Stock A Pond With Fish In Autumn

[richardnorris]

Hi,

I have a 3' tank with black moors and shubs in it, that I think may be over stocked. My plan was to put the shubs into the pond. Would it be best to wait until spring to do this or would it be ok now or within the next few weeks.

The pond about 1.7m x 1.2 and about 60cm deep. Also would I need a filter, there are 4 Shubs about 10cm in length. I have a filter but the pump has given up the ghost.

Any advice would be greatly recieved.

Thanks

Richard

 

[liz2]

Black moors and shubs don't really mix unless they all have the same fancy tail. I have put a couple of shubs in my pond in the last week but you will have to acclimatise them by moving them to a colder part of your house and then early morning putting them in a bowl floating in your pond and then slowly releasing them. ideally it would be better to leave until next spring but providing the shubs are a decent size they should be ok. MY lfs is selling their pond fish off at the moment so they must think it is ok to put them in

 

[richardnorris]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, No they aren't that big, they are about 15cm in length, I'd pretty much come to the conclussion that spring would be better. Plus the tank they are in is maintained at 22oC, so it would be quite a drop.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The problem with the pond is it is really a bit too shallow to keep goldfish in during the winter- shallow ponds (i.e ponds that are less than 3ft deep) are not that great for hibernating fish in the winter since due to the shallower (and thus less well insulated) depth, the temp in the pond can get very cold or very warm in a much shorter space of time. If the pond gets too cold and the goldfish are pretty large, they may not even make it through the winter at all (i had a neighbour who lost all of her goldfish after a couple of years because her pond was only 2ft deep i.e. too shallow for winter time).

Ponds across the country will also be very cold at this time of year and probably too cold to move the goldfish outdoors either way- i live down in somerset, and my pond is only 10 degree's warm right now, too cold to move my goldfish out which have been living in sub-tropical/room temperature temps indoors.

So what i would advise is doing some of these options;

a. Get heating for the pond and maintain the temp at 10degree's warm during the winter time so you never risk the pond getting too cold from stuff like wind chill or thick ice and so ensure the goldfish have a good uninterupted hibernation. Or

b. Come spring time, drain the pond and add another 1ft+ to the ponds depth- this will help ensure the pond doesn't get too cold during the winter and you won't have to bother about heating.

c. With the tank, to figure out how overstocked it is you need to calculate the gallons of the tank (or give us the measurements of the tank so we can calculate its gallons/litres), give us the sizes of the goldfish as they currently are (length including tail), and the exact types of goldfish and how many of each type you have . It may be best to buy a large tank for them for the winter until spring, however you might not need to depending on how stocked the tank is .

 

[richardnorris]

The problem with the pond is it is really a bit too shallow to keep goldfish in during the winter- shallow ponds (i.e ponds that are less than 3ft deep) are not that great for hibernating fish in the winter since due to the shallower (and thus less well insulated) depth, the temp in the pond can get very cold or very warm in a much shorter space of time. If the pond gets too cold and the goldfish are pretty large, they may not even make it through the winter at all (i had a neighbour who lost all of her goldfish after a couple of years because her pond was only 2ft deep i.e. too shallow for winter time).

Ponds across the country will also be very cold at this time of year and probably too cold to move the goldfish outdoors either way- i live down in somerset, and my pond is only 10 degree's warm right now, too cold to move my goldfish out which have been living in sub-tropical/room temperature temps indoors.

So what i would advise is doing some of these options;

a. Get heating for the pond and maintain the temp at 10degree's warm during the winter time so you never risk the pond getting too cold from stuff like wind chill or thick ice and so ensure the goldfish have a good uninterupted hibernation. Or

b. Come spring time, drain the pond and add another 1ft+ to the ponds depth- this will help ensure the pond doesn't get too cold during the winter and you won't have to bother about heating.

c. With the tank, to figure out how overstocked it is you need to calculate the gallons of the tank (or give us the measurements of the tank so we can calculate its gallons/litres), give us the sizes of the goldfish as they currently are (length including tail), and the exact types of goldfish and how many of each type you have . It may be best to buy a large tank for them for the winter until spring, however you might not need to depending on how stocked the tank is .

Thanks for the reply, sorry for the delay in replying.

The tank they are in at the moment is 100 litres in capacity, which I work out as about 22 UK gallons. I have 4 black moors at about 2" and 4 Shubs 2 at about 4" and 2 at about 3". I know they are overstocked, but how drastically overstock are they. A larger tank isn't an option at the moment, due to financial constraints and lack of space. I do have a 2' tank about 50 litres capacity, which is currently setup as tropical with a banjo cat fish, which could be relocated to my sisters tropical tank temporarily.

Any advice would gratefully be received.

Thanks.

Richard