Pond's overpopulated now; what to do with all the new little goldfish?

[researcher]

For the first time in the 20 years I've had my backyard pond (about 1,200 gal), I'm faced with a population crisis: the goldfish bred late last fall, and all survived the winter here in eastern NC. The carrying capacity of the pond, for the goldfish, has generally been ~15 or so adult fish (not big ones), but now .... there're maybe 8 bigger fish and 90+ (!) small goldies.

I'm asking around 2 C if anybody wants 'em. No takers. I don't want to give any to a local pet store -- they'll end up as feeder fish. Unfair. I've seen something about placing ads to (or calling) schools and/or health facilities to find if they would like some. Not sure this is a viable option.

Any advice about a solution? The local blue heron may take a few eventually, but .... I don't know if it'll be interested in the small fish -- and maybe would have a rough time taking out more'n a few?

Thx much for any ideas/feedback ....

Mitch

 

[Lisak1]

Oh boy. Facebook - marketplace, free page or local pond page? Our local pond store won't take fish for fear they may be diseased.

Ultimately you may just have to cull some or nature will do it for you...

 

[j.w]

https://nextdoor.com/ for your area. Join it and pick your neighborhood and find people to give them away to that have fish ponds. I got some of mine that way.

 

[mrsclem]

Craigslist works for me

 

[Marion777]

For the first time in the 20 years I've had my backyard pond (about 1,200 gal), I'm faced with a population crisis: the goldfish bred late last fall, and all survived the winter here in eastern NC. The carrying capacity of the pond, for the goldfish, has generally been ~15 or so adult fish (not big ones), but now .... there're maybe 8 bigger fish and 90+ (!) small goldies.

I'm asking around 2 C if anybody wants 'em. No takers. I don't want to give any to a local pet store -- they'll end up as feeder fish. Unfair. I've seen something about placing ads to (or calling) schools and/or health facilities to find if they would like some. Not sure this is a viable option.

Any advice about a solution? The local blue heron may take a few eventually, but .... I don't know if it'll be interested in the small fish -- and maybe would have a rough time taking out more'n a few?

Thx much for any ideas/feedback ....

Mitch

ILLEGAL TO DO! VERY HARMFUL FOR NATIVE FISH SPECIES.
DO NOT RELEASE YOUR FISH INTO NATURAL PONDS AND WATERWAYS.

Find a stream, river or park pond near u & let em go. I have about 7 large koi & 20 granddaddy goldies that are pretty big. I drop the babies in the river each year. Inky thing in it is gross Carp & a few
Mud catfish & the river is huge w lots of huge fallen trees in it for them to hide. Can u imagine some sweet little boys face in 10 yrs when he’s fishing along the edges (which they do here in the country) & pullin in a beautiful 18 inch goldfish instead of a disgusting bugeyed Carp!? He’d be pretty Xcited I’d imagine. The pet store uses them to feed other prey, so at least this way they prob have an 90-95% chance of surviving rather than a big fat ZERO at the pet store…. Some will disagree but that’s ok. A few goldfish aren't gonna disrupt anything…. I’m sure there will still be plenty of carp for u “advocates” out there…

 

[ADHDiy_Guy]

Find a stream, river or park pond near u & let em go. I have about 7 large koi & 20 granddaddy goldies that are pretty big. I drop the babies in the river each year. Inky thing in it is gross Carp & a few
Mud catfish & the river is huge w lots of huge fallen trees in it for them to hide. Can u imagine some sweet little boys face in 10 yrs when he’s fishing along the edges (which they do here in the country) & pullin in a beautiful 18 inch goldfish instead of a disgusting bugeyed Carp!? He’d be pretty Xcited I’d imagine. The pet store uses them to feed other prey, so at least this way they prob have an 90-95% chance of surviving rather than a big fat ZERO at the pet store…. Some will disagree but that’s ok. A few goldfish aren't gonna disrupt anything…. I’m sure there will still be plenty of carp for u “advocates” out there…

Please do NOT do this. It’s not just an “opinion” thing, it is against the law - and for good reason.

