Easiest Fish

[fishin4cars]

Fishy, the issue of "butt wigglers" (fantail goldfish of all sorts) has been a discussion here many times, so far I've not heard of ANYONE that has had any babies. They HAVE to have babies, but Lou, if you are looking for pretty (they come in all colors - orange, orange and white, black/orange/white and all types, too!!!), and something that will not multiply, and love to be pampers, and very friendly, I vote for the fantail goldfish. Granted, you will have to buy them, but Santa could bring you a couple for Christmas maybe?! They are cheap if you buy the small ones, which is what I do, as I love to watch them grow. My fantails tend to be more "workers" as far as cleaning things, working on the bottom, etc. than the other Comets and Shubunkins I have. Just saying .... Good luck! I think you should definitely keep letting Cathy know we are not trying to encumber you with work or cost, just something pretty and playful for your enjoyment in your pond!
BTW, how did you lose your fish previously? I don't remember, was it predator or water quality or what? One more point, I think some of the fancier fantails are not as winter hardy if your pond freezes. I have several of the regular fantails (some short tailed, most long flowing tails) and they all did fine last winter. Bought some small ones this summer, will see how they do, but sure don't notice them slow down at all when the water temps got down to 40 earlier this month!

CE, ever wonder why you don't hear of anyone breeding fantails on GPF. The reason you don't is almost everyone keeps comets, shubbies and Fantails together, the fry move so much slower than regular fry and they get eaten first. Second reason is if they interbreed with each other fantails are less dominate gene than Comets so most will take the single tail rather than fantail. Look at Addy's video feed, she has fantails mixed in but no fantail fry. The best way to raise fantail fry is keep only fantail varieties together. I plan on working with some in the next year or two. My plan is to work with Watoni and various colors to see if I can get a new color variety of Watoni so they are more winter hardy yet new colors to chose from. I still say Catfish would be best, Far less predators go after them, They stay deep but get big enough to see good, can handle low temps as well as High, and rarely ever reproduce in a garden pond. BTW, Albino Channel cats really look cool when they get big and it's pretty neat when you see a mouth full of whiskers coming up to take in a hand full of fish pellets.

 

[Big Lou]

Fishy, the issue of "butt wigglers" (fantail goldfish of all sorts) has been a discussion here many times, so far I've not heard of ANYONE that has had any babies. They HAVE to have babies, but Lou, if you are looking for pretty (they come in all colors - orange, orange and white, black/orange/white and all types, too!!!), and something that will not multiply, and love to be pampers, and very friendly, I vote for the fantail goldfish. Granted, you will have to buy them, but Santa could bring you a couple for Christmas maybe?! They are cheap if you buy the small ones, which is what I do, as I love to watch them grow. My fantails tend to be more "workers" as far as cleaning things, working on the bottom, etc. than the other Comets and Shubunkins I have. Just saying .... Good luck! I think you should definitely keep letting Cathy know we are not trying to encumber you with work or cost, just something pretty and playful for your enjoyment in your pond!
BTW, how did you lose your fish previously? I don't remember, was it predator or water quality or what? One more point, I think some of the fancier fantails are not as winter hardy if your pond freezes. I have several of the regular fantails (some short tailed, most long flowing tails) and they all did fine last winter. Bought some small ones this summer, will see how they do, but sure don't notice them slow down at all when the water temps got down to 40 earlier this month!

A sudden onset rapidly spreading disease ravaged our group of Koi, Goldie's and Fantails. We called in a professional who advised us to put down all our fish pets. Lost about 42 fish. An terrible, terrible day. Happened about 10 years ago.

 

[Mmathis]

Big Lou, Throw a channel cat in the pond. REALLY cheap, could even be free if caught. Can handle the rocks really well. Handles heat and cold, get friendly AND once they get about two pounds MOST predators won't mess with them. Just one will add something swimming and it can't breed back to itself. They also do very well when kept alone and even get tamer when they interact with humans. Madtom cats do really well too and don't get to be but about 3# max.

