Catfish?

[orandawhisperer]

We have a 1000 gallon pond with 10 goldfish. We were wondering if a catfish might be a beneficial addition to our pond ecosystem.

Is that the case?

What kind of catfish is best?

Would it eat toad tadpoles? We have an abundance of them and were wondering if catfish (or any other animal) might be a good natural predator as our goldfish find them unpalatable.

 

[fishin4cars]

Toads have a defensive slime that protects them, I have heard that they can cause problems if eaten by fish. Pleco's do good at scavanging for a pond but have to be brought in if the water drops below about 60 degrees, 50 would be the lowest I would allow one to stay in a pond, Channel cats will work in a pond but they get very large and get large enough to eat goldfish and small koi so keep that in mind.

 

[shakaho]

My goldies gobble "toadpoles." They also eat the eggs and tadpoles of the giant Cuban Tree Frogs, which produce irritants that will give you a rash from handling them. Hmm, maybe my fish are telling the truth when they insist they are starving to death and need more to eat right now. But they actually love eating the nasty little things. I have a planter box with pots of plants at one side of the pond.. The Cuban frogs like to lay their eggs in those plants. If the pond is brim full, the fish can easily swim into the planter. If the water is a little low, they can sort of "vault"sideways into the planter. Today I found four of them sort of crawling on top of one another in the spaces between the pots. Apparently they found some fresh tadpoles in there.

 

[fishin4cars]

I know the the frogs lay in my big pond but with koi you never see eggs. Some grow up in the bog and make it, then in one of the planter tubs I have bunches, mostly Green tree frogs. I read somewhere that toad tadpoles can cause serious effects but if it's true what ever happens never happened to me,

 

[onemean]

i had catfish in my old pond hoping they would assist in its cleaning. bought 2 1.50 catfish from the pet store. all they did was fight my koi for the fish food. 2 years later they were 18 and 16 inches. they are cool , funny when they open their giant mouths sucking in lots of pellets.

 

[Riverbottom]

My catfish just push the bullfrog tadpoles out of the way, there is a irritant in there skin until they get legs then my catfish eat them.