Summer vacation

[dsmith8550]

I have 5 goldfish about 6 inches each in a 1500 gallon garden pond.
I am going on an extended vacation this summer (3 months) and I'm not sure what to do with them during that time.
I dont know my neighbors well enough to trust that they would feed them correctly and watch water levels. I lose a lot of water to evaporation and possibly a small leak. I have a timer set up on my well pump that runs twice a day for 10 minutes and this keeps the water level up.
This must be a fairly common thing so what do people do with their fish?

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

I have an Intex pool/pond, approx the same size. I have lots of submerged plants…..and about 2 dozen goldfish. I rarely feed them. Mine is in mostly shade.

Do you have any kind of filtration? What kind of liner do you have? What makes you suspect a leak (there are other reasons for water loss)? Please post pics so we can have a better idea what your setup looks like.

 

[dsmith8550]

I bought this home 3 years ago and the pond was already here so I am not an expert on filter types and liners but I can tell you it has a filter at the intake and another at the waterfall. I clean them every couple of months. It is mostly shaded. I keep a netting over it in the fall and winter months to keep out leaves and pine needles. Located in South Carolina so not much of a winter.
Water is clear and the fish have been healthy for 3 years. I bought them from the feeder goldfish section at the pet store and they are currently over 6 inches but haven't grown much in the last year.
My concern is less with the water leakage and more with what to do with the fish. I'm surprised to learn they can go without any feeding. If they can that would solve the problem. I have a good amount of Lily Pads but not sure it would be enough to support them without external feeding.
I was actually just looking to see how to give them away or other means to make this work. I don't really have an emotional attachment but want to keep it humane.
Thank you for the response.

 

[j.w]

@dsmith8550
You don't ever really have to feed the goldfish. I did not feed mine for yrs, then I decided to give them food once per week so they would like me.
I have left mine for a few months at a time. I just added an auto water timer to my hose from my well and each day it would add a certain amount of water to keep the level up.

 

[dsmith8550]

Good to know. I should be ok then.
Thank you

 

[Mmathis]

Goldfish are hardly little critters.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have 5 goldfish about 6 inches each in a 1500 gallon garden pond.
I am going on an extended vacation this summer (3 months) and I'm not sure what to do with them during that time.
I dont know my neighbors well enough to trust that they would feed them correctly and watch water levels. I lose a lot of water to evaporation and possibly a small leak. I have a timer set up on my well pump that runs twice a day for 10 minutes and this keeps the water level up.
This must be a fairly common thing so what do people do with their fish?

it may not help you but for those reading your post, a cistern can be the solution to evaporation. while it is not cheap to build initialy it is well worth the time and money imo. The cistern can hold as much water as you desire. but again they are not cheap to build. When it rains i have half my roof collection through the gutters drains into the pond and the excess then over flows the pond and falls into the cistern the cistern then has a pump that pushes the water back to the pond thus always having a constant water level in the pond. " invaluable" The plants are always healthy along the edge of the pond the mosses can grow and your water level never changes . The water below ground is the only fluctuation of the water level that there is.

Timers can work GREAT, but they are machines and they can go wrong for this reason I recommend TWO timers one right after the other, so if one of the timers happen to die it does not get stuck open possibly killing your fish., and leaving you with a substantial water bill. THE SECOND TIMER WILL SHUT LEAVING THE OTHER OPEN BUT YOUR WATER WILL NOT RUNNING FOR DAYS.

 

[addy1]

I have gone for years not feeding mine. I just started to get more fry to survive after losing a bunch of fish to water snakes.

Welcome to the forum!