Building a pond

[rollntider]

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?ac...t=0#entry267800

I am looking for i guess 2 gold fish or maybe 2 fan tails or black moores to keep in this pond it is either 40 or 50 gallons not sure, But i only want 2 fish in there. Is there any way to sex them because i dont want any babies since i not have the room. Also i want to keep the fish in there year round (I will heat it in the winter) I live in Alabama so we average 40 F for a average low, but we are mild mainly in the 50 and 60 degree range for the most part. If the temp gets extreme i will bring them in, but was wanting to know if any of those would survive mild winter out side if i put a heater in it? Sizes for the fan tails and black moores wont get to big will they? Will any of the fish mentioned above eat mosquito larva? Also i want ones that wont breed easy LOL... any pointers? thanks

 

[Opcn]

Watch out for snakes My sister lives in bermingham (in the beatnick area of town) and my fater lives in pelham (A few miles north). Fancy goldfish all grow to about 10" and normal goldfish grow to about 12" don't even bother to heat it you cna just put a tent of green house fabric above it. As for sexingyou have the rounder female taspect and the fish pimples on males in breeding mode as well as the fact that males tend to have thicker pectoral fins (not much though) I think you need to just hope you get lucky (50% chance you will get two of the same sex if you only get two).

I wanted to dig a koi pond on my fathers property But he didn't want to risk the snakes that it would attrack which sucks because hes on clay and wouldn't need a pond liner.

Good luck

Oh I almost forgot Gold fsh are horible at eating mosquitoe larve get mosquitoe fish (Alabama is acctualy in there native range too!)

 

[rollntider]

thanks for the advice, wonder where i could locate those mosquito fish? They are live bearers right. Yeah I live in hueytown so I am about 40 minutes from Pelham. I appreciatte the advice, and we get snakes regardless , we live in a rural area so we usually have the snake repelent on the perimeter of the yard and it does a good job. BTW Snake repelent is almost the same as moth balls I just sprinkle a few outside the yard in the wooded area and no snakes as of yet.

 

[Paul_MTS]

always if you net your ponds well it protects them agaist snakes.

we only ever had grass snakes but they still killed the poor fishes, we have 5mm square netting over the pond, you can't enjoy it as easily tho as you have to uncover to look at them better.

no snakes since!! and stops herons.

 

[Mongrel Hordes]

Greetings!
Yup Mosquito Fish are in your range, and prb' given out for free by your local Mosquito control agency. Check your phone book.

I live in BC Canada and they are not used here so I had to pay for mine (prob' imported from the US). Mine will have to come inside during our winters, but the Koi, and Comets I have will be OK wintering in the pond as long as I stop feeding them when it gets below 50F, and make sure the pond doesn't freeze over totally.

Gambusia are live bearers (like wild guppies), and breed lots, but will eat their fry.
I believe they come in two types..'Affanis' which are the western ones, and 'Holbrook', which is the eastern one. I have the western ones.

Here are some great links on them fishies.
Gambusia affinis page 1

Gambusia affanis page 2

And if you need good info on Ponds, Koi/Comets here is another one:
Koi Vet

And if you ever get into Cat fish well this site blew me away, I had no idea there was so many types of Catfish:
Planet Catfish

Cheers!
R.