Spring is here, my goldfish have survived their first winter outdoors, and surprisingly so have the gambusia!  There seem to be quite a few gambusia still around, which is cool.  I wasn't sure they would survive the winter, but they did.  The water temperature still isn't holding above 55*f, so no feeding yet, but soon:)  Once it is steadily warm, I may add a few small koi and I am very interesting in finding blue bitterlings.  I think I may decide against adding golden orfs, they seem more delicate and seem to need a very large pond to be happy.  I might also try zebra danios and white cloud minnows in the pond and see what happens with them.  I think if I have enough plant cover they will survive being eating by the goldfish and koi. 

My 2 geriatric goldfish that I had moved outside this past summer seem to be surviving winter.  The winter has been pretty mild, so i guess thats good for the first one.  I see them lazily moving around the bottom of the pond, along with the gambusia schools.  I'm surprised the gambusia are still alive, but they seem to be making it!  I do miss having my goldfish indoors, but they are huge and deserve to be outside in a large body of water.  They are about 15 years old now, I wonder if they potential life span will be greater now that they are outside rather than being indoors.  This coming summer I will add some more goldfish, possibly a couple of Koi, and if I can find them, golden orfs.

 Winter is coming soon, and steps need to be taken to get the pond ready for the winter season.  Our winters are not to bad and I still have a month at least before the water starts to get near the 60's-50's but it is good to have a plan.  Here is mine.

Before It Gets Cold (Above 60*f)
-Check the pond liner for any holes, leaks or cracks.  Since it is brand new I doubt this will be a problem, but it is a good thing to get in the habit of doing.  Any small cracks or rips in the liner need to be taken care of before it gets to cold.  If the water freezes between the cracks or rips it will make them worse, since water expands when it freezes. 

-Check equipment.  Make sure everything is in working order and is not showing signs of wear or breaking.  I don't know if this needs to be done now or not, but I figure it is a good thing to do and will keep me on top of making sure everything is working properly.  

-Do a small water change and remove old leaves and wastes from the bottom of the pond.  This will just make it easier in the spring.  When the water warms up bacteria will become active again and if there is an excess amount of wastes and decay-able matter in the bottom it can turn the water bad quickly.  There will probably also be runoff water going into the pond in the spring and this combined with waste matter from the previous year probably would not be good. 

-Give the fish a check up.  Look over the fish and make sure they are healthy enough to survive winter.  Any fish with sores, parasites, bacterial or fungal infections or that are skinny will be brought inside and nurtured through the winter.  I don't think a sick fish would make it through the winter and a skinny fish would not have enough fat reserves to sustain itself and may have an internal infection.

-Get any needed equipment for winter.  Pond deicers and an air pump, tubing and air stone.  I will make an insulated housing for the air pump to make sure its ability to function is not affected by the cold.  Where I live the ponds don't normally freeze over completely but its better to be safe than sorry.    

When Temps Drop to 60*f
-Switch the fish to wheat germ based foods that are easy to digest and pass quickly through the fish.

-Check the fish again for any signs of infection or stress and check for adequate body mass.

-Throw out any plants that will not survive the winter.  These are mainly the floating plants, such as water hyacinths and water lettuce.  Cut down other plants.  They will be cut down to the rim of the pot.  They will also be moved to the deepest part of the pond.  Other plants, like horn-wort and parrots feather will probably be brought indoors.

Temps Drop to 50*f
-Stop feeding the fish.  It is now to cold for the enzymes in their digestive track to effectively break down food.

-Turn off filters and pumps and bring them inside.  Set up deicer so it is in place in case it gets cold enough to freeze.  Set up the air pump, with the air stone about 18" up from the bottom of the pond.  Adjust it so there is a gentle movement, but not to much water is moving.  This will help with gas exchange, but keeping it gentle will help keep to much of the warmer water that is at the bottom from being chilled by the top water. 

Any tips, criticisms and help?

 

Picture Credits:

zenera

aussiegall 

Many people set up a pond in their yard and sit back to enjoy it only to notice a few days later that one or two of their fish seem to be missing.  They often wonder where the fish went but don't take much notice until a few days later . .  even more fish are MIA.

Where Are The Fish? 
The most common reason to fish disappearances are predators.  People often forget that predators are still around even in urban areas and that just because your fish are in a yard does not mean they are not fair game to a hungry animal.   

