Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
As some of you may know, for the last couple of months or so i have been building and completing a 5000 (UK) gallon pond, and i have two goldfish (a comet and a common goldfish) that i want to move in there when the pond is completed (hopefully by the end of this month it should have filtration).
But...
I have been reading about the issues of moving tank goldfish into ponds, two issues i have read about in particular are;
a. Tank goldfish should only be acclimatised into ponds during hot weather to make the move and acclimatisation of a different temp easier. Ideally there should only be a couple of degree's difference between the temps max. If there is too much difference or the fish aren't acclimatised for long enough, the shock will be too much to their systems and may make them sick.
b. Tank goldfish generally don't have much in the way of body fats due to been kept in warmer room temperature temps instead of outdoor pond ones. Warmer temps make goldfish more active and makes them burn off fat quicker or prevent them putting much on.
Thus if the fish are to hibernate successfully during the winter, they should be allowed to have enough time in truly coldwater temps to build up their fat reserves for the long winter.
The other problem is that pond fish imune systems turn off before they go into hibernation for the winter, so to survive and make it to spring in good shape, they must be as strong/healthy and fat as posible before the winter.
After only recently suffering a record high heatwave temps here in july, i was hoping for the temperature to cool down more gradually over here during august, but over the last fortnight or so things have got very cold very quickly here, its getting very chilly now and i don't think the weather will be warming up to july temps again this year.
I don't want to put my goldfish into the pond if its now going to be too or almost too cold for them, as i don't want to risk them not making it through the winter or simply just getting sick or coming out during spring inveyr poor shape.
Soo...
On other fishkeeping plans around the house, for a long time now i have been wanting to get 2 more 125gal tanks for my kitchen (mostly due to my 3 large common and sailfin plecs, as i want to split them up as they are getting more and more intolerant of each other as they grow larger).
What i was thinking about doing is instead of putting my money into comleting the pond ASAP for the goldfish, i was thinking about concentrating more again on completing my kitchen with 2 more 125gal tanks. This way, i can move the two goldfish into one of the new tanks and move them out into the pond next year, so the chances of a successful acclimatisation to the pond for the goldfish will be more successful, what do you guys think
?
Currently the two goldfish are in a 30gal tank and measure about 6inches long each, at the rate they are growing i'm a very worried they'll surely outgrow the tank completely in a couple of months time as it is a tall tank rather than a long one, so keeping them in the 30gal forever is not an option.
On the other hand, both of the new 125gal tanks will be about 5ft long, 2ft wide and 2ft high so this should be plenty of space for the two goldfish plus a couple of others to give them some more company if they stay in the new 125gal through the winter and early spring.
I have read that common plecs are also actually sub tropical pleco's and can tolerate temps as low as 19 degrees, and because even though the goldfish tank aren't even heated but still stays around 26 to 30 degrees, i could even keep one of the common plecs with the goldfish so the moving of the goldfish to one of the new tanks shouldn't disrupt my pleco moving plans either .
Does this sound like a good plan of action to you guys
?
But...
I have been reading about the issues of moving tank goldfish into ponds, two issues i have read about in particular are;
a. Tank goldfish should only be acclimatised into ponds during hot weather to make the move and acclimatisation of a different temp easier. Ideally there should only be a couple of degree's difference between the temps max. If there is too much difference or the fish aren't acclimatised for long enough, the shock will be too much to their systems and may make them sick.
b. Tank goldfish generally don't have much in the way of body fats due to been kept in warmer room temperature temps instead of outdoor pond ones. Warmer temps make goldfish more active and makes them burn off fat quicker or prevent them putting much on.
Thus if the fish are to hibernate successfully during the winter, they should be allowed to have enough time in truly coldwater temps to build up their fat reserves for the long winter.
The other problem is that pond fish imune systems turn off before they go into hibernation for the winter, so to survive and make it to spring in good shape, they must be as strong/healthy and fat as posible before the winter.
After only recently suffering a record high heatwave temps here in july, i was hoping for the temperature to cool down more gradually over here during august, but over the last fortnight or so things have got very cold very quickly here, its getting very chilly now and i don't think the weather will be warming up to july temps again this year.
I don't want to put my goldfish into the pond if its now going to be too or almost too cold for them, as i don't want to risk them not making it through the winter or simply just getting sick or coming out during spring inveyr poor shape.
Soo...
On other fishkeeping plans around the house, for a long time now i have been wanting to get 2 more 125gal tanks for my kitchen (mostly due to my 3 large common and sailfin plecs, as i want to split them up as they are getting more and more intolerant of each other as they grow larger).
What i was thinking about doing is instead of putting my money into comleting the pond ASAP for the goldfish, i was thinking about concentrating more again on completing my kitchen with 2 more 125gal tanks. This way, i can move the two goldfish into one of the new tanks and move them out into the pond next year, so the chances of a successful acclimatisation to the pond for the goldfish will be more successful, what do you guys think
?Currently the two goldfish are in a 30gal tank and measure about 6inches long each, at the rate they are growing i'm a very worried they'll surely outgrow the tank completely in a couple of months time as it is a tall tank rather than a long one, so keeping them in the 30gal forever is not an option.
On the other hand, both of the new 125gal tanks will be about 5ft long, 2ft wide and 2ft high so this should be plenty of space for the two goldfish plus a couple of others to give them some more company if they stay in the new 125gal through the winter and early spring.
I have read that common plecs are also actually sub tropical pleco's and can tolerate temps as low as 19 degrees, and because even though the goldfish tank aren't even heated but still stays around 26 to 30 degrees, i could even keep one of the common plecs with the goldfish so the moving of the goldfish to one of the new tanks shouldn't disrupt my pleco moving plans either
.Does this sound like a good plan of action to you guys
?
