Ornamental Goldfish? (And a fresh rap yo)

[pugle1]

I keep orandas and fantails in my pond just fine and disagree with all information above.

I agree with diesel. I have several varieties, and they over-winter just fine. As for feeding, there seems to be no competition... at least no more than what would seem normal. This is their 4th year in the pond.

 

[Fishylove]

Zman. I get the floating pellets, not the biggest ones they have, and the smallest pellets they make.
When I feed them I throw a handful of the larger pellets to the center and while the bigger guys are busy I throw the smallest in to the side, they have a tendency to sink, so that the minnows and babies will get their share The larger pellets my fancy can eat so he gets enough and if he doesn't there is always they ones floating to the bottom He's big enough, he has no problem fighting for his share anyway. Even with the biggest koi I have, he's a 26' ki Matsuba Butterfly. I posted a pic of him in the last post I made ' what does your pond look like today '.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Zman. I get the floating pellets, not the biggest ones they have, and the smallest pellets they make.
When I feed them I throw a handful of the larger pellets to the center and while the bigger guys are busy I throw the smallest in to the side, they have a tendency to sink, so that the minnows and babies will get their share The larger pellets my fancy can eat so he gets enough and if he doesn't there is always they ones floating to the bottom He's big enough, he has no problem fighting for his share anyway. Even with the biggest koi I have, he's a 26' ki Matsuba Butterfly. I posted a pic of him in the last post I made ' what does your pond look like today '.

Yes, your big butterfly metallic gold. Beatiful koi reminds me of my largest male, but yours has such gorgeous vibrant color.

I've already been feeding the large fish in one spot and then breaking up the pond sticks and throwing them to another area for the smaller fish. Most of them have gotten the hang of it it would just be easier to get the smaller pellets so I don't have to break them up every time.

 

[pugle1]

We here in the UK are having problems with sliders and snapping turtles bought during the ninja turtle craze when they were all the rave for kids to own not knowing the size they can gro to.
After this died down it was left to the parents to get rid of them many of them were then released into the wild to get rid of them rather than find them a sutible home,
Thanx to these lazy parents they have managed to thrive and have gone on to decimate ponds and the wild fish there in but the amazing thing is they are managing to survive our cold winters .
If they are breeding or not is not as yet known but if global warming is a fact and the UK gets warmer then this is a distinct possiblity , trouble is our fish and amphibious dont see them as a threat because they have never come across them before now


Dave

We have the same problem here in Ontario. Red ears thrive despite being native to Florida, and considering our frigid winters. I mean it gets down to -25* to -30*C here in the winter. They're decimating our eastern painted turtle population. They're actually considered invasive here. I love red ears, and it's nice when you see them, but it makes you sad to think of what they're doing to the native populations. All that was caused by irresponsible owners releasing them. I'm betting that they'd thrive in the UK despite your winters. They're thriving here in the wild in Canada.

For anyone living in southern Ontario, if you want to see red eared sliders in the wild just go down to Bayview Park in Hamilton. Along one of the walkways near the boat launch area is a nice marsh viewing area. Huge red ears abound. You can see them sunning themselves on the mats of floating weeds in and among the bull rushes.

 

[pugle1]

That's how my ponding hobby got started.
When I was a kid I had several of those store bought turtles that I kept in those stupid plastic turtle island things. Even then I knew it was a terrible habitat for a turtle, and in the summer time I use build my own habitats making make shift ponds and streams in the dirt using the running water from the hose for my flow. I really wanted to build something permanent for my turtles, but of course it was all just temporary usually only lasting that day that I built it, I just didn't have the resources, knowledge or the support to build anything permanent. I'm fairly certain my adult pond building desires are simply my subconscious mind just trying to fulfill my childhood dreams.

I went from this:

To this:

I'd bet you're childhood turtles would love THAT environment Very nice!

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I'd bet you're childhood turtles would love THAT environment Very nice!

Yeah I bet they would have, and I'm pretty sure my childhood me would have loved it too.
Thanks

 

[Dave 54]

Zman the only fish I see in your video getting any food are koi and goldfoish tell me where the fancies are in your video because they sure as hell aint getting anything food wise that Val and I can see ?.

Dave

 

[ZmanArt007]

Which video are you watching Dave? In the most recent one you can clearly see the Moor and the Oranda feeding with the others. In fact, right at the beginning you can see the Oranda actually get a piece. The only fancy that doesn't feed with the large fish is the Ryukin, which is the smallest one I bought. He's much more shy and isn't as accepting of my presence yet.

These videos aren't done like my normal feedings either. My primary goal when recording is to get all the fish to feed around the camera. When I feed normally I feed the large fish and the small fish in separate areas.

If you are saying that you can't see them getting actual food, thats probably because you can't even see most of the food in the video. The majority of the food was thrown in right above the camera, not within its field of view.

Either way, I make sure they get food. I break pond sticks into little pieces that the big guys usually ignore to get the larger ones. I don't stop feeding until I see them actually getting several pieces of food.

 

[Lisaebetten]

Do you leave your oranda and other fancy fish to winter oustide? If so what zone? I have 2 small orandas from my nieces broken tank in my pond and I am zone 5, Michigan. I think I should set up my 20 gal for them inside this winter.

 

[Lisaebetten]

Never mind, I just read the whole thread.