why are my commons so lackadaisical

[Lohoyan]

I have a 105 Gallon above ground basin pond in my back yard with pump and filter. Its been set up for a couple weeks now and I recently added 7 common goldfish, they are about 2 inches long. The problem is they don't seem the least bit interested in food. I have a couple goldfish in my aquarium and they spend every minute rooting around searching for food and are ravenous at feeding time.

Sometimes I turn of the pump so the water is still and wait till they are all in a group in a corner.Then I put food in the feeding ring over top of them till the flakes sink down right on top of them. If a flake lands right on their face then maybe they finally clue in and start nibbling some of it. Besides that they seem to show almost no appetite or enthusiasm for searching out food. Is this strange? It was the same thing last year with this pond.

Whats up with this!! Are these guys so domesticated they've lost their survival instinct. My pond temp has been as low as 12C (54F) and is now up to 17C (63F) with the warmer weather. Last year I had a huge green algae bloom but relocated the pond to a more shady area this year and so far so good.

Any advice or tips on goldfish psychology appreciated.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

The cooler the water the slower the fishes metabolism. It's perfectly normal for them to refuse food in the cooler months. I don't know the exact temp but once it reaches a certain temp you should stop feeding them until it warms up again. Hopefully someone else that actually has a pond can share some more details.

 

[Lohoyan]

Maybe the temp is still to low for them to get very active. Being above ground the water temp can cycle quite a bit from day to night. I'm finding it cools off fairly quickly at night close to the overnight low air temp but only warms gradually during the day. I've read 8C (46F) is the temp they become dormant and shouldn't eat at all. I'll wait and see, we don't get much hot weather where I live and the pond season is short.

I hope they liven up though I was hoping they'd eat some mosquitos and start entertaining me. And I want them to be happy of course!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

One thing I forgot to ask. Do you test the water at all? Do you know the levels if ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

 

[Lohoyan]

Haven't tested it yet but I'm doing a big water change in a couple days and will test beforehand. The waters been in it for four weeks but the first fish just went in 9 days ago. And like I said they hardly eat so I presume they hardly poop. And the water still looks clear, normally goldfish can yellow up water in a hurry.

Also two weeks ago I added two hyacinth and two water lettuce and in that time they lost all there big leaves and now all that remains are small buds ( that still look viable). Was debating whether to add plant fertilizer or not but finally added a small amount today.Should I add a lot more, whats the best stuff to use? Thanks Mumma!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I don't have experience with ponds (yet) so I can't really help with the plants but since the fish only went in 9 days ago the chances the ammonia is effecting them is pretty high. If you have a test kit I'd test it ASAP.

 

[Lohoyan]

I'll get right on it. The filters been in there for a month but you're right, it's probably not too well cycled yet. I've got an extral fluval 305 on my 66G, I think I'll take the the media out of that one and add it in to the pond filter. That should help.

 

[Lohoyan]

Ammo 0.2,Nitrite 0.3,Nitrate 5. I'm probably about half way to cycled. Big water change scheduled for tommorow.

The fish are more active than I thought, its just they hide when people are around. I watched them from a little ways away without startling them and they were actually swimming around doing fishy stuff and they do seem to be eating at least a little now.

Now if only my plants would grow. Should I dose the tank with fertilizer? All I have is Nutrafin Plant Grow, it would take a lot.