New to forum and ponds

[TommyD]

Good morning,
I recently added a small 400 gal pond to my yard... added a purple pickerel and hardy lily.. started with 10 small feeders and 10 large feeders ( about an inch and a half long) a 1 fantail. All the small feeders died but one which I expected to lose a few. Now I think I got some really good fish out of the feeder tank because they don’t really look like a standard gold fish... are there any good identifiers that can help me out? Thank you all

 

[WaterGardener]

Lovely pond. Please be careful that you don't overstock it. Goldfish need at least 20 gallons per fish. I like to have at least 50 gallons for my pond fish since they grow to 12+ inches each. For now, you can get away with it, but as they grow, it will be more and more difficult to keep the water parameters healthy for them if there are too many in there.

Your long tailed goldfish are comets, the short tailed ones are hibunas, or normal goldfish. Goldfish can come in an assortment of colors and color combinations. The orange and black one looks as though it is in the process of changing from the usual juvenile dark color to orange. Don't be surprised if they keep changing. Most of the time they lose all that dark coloration.

It's always a good idea to have liquid testing kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and KH and to test the water regularly. In my opinion, it's necessary to know if your water is in good shape for your fish. Most problems with fish are due to bad water conditions, so keeping healthy water should be a main concern.

Best of luck with your pond. It really is very pretty and I'm sure you are enjoying it.

 

[AlyssaFish]

Cute pond!

What people usually think of as "gold fish" are the 1-inch feeders that you see at the store. But when a fish is taken care of properly, especially in a pond with lots of natural lighting and food sources (algae, insect larvae, etc.) that can really bring out a fish's potential.

Looks like your white fish there has a comet tail (long fins).

The orange and black fish there is going through the phase of getting its "grown up colors" so to speak. Over the next few months (or even years!) the black will slowly retreat. Looks like he'll be solid orange after that.

The red and white fish could be called sarasa, depending on how deep the red coloring becomes. Typically on a fish like that, the body coloring is divided between patches of white and patches of deep red. The deeper the red, the more appealing the fish--and usually the more white, the deeper the red patches will be.

I love it when a goldfish has different lip colors than its main head color. Makes it look like it has little whiskers or lip stick.

Unfortunately, in the goldfish showing world, standard single-tailed goldfish like this (commons and comets) are under-appreciated. However, there are still ways your fish can be impressive! Feeder fish can have excellent growth, live for a very long time, and have beautiful, jewel-like coloration that really light up the pond!

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

Types of Goldfish: Identification Guide with Pictures | Animal World

Goldfish are one of the all-time favorite fish of aquarists everywhere! Goldfish are very popular today and have been for hundreds of years. Not only are they beautiful and fun to watch but they have good memories and can become very sociable with their keepers. The average life span of the...

animal-world.com

 

[TommyD]

Lovely pond. Please be careful that you don't overstock it. Goldfish need at least 20 gallons per fish. I like to have at least 50 gallons for my pond fish since they grow to 12+ inches each. For now, you can get away with it, but as they grow, it will be more and more difficult to keep the water parameters healthy for them if there are too many in there.

Your long tailed goldfish are comets, the short tailed ones are hibunas, or normal goldfish. Goldfish can come in an assortment of colors and color combinations. The orange and black one looks as though it is in the process of changing from the usual juvenile dark color to orange. Don't be surprised if they keep changing. Most of the time they lose all that dark coloration.

It's always a good idea to have liquid testing kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and KH and to test the water regularly. In my opinion, it's necessary to know if your water is in good shape for your fish. Most problems with fish are due to bad water conditions, so keeping healthy water should be a main concern.

Best of luck with your pond. It really is very pretty and I'm sure you are enjoying it.

As far as my water goes the pond is only about 1 month old. The local pond store checks my water free once a week and I test it 6 times a week.. the numbers have been good and the fish seem healthy as can be to me. Right now I have 10 fish if in a couple years they grow too big I can thin them out to my buddy’s 1000 gal pond thanks for the info much appreciated

 

[WaterGardener]

It's good that you are keeping on top of things. Your pond should be starting the nitrogen cycle by now and your water parameters will probably not look so good at times. If you have Prime on hand, that will protect your fish from the expected spikes in ammonia and nitrite as the cycle is getting established.

Best of luck with your pond and fish.

 

[TommyD]

It's good that you are keeping on top of things. Your pond should be starting the nitrogen cycle by now and your water parameters will probably not look so good at times. If you have Prime on hand, that will protect your fish from the expected spikes in ammonia and nitrite as the cycle is getting established.

Best of luck with your pond and fish.

All I’ve put in so far is straw barley extract and beneficial bacteria is prime a fish friendly additive?

 

[WaterGardener]

Prime is made by Seachem. It's a dechlorinator and it will also bind ammonia and nitrite which will protect your fish from being burned by the ammonia and suffocated by the nitrite. So yes, it's very fish friendly.

Fish produce ammonia just by breathing and by their waste, so it is always in the system. Both of those elements should be zero when your pond has completed the cycle and has enough beneficial bacteria to convert them to the less harmful nitrate.

Please read up on the nitrogen cycle to know what is going on with your pond.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!
Nice pond!

 

[TommyD]

Prime is made by Seachem. It's a dechlorinator and it will also bind ammonia and nitrite which will protect your fish from being burned by the ammonia and suffocated by the nitrite. So yes, it's very fish friendly.

Fish produce ammonia just by breathing and by their waste, so it is always in the system. Both of those elements should be zero when your pond has completed the cycle and has enough beneficial bacteria to convert them to the less harmful nitrate.

Please read up on the nitrogen cycle to know what is going on with your pond.

I have a conditioner/dechlorinator that I used when I started and when I add water

 

[TommyD]

Prime is made by Seachem. It's a dechlorinator and it will also bind ammonia and nitrite which will protect your fish from being burned by the ammonia and suffocated by the nitrite. So yes, it's very fish friendly.

Fish produce ammonia just by breathing and by their waste, so it is always in the system. Both of those elements should be zero when your pond has completed the cycle and has enough beneficial bacteria to convert them to the less harmful nitrate.

Please read up on the nitrogen cycle to know what is going on with your pond.

Oh also I have a small fountain and an aerator running around the clock, filter with UV light...

 

[WaterGardener]

I have a conditioner/dechlorinator that I used when I started and when I add water.

That's good and necessary. I don't know why brand you are using, but Prime is the only one that will bind the ammonia and nitrite. Those 2 things are toxic to fish, so it's very important to keep those levels down as low as possible, or bind them so they won't affect the fish.

The fountain and aerator running all the time is good, too, especially in the heat of summer.

 

[j.w]

@TommyD

 

[TommyD]

I have a conditioner/dechlorinator that I used when I started and when I add water.

That's good and necessary. I don't know why brand you are using, but Prime is the only one that will bind the ammonia and nitrite. Those 2 things are toxic to fish, so it's very important to keep those levels down as low as possible, or bind them so they won't affect the fish.

The fountain and aerator running all the time is good, too, especially in the heat of summer.

I will have to look when I get home, thank you for all this great info

 

[TommyD]

API stress coat