i was wondering if anyone could help with this question... (not exactly gardening) i have an outdoor fish pond (about 2mx1m and ~30cm deep) with uncountable goldfish (~50). i feed them fish flakes every day but want to let the system take care of itself. there are reeds, papyrus, lotus and a local weed that carpets the water surface (great mulch when i get around to clearing it out a bit). anyone know what fish eat when they aren't eating that coloured factory food? or am i pampering them? they are supposed to be eating mosquito larvae, but the mossies are too smart and mostly breed elsewhere! they always finish what i feed them in a few minutes, so i get the impression they need it. any thoughts on the topic most appreciated!
Hi Sabine, I've got a fish pond made out of an old laundry tub with papyrus, elodea, some sort of flowering water lilies, red rams horns and gold fish and almost never feed them. I think about once a month, hubby takes 3 year old son for a walk and as a bit of a treat, lets him spinkle a few flakes of the fish food the previous owners left for us. None of our fish have died, in fact, they have grown quite considerably. So, if I were you, I wouldn't bother feeding them. Tam
thanks Tam, my only previous fishy experience was with an indoor pond with only a tiny bit of green growing in it. i guessed i was being quite generous with my feeding in the more natural environment outdoors, i notice local fish are quite happy in our dam without artificial food! i'll ease back a bit and see how they go...
Yeah I would think that 50 is to many to survive without suplimental feeding in an area that small.. Goldfish love to eat plant matter, and will survive quite well fending for themselves if your pond has a bit of an established ecosystem, and by the sounds of it yours does Sabine. I've had 2-3 goldfish survive well in 100 litres of water in a tub outside with no feeding at all, you have around 600 litres so I think that you could easily have 15-20 average size goldfish. Pushing it above these levels I wouldn't be to sure. Joel
Sorry Sabine, I just noticed the ~50 on your post after reading the other's comments. I tend to agree also. Is it possible for you to downsize on the number of goldfish? (maybe put an add on your local supermarket notice board) Also, there are variaties of bottom dwellers available which might be able to do the cleaning up for you. Just check with an aquarium to see if there's any little critters they could sell you that could help with this function. Tam
thanks everyone, some of the original generation goldfish have grown quite big with ~10cm body (not including their various sized tails), with all sizes in between. i think i'll plant more and also supplemental feed as i can't send them off to their fate at the hands of the local kids via a notice board... hopefully the population will plateau when instant food isn't always provided. the pond actually is bigger than i first said (more like 3m by 2m) and the water quality is good so i think it will work out. thanks again!
Gold fish will only grow as big as their accomadation will allow them anyway, so I'm sure they're all quite comfortable. I wonder if they canibalise their young because mine had babies a while back, then they disappeared. Maybe they considered it too cramped for any new additions. Nature has a way of working things out. Tam