OK, where can I find an appropriate catfish? Can they be purchased? I'd be afraid of trying to identify one that was self-caught -- no telling what I'd end up with, and probably NOT what I wanted. GODZILLA FISH! Would my goldies be safe with a small catfish? Is there a minimum pond size? How big does a channel cat grow? And what is a Madtom cat? I like the idea of a tame fish.....

 

[Waterbug]

For no breeding you can consider Goldfish-Koi hybrids. They don't reproduce and get hardy. Never seen any retail so you'd have to make your own. Well, not you exactly, but, you know.

 

[fishin4cars]

OK, where can I find an appropriate catfish? Can they be purchased? I'd be afraid of trying to identify one that was self-caught -- no telling what I'd end up with, and probably NOT what I wanted. GODZILLA FISH! Would my goldies be safe with a small catfish? Is there a minimum pond size? How big does a channel cat grow? And what is a Madtom cat? I like the idea of a tame fish.....

Channel catfish are only good with goldfish to large to eat. Not a good mix combo. Madtoms are smaller mud cats. Some species only reach about 2" long some up to 14". But they HAVE to be caught and QT is pretty much a must as they will have to come from the wild. Channel catfish are available through many pet stores and come in standard and albino. Both get tame but the channel cat gets tamer faster. Both need pretty much the same requirements. BTW channel catfish can reach a whopping 100#+ something to keep in consideration if you decide to ever try them. BTW, Goldfish get very tame as well. I was suggesting them to Lou as they don't stand out like goldfish or koi, so are protected from predators easier, they stay deep and usually hide unless being fed, again, another reason I picked them. The wife might nor notice them for a while, and they do get big enough to enjoy and can handle wide water temps.

 

[Mmathis]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone, BTW!

Well, darn, was kinda hoping there was some kind of hardy catfish that stayed small -- just for variety. The idea of something swimming around the bottom & stirring the stuff up for the pump to suck up, was tempting.

 

[Big Lou]

Happy day for our pond! Took a walk to the pond this morning then noticed a frog sitting underwater on top of a big stone. I was so happy to discover it was a true frog and not a toad. Our pond has life! .

 

[Big Lou]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone, BTW!

Well, darn, was kinda hoping there was some kind of hardy catfish that stayed small -- just for variety. The idea of something swimming around the bottom & stirring the stuff up for the pump to suck up, was tempting.

Found this info for you.

Catfish: There are many species of catfish. In the Northeast United States, the most dominate species is the Channel catfish. Most species grow to be very large, but the size of the fish is determined by the size of the body of water it lives in. Catfish in a lake may grow to several feet, but the same species of catfish living in a 10' pond may only grow to 18 inches long. Most catfish are deep gray-brown in color and have a sharply forked tail. Also, channel catfish and some other species have a sharp barb located near their mouth. They are very, very hardy and lurk near the bottom of the pond. Although they are not very aesthetically pleasing, they help keep the pond from getting too murky because they are bottom-feeders. 

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello

Lou Wrote:

Happy day for our pond! Took a walk to the pond this morning then noticed a frog sitting underwater on top of a big stone. I was so happy to discover it was a true frog and not a toad. Our pond has life! .

And Nature takes its course no matter what
First it is one frog then 2 then it is a fish or a turtle you never know what will wonder in.
May be the kid down the street will bring home a goldfish and get board and bring to your pond you can't say no the a kid and not want to save that little gold fish can you. :goldfish:

Ruben :razz:

 

[j.w]

Glad you have a nice frog " L".................and hope he croaks for you..............well the singing kind of croaking, you know what I mean :razz:

 

[Big Lou]

Glad you have a nice frog " L".................and hope he croaks for you..............well the singing kind of croaking, you know what I mean :razz:

We love to be serenaded by frogs.....

 

[Fishylove]

Me too Lou!

 

[j.w]

Wish I had a whole symphony of them in my pond

 

[Fishylove]

:cutefrogs:

 

[Fishylove]

See it's not wooing for me