Meet The Predators 
You may be thrilled to see a majestic blue heron flying over head, only to see it land in your yard moments later.  There are many animals that will prey on your fish.  Cats, dogs, racoons, blue herons, some snakes and occasionally even people can all be a problem.  Identifying who it is that is making unwanted visits to your pond can be a challenge. 

Is It Really A Predator? 
So, some of your fish are missing, how do tell if its really a predator taking them?  The first thing you should do is check your water quality.  Test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.  Your ammonia and nitrite should be 0ppm, your nitrates should be ideally below 40ppm, but at least below 80ppm and your pH just needs to be stable and ideally between 6.5 and 8.  Next is to look for bodies, move things around in your pond.  You want to make sure the fish are not just dying and the bodies are getting pushed underneath plants or rocks by other fish or a current from the filter.  And finally, look for evidence of predators.  You may or may not find evidence, even if they are around, but look for footprints, moved rocks or broken marginal plants.  Are animals getting into your garbage?  If so, they may also be getting into your pond.  Spend more time watching your pond.  Try to view it from a hidden spot, like from a window in the house.  Remember, there may not always be evidence left behind and may not always see them.  

Dealing With The Problem
Ok, so you've tested your water, looked for dead fish, have been sitting vigil over your pond for days . . . now what? 

Water Quality
If you think your water quality may be the reason behind your fishy dissapearances, take action to correct it.  Do water changes, clean your filters more often, feed less and thin out your population (or make your pond bigger).  Adding more live plants can also help as they will use up some of the nitrogenous waste from the fish.  If you have cleaned up your water and you are still missing fish then you probably have a predator.

Options For Protection
There are several options for protecting your fish from predation.  They include putting a net over your pond, adding more plant cover, putting up a scarecrow, installing a sprinkler system and then hooking it up to a motion detector, fencing in your pond and adding a fake heron.  Some of these options will work for some predators and not for others.  For example, netting may keep out a heron, but a racoon will often figure out how to get through it.  A scarecrow will usually work for a little while but many animals will learn it is fake over time and domestic animals like cats may not even blink an eye at it in the first place.  Usually the most effective method of keeping away predators is a sprinkler system hooked up to a motion detector.  It is also however one of the more costly options.   If you do have a predator problem you may have to try several options before you find the one that works for you.  Trapping usually does not work, once you remove one animal another will simply fill its place.  Putting in some kind of deterent (scarecrow or sprinkler system) or barrier (netting) is usually the best way to go.

Picture Credits go to:

DarkSideX 

BobMacInnes 

someToast 

fotodawg 

My beloved goldfish have been in the pond for about a week now, give or take a day or two.  They are loving it!  They have so much room!  They were very skittish for a couple of days, but I think having the gambusia in there helped them settle in much quicker.  I am feeding them twice a day still, trying to get them to learn to come up when they see me.  I have a sprinkler system on a motion detecter so if anything else comes into the yard it will get scared away.  I turn it off when i go out there:)  I think I am done adding things to the pond for this season.  In a couple of months the pond will be shutting down for winter.  Next summer I will be thinking of stocking it with some other kinds of fish, golden orfes if I can find them.

I have been busy with my pond:)  I added the gambusia and I swear their population has doubled already.  I think I have the plants and everything all set.  The filtration is working well after a couple of glitches and the pond looks awesome:)  I am going to add my 2 large goldfish sometime this week.  Do I float them like I would in a fish tank?  The pH is different in the pond than in the fish tank, is there anything I should do to acclimate them better?  Thanks.

My pond was finished and filled and drained a few times over the last couple of days.  WOOHOO!  Earlier today I went out and bought a bunch of plants.  I got a hardy lily, 2 lotus, parrots feather, anacharis, water hyacinths, blue iris's and arrow head.  I got some forget me nots to put around some of the pond.  I also got some "assorted marginal plants".  I have no idea what they are but they look cool.  I got most of the plants put in today.  I will finish tomorrow.  How long should I wait until I add my 2 large goldfish?  I was thinking a week or so to let the plants settle in?  Should I try some other fish I am not attached to first or do you think it will be ok?  Once the pond is ready for fish I am going to order some gambusia.  They should help keep the mosquitos down and will provide small fish as a contrast to the large goldfish:)  If the goldfish eat some of them it shouldn't matter as I read they reproduce quickly.  Does anyone know if blue bitterlings can overwinter outdoors?  How about paradise fish and white cloud minnows?  The water occasionaly freezes over in ponds, but not every winter.  Thanks. 

