Need Help With Small Pond

[wilchil64]

There is a small pond in my garden (small and round like a big bucket/tub) with one goldfish in it. There is no filter. There are plenty of plants but they have of course all died away at the moment or gone to the bottom of the pond for the winter. We added a solar air pump this summer as the water was very green and we have no electricity in the garden to add a filter or bigger pump.

The goldfish is approx. 4 inches big.

Not sure what to do with the pond, as I can't afford to have electricity laid to install a filter. Does anyone know of a solar powered option for next year (I know this will be no good in the winter of course, but may be better than nothing). Alternatively is there anyone in North Yorkshire, near Selby, with a pond that could take the fish?

Or will the fish be ok? If so, what can I do to improve the water? During the summer I regularly added barley straw extract to the water.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Davo86]

Hi, what are the rough dimensions of the pond? how long has the pond been setup for and how long has the fish been in the pond?

Although a filtered pond is ideal, many goldfish and other species can live quite comfortable in a 'natural' pond,

can you test the water yourself or even take a sample into your LFS for them to have a look at,
if the stats come back fine then there is no reason why the fish can't stay in the pond and tbh it is getting too cold now to be considering moving him.

 

[wilchil64]

Hi, what are the rough dimensions of the pond? how long has the pond been setup for and how long has the fish been in the pond?

Although a filtered pond is ideal, many goldfish and other species can live quite comfortable in a 'natural' pond,

can you test the water yourself or even take a sample into your LFS for them to have a look at,
if the stats come back fine then there is no reason why the fish can't stay in the pond and tbh it is getting too cold now to be considering moving him.

Yes, I'll run tests using my API tests I have for my aquariums and post the results in a few mins.

The measurements of the pond are 10 inches deep and the pond is round, diameter 25 inches.

The solar air pump is working right now and the water seems reasonably clear at the moment.

Thanks.

 

[Davo86]

An air pump will have no effect on the green water, This is basicly microscopic algae which builds up due to high levels of sunlight in the summer and naturally dies off in the winter.
However an air pump is useful for adding extra oxygen into the water on warm summer days.

10inches deep is a concern as an ideal depth for goldfish to survive over winter is around 24inches,

Is this the fish's first winter in the pond? - considering the size and depth i would suggest either bringing him inside over the winter or alternatively rehoming him to a much larger pond

 

[wilchil64]

Hi, what are the rough dimensions of the pond? how long has the pond been setup for and how long has the fish been in the pond?

Although a filtered pond is ideal, many goldfish and other species can live quite comfortable in a 'natural' pond,

can you test the water yourself or even take a sample into your LFS for them to have a look at,
if the stats come back fine then there is no reason why the fish can't stay in the pond and tbh it is getting too cold now to be considering moving him.

Well, I ran an ammonia test, nitrite test and nitrate test (API tests) and all three came back completely clear, zero. So that's good, right?

Is one gold fish OK in a pond of that size? My daughter wants to add her goldfish (2 inches) in the spring, but I told her I think the pond isn't big enough. Am I right? If so, if we go up to a 100 litre pond in the spring, would we still get away with just the solar powered air pump and no filter?

Anything we should be doing to make life better for the goldfish? As I already mentioned, the plants have all disappeared to the bottom of the pond, but they did that last winter and came back in spring. I am not feeding the fish at the moment, but have been feeding wheatgerm for the past month. Should I be feeding her on mild days or not at all until the water temperature rises above 8 degees(?)?

Forgot to say the pond has been set up for approx. one and a half years and the fish has been in almost that long too.

Thanks.

 

[Davo86]

whilst the pond may seem adequate atm i work it out to be only 70Litres.
one fully grown goldfish requires a bare minimum of 113L so by adding another 3 you will definitely need something along the lines of 250L+

Also considering the goldfish has only grown to 4 inches in over a year is also a sign that it doesn't consider there to be enough room to grow at its optimum speed, After a warm summer with daily feeding he should be at least 6 if not 8inches in length. Also do you ever do partial water changes on the pond?

When i had my pond a few years ago i added a small rock cave and half of a terracota pot so that the fish had somewhere to retreat to after the plants had died back.

below 10 feed wheatgerm sparingly unless fish isn't interested, below 5 don't feed at all.

