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Transferring a very large Indoor goldfish in to an outdoor
pond? 9/1/2009
I have very large common goldfish he's 9.5 inches long 2.5 inches wide
and 4 inches high. He's on his own in a very large tank as he seemed to
bully the much smaller gold fish and orfe i have.
<Happens>
I feel a little sorry for him on his own and he's recently come into
breeding season. I'm wanting to know if i can transfer him into my out
door pond with 6 Koi Carp.
<Mmm, maybe>
The pond has been established nearly 4 months now and we have had the 6
Koi in there for the last 3 months, they are very happy and swim around
in a pack they have doubled in size and would be as big as
my gold fish.
<Then you have good odds of them getting along, maybe even
interbreeding>
Not sure in the sex of the Koi carp, i live in North Yorkshire, UK and
if it is possible to transfer him is now the time to do it.
Many thanks
Sharon
<This is a good time of year to do this change/move. Bob Fenner, who has
a friend, roomie (family name Catterick) from your part of York>
Re: Transferring a very large Indoor goldfish in to an
outdoor pond? 9/1/2009
Thanks for this Bob and roomie,
<Hi Sharon>
I will give it a go tomorrow, i have the rest of the week off so keep an
eye on him and make sure he's not chasing the other fish around to much.
I think the pond would be an ideal size for him, i never seen a gold
fish so big. I rescued him from an empty house, so have no idea how old
he is.
<Can live a few decades>
Could i ask one more question, in the reading I've done it seems that
"The ripe females release pheromones which attracts the attentions of
all the males in the pond, which in turn drive and chase each female
(whether
ripe or not) to expel their eggs".
How would a lone male come into season?
<Really just temperature and light influences... can cross with Cyprinus
carpio... including Koi, Carp>
thanks again
Sharon
<Welcome. BobF>
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Salt as a preventative
11/5/07
Hello Mr. Fenner,
Great site! I am impressed by all
of the knowledge that is packed into this webspace. I however
note the lack (Did I miss it?) of mentioning the beneficial
effects of using salt for acclimating fish, especially Koi and
Goldfish. We have been using salt for about 16 years at our
facility and the difference in receiving and holding livestock
is amazing. My apologies if I did not see it mentioned at your
site.
Thanks
Jay D Doub
Blue Ridge Fish Inc.
<Ahh! So glad to hear from you... I
have purchased Blue Ridge's pond fishes, foods... for many
years... The last big go I brought them in for PetCo in the
early nineties. I do agree with your mention here of salt in
acclimation. And will add this note with credit to you. Cheers,
Bob Fenner, who can't remember the ladies names in the front
office I used to deal with, but somewhere have the old Christmas
cards with the staff on them>
Re: Salt as a preventative
11/6/07
I work for our wholesale division, the hatchery is on the
other side of the large Mecca of Kernersville NC. We wholesale a wide
variety of aquatics including saltwater while the hatchery sticks to
just coldwater.
<Ahh! Blueridge HAS expanded... I recall when "Butterfly Koi" was big
news...>
The lady you mention could be one of four: Brenda, Delores, Regan, or
Martha.
<Ah, yes... Brenda... How could I forget? The same name as my eldest
sister>
Delores and her husband Wyatt Lefever sold the hatchery to their eldest
son Randy.
<Oh>
He and his wife Karen own both the hatchery and our company. I have a
few of those Christmas cards as well! Give me an address and I will make
sure that a 5 lb. bag of Blue Ridge food makes its way to your door.
Since I only feed my koi between May and September you can take a
raincheck if you like. Make sure to specify regular pellet, small pellet
or blend (contains both regular and large pellet). It contains our new
formulation with ENCAPCELL a nucleotide product.
http://www.theroangroup.net/uploads/Media_Releases.pdf and
here
http://www.blueridgekoi.com/Blue%20Ridge%20Fish%20Hatchery%20Fish%20Food.htm
<The very small would be appreciated... Though I write mainly about
marines nowadays, I keep goldfish... 8586 Menkar Rd., San Diego, Ca.
92126>
Also I sent you a couple of pics of Dotty, Foo Man Koi, and Tux
Butterflys. Enjoy! Jay
<Very nice. Thank you for all... Always great to hear from old friends,
companies in the trade. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Salt as a preventative... and
adjunct to Pondfish acclimation. Neale's go 11/6/07
Hello Mr. Fenner,
Great site! I am impressed by all of the knowledge that is packed into
this web space. I however note the lack (Did I miss it?) of mentioning
the beneficial effects of using salt for acclimating fish, especially
Koi and Goldfish. We have been using salt for about 16 years at our
facility and the difference in receiving and holding livestock is
amazing. My apologies if I did not see it mentioned at your site.
Thanks
Jay
<Hello Bob, Jay. I'm not a fan of the routine addition of salt to
freshwater aquaria. For a start, aquarists often misunderstand its
purpose, and imagine adding salt improves the hardness of soft water. It
does not. When used thus, there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that fish
such as Mbuna become prone to 'Malawi Bloat', presumably because their
osmoregulation system ends up having to deal with a situation it hadn't
evolved to handle. It doesn't take a leap of imagination to suppose that
fish adapted to soft water environments, such as tetras, are likely to
be sensitive to salty water too. There's also this vague idea that
somehow adding tiny amounts of salt will prevent various parasitic
infections. While high concentrations of salt can be used as a
treatment, too many aquarists delay treating problems like Finrot or
fungus because they think adding a teaspoon of salt per gallon will do
the job for them and save them some money at the same time. Of course it
does nothing of the sort, and their fish continue to get sick and often
die because by the time they do spend the money on a proper medication
it is too late. The only scientifically grounded use for salt is in
reducing the toxicity of nitrogenous wastes. Salt is widely used thus on
certain sorts of fish farms where the fish are kept confined in ponds.