The pond is nearly complete.  They have the liner in and next they will be landscaping around the pond a bit to make it look nice.  Then it has to be filled and drained a few times and then its done!  I am very excited to be able to add plants soon, woohoo!  It didn't take any where near as long as I would have thought it would.  I guess when you know what you are doing and have equipment to help you it goes by a lot faster than if I was trying to do build it with a shovel by myself!

I have been trying to do some research to see if there are other coldwater fish I could put out in my pond with my goldfish once it is built.  Some that I have come across are:

Golden Orfes
It seems golden orfes can get quite big and are predatory in nature.  They tolerate the same conditions as goldfish and koi and are often kept in ponds with them.  They might be a good fish to have to keep populations down as they might eat the fry from the goldfish and koi.  Golden orfes require a highly oxygenated water, so good surface movement is good and deep ponds.   These fish are social and like to live in groups of their own kind, so its a good idea to buy 3 or more.  To keep them you should have a pond of at least 500 gallons.  Many articles warned they will jump if there is not enough oxygen in the water.

Siberian Sturgeon
These fish like cooler waters and need highly oxygenated water.  They get big, well over three feet so need a very large pond, minimum of 2,000 gallons to start and will probably need bigger as they grow.  It is important to feed them properly and fairly often.  They like to eat and dawn and dusk.  They are sensitive to chemicals so can be hard to treat if they or the other fish get sick.  They are very tolerant of cold water.  From what I read they can become very tame and will eat from your hand and even let you pick them up out of the water.  Good strong pumps are needed because of the oxygen requirement and because they like fast moving water.  Most of the sites I saw for them were in the UK so I don't know if they are available in the USA, given their size I don't know if they should be available.

Sterlets
A smaller species of stergeon.  They get a maximum of 3.9 feet in the wild, usually smaller in captivity, and they grow slowly.  From what I read they are one of the easier sturgeon to keep.  An albino variety is available.  Again, they like large, well oxygenated ponds and need to be fed often with a good food.  The lowest temperature I found for them was 39*f, which they still feed at, so a pond heater might be needed in areas colder.  They like fast moving water, so good pumps are needed.  Doesn't sound like they are readily available in the USA.

Bitterlings 
These fish get about 4 inches and like to school so should be in groups of 3 or more.  The lowest temperature I found for them was 55*f, so I don't know if they could overwinter in a pond in cold climates.  They breed in mussels.  It sounds like they are easy to care for, but a bit hard to come by in the USA but can be found if you look for them. 

Tench 
Another fish that seems to be common in Europe but hard to find in the USA.  They get about 15 inches long and stay near the bottom, stirring up debris.  They come in wild colors (greenish brown) and a red color. That is about all I could find on them.

Mosquito Fish 
Also just called Gambusia, they are 3 inch fish that are native to the USA.  They come from south and eastern USA.  They are live bearing fish.  They apparently like to eat mosquitos.  I read that one will eat up to 100 mosquito larvae a day.   I have also read from some people that if food is available though they will not be as good at eating mosquito larvae.  They can only handle mild winters so ponds in colder climate areas will need to be heated, or the fish need to be brought inside in the winter. 

 

After my research I may add mosquito fish to the pond, I read someone had a more cold resistant strain going that they sold.  Sterlets might also be a possiblity, but I need to find out if they could handle it if some of the top froze over or not.  They sound a bit hard to care for.  I will also try golden orfes if I can find them.  They sound very interesting. Bitterlings I would also add, but I don't know if they could handle lower temps or not, the pond will get down to the 30's for some of the winter. Does anyone know of any other fish that tolerate cold waters and could live in a pond with goldfish?

 

Picture credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarae/17329898/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dad_and_clint/11721546/ 

Today they started digging for the pond!  There were no underground electrical lines or pipes or anything that would be in the way and I got my permit from my town.  I have a fence around my yard, which is a good thing or I would have had to put a fence around the pond because of the depth.  In about 2 weeks the pond should be ready to go!  I have already been looking at pond plants.  I am going to get some lilies, lotus plants, water hyacinths, water lettuce, anacharis and parrots feather for in the pond . . . for marginal plants I liked iris's, arrow head and pickeral rush.  Around the edge of some of the pond I am going to grow water forget me nots.  The pond people suggested I add all my plants at once to get ahead of any algae.  Is this the correct thing to do?  They also said that 75-90% of the surface area should be covered (by plants).  Does that sound right?  Will the goldfish and eventually koi like all these plants?