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The Perfect Pond for Goldfish

A perfect goldfish pond takes into account the needs of its inhabitants and ensures that goldfish live in a species-appropriate way – summer and winter alike.

Now goldfish are not particularly demanding pets. They adapt to many different conditions in terms of water quality and temperature range. Long-lived and individually recognizable by their coloration, fins, and personally recognizable individuals, they have the potential to be favorites, despite a relatively modest purchase price.

The right location

The following points only allow plants and food-producing animals to live to a modest extent:

  • In summer, the scorching sun leads to high temperatures and therefore oxygen problems.
  • Deep shade throughout the day does not provide enough warmth for a well-functioning immune system.

Therefore, place a goldfish pond in the penumbra To. All cold-blooded animals also prefer to choose the right water temperature for themselves.

protection against enemies

Fish love to hide when in danger. It doesn’t matter if it’s a thunderstorm, heavy rain or a visit from a cat. Fish need a way to hide under plants or behind stones in every pond.

The right pool depth

It makes sense to fill the goldfish pond with different sectors equip:

  • In shallow water, fish can sunbathe and lay their eggs there.
  • In winter and in the midday heat of midsummer, however, fish seek out areas close to the ground.

Shallower ponds can freeze to the bottom during severe frosts, which also puts the lives of goldfish at risk.

  • Create deep areas of at least 1.20 meters to ensure good wintering.
  • If there is no suitable depth, it is better for goldfish to winter indoors (for example, in the basement).

Is there a filter with a circulation pump?

Goldfish can live in standing water without a filter – if the basic conditions are met:

  • This includes enough oxygen in the water, which aquatic plants provide during the day.
  • shallow water areas are important because oxygen is scarce at night. Design these areas to be as inaccessible as possible to fish eaters such as cats, martens, herons and rats.
  • A reed belt or a high stone works just as well as a low electric fence. This must not come into contact with the planting border!
  • Deep layers of mud at the bottom of the pond consume oxygen and therefore need to be pumped out of the pond in the fall.

Many fish need lots of oxygen to breathe and lots of food to grow and reproduce. In a goldfish pond without a filter, only a few individual animals can (survive) life. Feeding should be avoided or reduced to a minimum. The microorganisms living in each pond and growing plants are available to feed the fish. The amount of food then at the same time limits the number of offspring to the specimens that the pond only feeds.

However, if you want rich animal and plant life in your pond, you will lose one. filtration water not around. Because goldfish are omnivores, they eat everything from dragonfly larvae to soft aquatic plants! However, they like to be distracted by other pond dwellers with fish food and can become quite tame, which we humans especially like.

  • A filter thus ensures the elimination of leftover food, faeces and other pollutants which are the end products of the digestion of the fish. At the same time, it ensures clear water and thus increases the joy of the fish.
  • Circulation brings oxygen to the water and helps fish survive, especially on summer nights. Do not kid yourself: a filter is not there to never have to do a partial water change, nor to feed the fish with food at will!

Why change water?

Every pond owner is surely aware that evaporating water needs to be replaced. A partial water change however, has a different purpose:

  • All pollutants in the water that cannot be removed by bacteria, microorganisms and plants should be supplied with fresh water after pumping out the old water, diluted become.
  • All the pond creatures need it carbonate hardness bufferwhich ensures that the pond water does not become too acidic (end of plant and fish growth) or exhibit extreme algae growth (algae like high pH values ​​and consume carbonate hardness during their growth).
  • The partial water change stabilizes the pool and promotes appropriate pond temperature.

Well water – rainwater or rather tap water?

tap water is one of the best controlled foods and is therefore almost always better wateralso for the goldfish pond.

rainwater on the other hand, is free of carbonates and therefore acidic. Although it falls from the sky for free, it is not good as the only long-term water supply because the pond acidified. Alternating between rainwater and tap water is therefore highly recommended.

AT well water however, caution is warranted. It is in some areas toxic and therefore not always recommended. When using well water, it is advisable to know what soil layers it comes from and what is its quality.

What should the filter be able to do?

A pond filter should be chosen according to the number of fish and therefore the expected amount of food.

Lots of fish and lots of food not only require more fresh water, but also a higher filter performance.

Simply put, it consists of three different processes:

  1. The fish droppings and the remains of sunken plants are sucked up by the suction of a pump at the bottom, directed into a mechanical filter which retains or deposits the dirt and returns relatively clear water to the biological filter part.
  2. This biofilter has a filling material that has a large surface area. As on all pool surfaces, bacterial films are deposited there and transform dissolved pollutants (ammonium and nitrite) into nitrate.
  3. The resulting nitrate is consumed as a nutrient by the plants in the pond. With an additional UV clarifier in this cycle you can also ensure clear water and kill and filter suspended algae.

A powerful pump, functional separation of solid components and a sufficiently large container for the biofilter are especially important if the pond is very small and many fish live there.

How many fish can I keep?

All species of goldfish are extremely prolific in our climate. So you can start with a small group of 5-15 animals – in a few years there will be many more if there are no predators. However, at least five specimens are recommended as sociable fish, especially because of the risk of inbreeding.

What species of goldfish are suitable?

For a small garden pond agree:

  • Shubunkin (red and yellow),
  • “normal” finned goldfish,
  • and banners.

For unheated pondsin which fish overwinter, are suitable no goldfish breeding How:

  • Ryunkin,
  • sail tails,
  • and Little Red Riding Hood.

There they are happy only in the summer, because they prefer to live in warm aquariums with a constant temperature.

A large pond (at least 6000 liters of water) need:

  • Japanese goldfish, such as sarasa. (The Sarasa reaches a size – up to 30 cm and more.)

Substrate – or rather not?

Goldfish like to touch the bottom, they search for food all day. Hence a sandy bottom very popular with them. After putting them in their mouth, they rinse the sand from their gills and thus keep the gill tissue clean.

Split and broken gravel is prone to injury – large stones, on the other hand, are completely grazed. But it should not be a deep gravel bed that is no longer accessible to fish. Anything that ends up in the gaps then begins to rot and can cause problems.

Unfortunately, when using a filter with a pond pump, you should be aware that too fine sand will end up in the filter and therefore the pump cannot be fixed to the ground. This results in a poor classification of faeces and dirt – which can be compensated by the high degradation capacity of the sand.

In any case, the sand is great fun for the fish!

plants in the pond

For goldfish ponds recommend “hard” plants How:

  • yellow (bitter) water lilies,
  • crab claws,
  • chickweed,
  • waterweed,
  • as well as water chestnut.

Certain types of water lilies also survive in goldfish ponds – the specialist trade can certainly give good advice.

winter operation

From a water temperature of 10 degrees, you will no longer feed them every day and soon you will separate the filter from the pond, rinse it and put it away for the winter. Then the goldfish need a last big partial water change, if necessary a sludge removal and an aerator, which prevents the pond from freezing at one point in case of frost. Anti-ice should not circulate water from bottom to top, they are placed on the edge in the shallow water area.

food for goldfish

If there are not too many fish, you can be sure that the pond itself will produce a certain amount of food. You don’t have to feed them every day and you should only offer them small portions that can be completely consumed in a few minutes.

Fish food fertilizes the pond and in the worst case can cause the water to collapse. Goldfish ponds that are fed sparingly have fewer algae problems and are much easier to maintain. There are separate informative articles on food amounts and types here in the guide.

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