“North Carolina law prohibits the willful release of domestically raised fish into state waters without the required permits.“

And here is the US Fish and Wildlife website page about “breaking up with your goldfish”

How to Break Up with Your Goldfish | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

www.fws.gov

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Find a stream, river or park pond near u & let em go. I have about 7 large koi & 20 granddaddy goldies that are pretty big. I drop the babies in the river each year. Inky thing in it is gross Carp & a few
Mud catfish & the river is huge w lots of huge fallen trees in it for them to hide. Can u imagine some sweet little boys face in 10 yrs when he’s fishing along the edges (which they do here in the country) & pullin in a beautiful 18 inch goldfish instead of a disgusting bugeyed Carp!? He’d be pretty Xcited I’d imagine. The pet store uses them to feed other prey, so at least this way they prob have an 90-95% chance of surviving rather than a big fat ZERO at the pet store…. Some will disagree but that’s ok. A few goldfish aren't gonna disrupt anything…. I’m sure there will still be plenty of carp for u “advocates” out there…

Your State DWR "disagrees" with you, too. What you're doing is illegal.

DWR reminding public not to 'ditch a fish' after discovering hundreds of goldfish in WMA pond

Thinking about releasing that pet goldfish into the wild? Don't do it! The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is reminding Utahns that it's both harmful and illegal to dump unwanted pet fish into local ponds or to move fish you've caught from one waterbody to another.

wildlife.utah.gov

 

[ADHDiy_Guy]

Here is an article that explains many of the ways that “just a few goldfish” can cause legitimate harm to local waterways - goldfish are DESTRUCTIVE. It is not worth saving the lives of 90 baby goldfish at the risk and expense of all of the native species that will possibly be eradicated from whatever water system they are released into. If one round of spawning from 8 goldfish can turn into 90 babies, imagine what those 90 goldfish could become the next round of spawning… and goldfish can spawn multiple times per year! (That’s a multiplier of 11x, btw = next spawn could be 1,000 babies)

Please stop releasing pet goldfish into the wild

The pet fish have ‘bottomless appetites’ and will wreak havoc on local watersheds.

www.popsci.com

And if you still don’t feel comfortable with culling the “first years”, you could always expand your pond, or add a 2nd, or 3rd!

 

[Lisak1]

Methinks @Marion777 is a troll.

 

[j.w]

Methinks @Marion777 is a troll.

I was thinking the same thing! Wants to just cause trouble it sounds like to me. Everything we know is right she says is wrong. I will just ignore her. If we could vote I would say bye to her.

 

[WaterGardener]

Being uninformed can look a lot like a troll. But she should know better than to do this.

 

[bagsmom]

This is more of a future situation and doesn't help the immediate issue. But do you feed your fish? I do not and I have found that the population naturally controls itself this way. Most of the eggs get eaten. A few always survive and that is enough to offset the fish that die of natural causes. We have owls and such, too. (Unfortunately, I think they are the ones who ate our biggest fish.) I have a smaller pond out front and a larger one out back. The front seems to hold steady between 15 and 20 fish and the back at 20 to 30. It is actually super interesting to observe!

 

[Lisak1]

Being uninformed can look a lot like a troll. But she should know better than to do this.

I thought that at first but there’s a trend - chlorine is a farce, algaecide twice a week is good pond maintenance, dump unwanted pond fish in the local waterways and now the name calling.

Troll. Just trying to get reactions.

 

[WaterGardener]

Maybe. I just am not fond of putting labels on people.

 

[Lisak1]

I guess I don't see it as putting a label on someone. I see it as identifying a behavior. If I am gardening, I'm a gardener. If I am driving a car, I'm the driver. If I am trolling a forum, I'm a troll. I could have said it that way - this poster is trolling - and let folks draw their own conclusion.