Help - Goldfish found!

[laurawoodiwiss]

Hi,

I have no experience whatsoever in anything aquatic-related. My husband was just in the garden and found 2 small goldfish in our pond - one black and one orange. We did not put them there and have no idea how they got there or how long they've been there! I am concerned for them though and want to know what we need to do to care for them?

Any advice appreciated please.

Thanks ,

Laura Woodiwiss

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

Some details about your pond? how big is it? Where do you live and what's the weather/temperature like there?

Easy answer is to just get some goldfish food for them to start out with.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard.

 

[dkpate]

Holy toledo! Magical fish!
Welcome to the forum.

 

[laurawoodiwiss]

Welcome to AA!

Some details about your pond? how big is it? Where do you live and what's the weather/temperature like there?

Easy answer is to just get some goldfish food for them to start out with.

It's a small nature pond (approx 3 x 5ft), containing some duck weed and something like water-Iris (?). I live in Leicestershire, England, so quite cold at the mo!! Only a couple of weeks ago the whole pond froze over. The poor things are still swimming about at the mo but wondering how they're surviving as we haven't fed them.

 

[uscamaro]

It sounds like someone was trying to get rid of them... or a neighborhood kid thought they'd be happier in a bigger house

 

[glassbird]

If the water is below 50 degrees (which it must be if the water is freezing over), their metabolism has slowed down so much that they are not eating anyway. So do not even try to feed them. It's better that they not have food in their stomachs at this point.

Several years ago, someone dropped a goldfish into one of my small ponds. I knew there were two black fish in there, because I had put them there, but when I went to scoop them out in the fall (to bring them inside for the winter) the second fish to be netted up was a bright red/gold and twice the size of the first! It's a good thing I caught her second, because if I had caught the other black fish instead I would not have realized that a third fish had ever been added. And that pond freezes into a solid block of ice for 5 months. She would not have survived. She is still with me, and has been named "Freebie".

But back to your new fish...are you thinking about bringing them in? If the pond does not freeze over, they may do fairly well out there for the remainder of the winter. Keeping a hole open in the ice for gas exchange is about all you need to do. But keeping a hole open must be done in a fashion that DOES NOT involve hacking thru the ice with a hammer, or hatchet! The concussion (spelling?) would stun and harm the fish. An air bubbler placed just under the surface of the water can do a nice job (if you can protect the air pump from the weather). Do not put the airstone all the way to the bottom of the pond...that will draw the warmer water at the bottom of the pond up to the top, and make everything harder for the fish.

 

[laurawoodiwiss]

Re Guest Fish!

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, it is extremely useful. I wasn't intending on bringing the fish (now named Vic and Bob) indoors - I am due to have my first baby any day now so have lots of other things to think about right now! But hate the thought of them starving/freezing out there and me being a softy, I just want to know we're doing all we can.

So..when would we need to think about feeding them - once the weather gets warmer, say spring time? And would normal fish food (used for 'indoor fish') be ok? And how often?

Hopefully we've seen the last of the 'freezing over' weather now but you never know ith England !!

Thanks and best wishes,

Laura

 

[glassbird]

The general cut-off point for feeding/not feeding seems to be 50 degrees. I wait until the water is about 55 degrees, and then feed a simple easy-to-digest food for several weeks as the water slowly gets warmer. Special spring and fall formulas are available just for this purpose...usually seem to contain a lot of wheatgerm for some reason. Two years ago, I was completely unable to find this special food, and it was suggested to me to use Cheerios (a breakfast cereal) instead. My fish loved them, and I have continued to do this, and they seem fine. So if you can't find the special food, try some Cheerios! But first find a floating thermometer, so you can know exactly when to start feeding.

Once the weather gets really nice, switch to a regular floating pond fish food, but be very carefull not to overfeed. Maybe a bit every other day. I am assuming this pond does not have a filter? The fish will help, a little, to keep it clean by eating bugs, but they will also be pooping into it. So you must read up on how to do partial water changes and use water conditioners. Fish are a lot of fun (I have 18 pond fish, and 6 fancys in a 75 gallon), but they do involve a bit of work to do it right.

 

[jenatron]

I would be cautious doing any pond maintenance now that there are fish in it, since you are pregnant. I can't vouch for whether it's true or not, but apparently pregnant women aren't supposed to clean fish tanks, which should include fish ponds. I've heard it many times, and my mother was told this by her OB. It may be a silly or untrue (I don't know for sure), but I feel it's a "rather be safe than sorry" issue.

 

[glassbird]

I would be cautious doing any pond maintenance now that there are fish in it, since you are pregnant. I can't vouch for whether it's true or not, but apparently pregnant women aren't supposed to clean fish tanks, which should include fish ponds. I've heard it many times, and my mother was told this by her OB. It may be a silly or untrue (I don't know for sure), but I feel it's a "rather be safe than sorry" issue.

I had never heard that! But I have never been pregnant, so maybe that is not such a shock!

However, mid winter is not a great time for pond cleaning (for humans or fish) and the OP is due to give birth fairly soon, so hopefully it wont be an issue by Spring. I do my cleaning in the Fall, after I bring my fish in for the winter. With a lighter scrub-out in the Spring a few weeks before they all go back in. Depending on the size of her pond, and if it is a hardsided pond or has a liner, her cleaning plan may be quite different.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Pregnant women can pass worms to the fetus in utero. Same thing as cat litter. It isn't the litter, it's the poop and any parasites within.