 

[wilchil64]

whilst the pond may seem adequate atm i work it out to be only 70Litres.
one fully grown goldfish requires a bare minimum of 113L so by adding another 3 you will definitely need something along the lines of 250L+

Also considering the goldfish has only grown to 4 inches in over a year is also a sign that it doesn't consider there to be enough room to grow at its optimum speed, After a warm summer with daily feeding he should be at least 6 if not 8inches in length. Also do you ever do partial water changes on the pond?

When i had my pond a few years ago i added a small rock cave and half of a terracota pot so that the fish had somewhere to retreat to after the plants had died back.

below 10 feed wheatgerm sparingly unless fish isn't interested, below 5 don't feed at all.

I did partial water changes in the summer a couple of times but then we had a lot of algae in the pond after the water change and I read on the internet that tap water could cause this, so did no more water changes and got the air pump instead.

It's possible that the fish is bigger than 4 inches, also possible that she was smaller than 2 inches last year, only estimating as she is near the bottom of the pond, difficult to see, sorry can't be more exact.

The fish has a rock with a hole in it in the pond, not sure if it's big enough to hide in, will look for a terracotta pot to put in too, do I need to prepare it in any way?

Sorry to be so ignorant, never had a pond before and inherited this one and the fish.

Will try and do something about a bigger pond in the spring, was worried that digging a new one now in the winter would be a bad idea?

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Davo86]

your welcome,

the terracotta pot should be fine to go straight in,

 

[wilchil64]

your welcome,

the terracotta pot should be fine to go straight in,

I have found online a raised pond with 50 gallons (http/www.gardenoasis.co.uk/gallon-raised-pond-p-54.html), that looks easy to assemble.

Would you mind taking a look and telling me if this would be ok for 2 goldfish and would it still be ok without a filter (no electrics in garden)? If so, would it be ok to move them now if I am careful with water temperature and use the water from my current tank and the gravel and plants, plus dechlorinated water to fill? If so, I'll ask for the pond as an early (expensive) christmas present!

Thanks for your help.

 

[Davo86]

That would be fine for 3 goldfish,

if it was done at this time of year the fish would need acclimatising very slowly
I would personally bag up each of the fish in their respective tank water, and leave the bags to float open topped on the pond for around an hour or so, before being released.
Add as much content, i.e. plants, gravel, silt etc from th old tank/pond as you can as this will take over as much new bacteria as possible.

Be sure to test the water a few days after everything is added to make sure that there is no spike from the changeover.

You probably already have some of these but:
elodea, hornwort are two of the best oxygenating plants for ponds, - this provides an extra sort of food, whilst also using up waste products created by the fish.
Also surface covering plants like water hyacinths and waterlilys are very usueful for shade in the summer which helps to minimise green water.

 

[wilchil64]

That would be fine for 3 goldfish,

if it was done at this time of year the fish would need acclimatising very slowly
I would personally bag up each of the fish in their respective tank water, and leave the bags to float open topped on the pond for around an hour or so, before being released.
Add as much content, i.e. plants, gravel, silt etc from th old tank/pond as you can as this will take over as much new bacteria as possible.

Be sure to test the water a few days after everything is added to make sure that there is no spike from the changeover.

You probably already have some of these but:
elodea, hornwort are two of the best oxygenating plants for ponds, - this provides an extra sort of food, whilst also using up waste products created by the fish.
Also surface covering plants like water hyacinths and waterlilys are very usueful for shade in the summer which helps to minimise green water.

Thank you for your help.

 

[chr15_8]

to get rid of the algae you will need a uv, filter and pump. a solar panel for this lot i would imagine would cost more than running electrics down there.

keep the air pump running as this will stop it freezing over

 

[wilchil64]

to get rid of the algae you will need a uv, filter and pump. a solar panel for this lot i would imagine would cost more than running electrics down there.

keep the air pump running as this will stop it freezing over

Thank you.

I worked out last night that no way can I afford to replace the pond so will have to find a new home for the fish!

In the meantime I'll keep the air pump running. It didn't stop it freezing over as it doesn't charge up, it only runs if the sun is actually shining, unfortunately.

 

[Davo86]

just float a football or a few tennis balls (or anything that floats really) on the pond which will keep an area of the pond unfrozen which is all is needed really, this will allow for an exchange of gasses

 

[wilchil64]

just float a football or a few tennis balls (or anything that floats really) on the pond which will keep an area of the pond unfrozen which is all is needed really, this will allow for an exchange of gasses

Thanks, I have a plastic ball of my daughter's that floats on the pond.