not sure how safe this is considering the small water volume, but he swears by it!

 

[Ferret_Friend]

btw what state do you live in that they have goldfish bans?

Maine. They banned goldfish ponds, all but 6 species of aquarium plant, and it's illegal to sell freshwater snails. It's legal to give them away. Just illegal to sell them.

The ground acts as insulation and if deep enough (6-8' in my latitude), the water won't freeze solid. An above ground pond would freeze solid. Even with a heater, an uninsulated tub would be dicy (plus you'd need high watts - prob several pond heaters - just think of the electricity bill!).

I had thought about that. I was wondering if I cut up square foot pieces of old carpeting and layered it on with 2 part epoxy if that would help it out at all. I can get old stained carpets at my recycling barn.

As for feeding the fish... I didn't realize they shouldn't eat at all in the winter. That's good to know.

And wow! Goldfish get bigger than I thought. No wonder they are considered invasive. I'm used to just seeing the little guys. I suppose it would have to be a really big tub. I wonder how that would work.

The big thing is having a tank with hardy cold friendly for as cheap as possible. I know with enough looking I could find an old bathtub. I just wonder how well carpeting would work as an insulator... hrmm...

 

[hc8719]

dont forget insulation works both ways, it can trap in heat or trap in the cold

if you wanted to melt an ice cube, you wouldnt wrap it in a blanket in hopes that it would "warm up" instead you'd be trapping in the cold (sorry for the stuipd example)

now if you meant, plug a heater and then wrap up the pool, maybe

please dont do this tub thing, go buy a 20 gal tank, and get yourself some neon tetras and maybe a gourami

 

[jsoong]

You would need a lot of layers of carpets to get a half decent insulation value. Carpet has maybe R0.5 insulation. Up here, we need R30 to get good insulation - that makes 60 layers of carpets both around and under the tub, plus you would need to rig up some shelter from the wind. Even considering that Maine is warmer than Alberta & you can get by with half the insulation, that's still a lot of layers!

I guess in theory you can build something that will work, but really it is not that practical. If you have the room, you are better off creating something indoors. You can rig up an indoor pond using rocks/bricks and a pond liner for less than $100 (and if you can find a piece of leftover membrane somewhere, it could even be free). This is certainly cheaper than the 1000W pond heater that you'll need for an outdoor pond.

 

[Ferret_Friend]

I live in a trailer. I don't have that kind of space, but my garage does.

I suppose we'll see how things go down the road. This may be a thought that just falls by the wayside in the end.

 

[Tostada]

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish

I dont even know about that many.

Obviously having a large pond is a lot of work but people do it. Maybe someday you can reach a goal like a pond that would be more suitable to the fish.

Just my thoughts...Good Luck

Wow. That's pretty offensive to misquote someone just so you can disagree with them. Or are you trying to say that you think two fish is too many? ... because what he said was:

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish in there, and when they get over 10 inches you might reduce that to two.

 

[Jchillin]

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish

I dont even know about that many.

Obviously having a large pond is a lot of work but people do it. Maybe someday you can reach a goal like a pond that would be more suitable to the fish.

Just my thoughts...Good Luck

Wow. That's pretty offensive to misquote someone just so you can disagree with them. Or are you trying to say that you think two fish is too many? ... because what he said was:

If the tub is only 50 gallons you won't get more than 5 fish in there, and when they get over 10 inches you might reduce that to two.

There is no misquote there Tostada...mike simply stopped at 5. Suggesting that this was offensive when no one took offense doesn't help the OP in this thread does it?

Let's keep our thoughts focused on ideas and suggestions that help the OP.