Salt may also be useful when used this way in retailer's tanks where
overstocking is common, and while fish are being shipped in cartons
without filtration. But in a well-maintained aquarium there shouldn't be
any nitrate in the water, and nitrate should be relatively low, so
adding salt becomes redundant. So just like activated carbon, aquarium
salt strikes me as Old School fishkeeping that provides no real benefits
other than handing money over to retailers and salt manufacturers.
There's nothing salt does that can't be done better by proper
filtration, regular water changes, and proper management of water
chemistry. I don't completely decry salt for niche functions like
treating whitespot on copper- and formalin-sensitive fish, but at the
same time I consider it Snake Oil of sorts as far as the regular
aquarist with a community tank goes. Cheers, Neale.>
<<Mmm, well... I do like "aquarium salt/s" (as in the mix of metals,
non-metals usually crudely derived from desalination via solar power)
for acclimation of pond fishes... I too have found them
to be efficacious in stabilizing "too dry" larger koi and fancy
goldfishes of size... and to some degree, eliminating the bulk of
external parasite fauna. BobF> |
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Koi additions 1/12/06
HEY THERE Fellow enthusiasts!
<There you are Tom... long time, no chat>
A couple of years ago, I built a large (to us anyway) liner pond (Thanks for the
help Bob!). It is approximately 3600 GAL or so. It has been doing wonderful
and the fish are happy and healthy.
But here's the question. A friend of mine is moving and can't take his (6) koi
with him. He wants to give them to me for my pond . I feel there is enough
room in the pond for them (only 5 fish right now) but am worried about adding
fish in the winter.
<Mmm, yes... a tough time to move>
Will the bacteria be able to reproduce rapidly enough to keep up with the added
load in cold water?
<Actually... likely so... there is very little excretion of such in cold
temperatures... the big troubles come about from the actual fish being moved...
more psycho-social than physiological>
I live in Northern VA and, although winter hasn't truly visited us yet, the
water is around the upper 40's (we stopped feeding in Nov when it dropped below
50).
<Mmm... I take it all the fish... yours and theirs are outdoors... moving the
koi expediently, switching water back and forth to acclimate, provide oxygen...
not raising water temperature much in transition... should do it here>
If this is in any way risky, I have no problem housing the new fish (around 6 -
8" each) in the basement in a 100 GAL stock tub with filter until the Spring.
What are your thoughts?
<Better to mix in with your existing fish IMO>
Thanks so much for all that you fine folks do!
Tom (The Tool Man)
<Be chatting, Bob Fenner>
Re: Koi additions 1/14/07
HEY BOB! Yeah, it's been a long time! As previously mentioned in your
discussions, MOST of the answers to our questions are covered on your site, so
with a little searching, there becomes less of a need to bother you and your
folks. But it is always good to "talk" to you!
<Am glad for this... otherwise, just moving about others "conversations" gets to
be too second-hand...>
Although, sometimes, it does give hobbyists the extra sense of peace to have it
"directly from the horses mouth"! ;)
<Neigh!>
I took your advice and decided to just put them in our pond instead of
indoors. The only catch was that my friend was actually keeping them in his
garage in a 100 GAL Stock Tank (watering trough) so the temp difference was a
bit more than I would have liked. But it was an emergency move.
So I did the slow drip acclimation (much like what is recommended for sensitive
marine stock). When we got them home, their water was 63* F and my pond temp
was at 47* F. I dripped them for 8 hours to get them temp absolutely right and
keep them aerated, then gently eased them into their new home. Wish us luck!
<I do... I had hoped that this was a "like for like" pond to pond movement with
the fish in and going to about the same circumstances water quality wise... If
they were in good shape, the temperature difference shouldn't be overly
problematical>
As always, I am humbled by the extent of the knowledge and caring of your
organization and hope to be able/knowledgeable enough in the future to assist
you with the site.
<Me too!>
Thank you and enjoy your time in HI. I have only been once but it is a truly
wonderful and beautiful place.
Tom (The Tool Man)
<Thank you my friend. Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Koi in the winter
I have a 50,000 gallon outdoor pond in Pittsburgh. It has a waterfalls. We
have snow and ice already. My local pet store has about 20 large (10-12inch) koi
they will give me "a deal" on. They said if I acclimate them slowly they will be
fine. Your opinion? (They are inside now at 78 degrees)
<mmmm.... having been kept indoors without biological cues for torpor, I don't
think these fish can safely be acclimated no matter how slowly you go. Some will
surely live, and some or many will surely die. Seems irresponsible to me... a
waster of money and life likely. I'd leave them at the store. Best case
scenario... a large makeshift pool in the garage at a cooler temp for the next 6
-8 weeks before sending outside. Feed winter food (wheat) sparingly until you
wane to a stop by the end of 8 weeks. Then acclimate to outside>
Thanks! Ron
<best regards>
From Pond to Aquarium
We would like to move 6 goldfish that have spent most of their lives in a
small outdoor pond to an indoor aquarium. Four of these fish were born in this
pond. The reason we want to do this is because we are selling our house and do
not want to leave the fish behind. Is this possible to do?
<Yes, not hard>
If so, what special steps would we have to take to acclimate our fish to their
new environment?
<Best done during a "warmer" part of the year (for thermal reasons), the fish
can be moved by first moving a good part of their water into the aquarium,
allowing this system to become established (a few weeks with the filter
going)... then moving them into said system, being careful (low) on feeding,
testing for ammonia, nitrite... If the tank is large enough (a good 10-15
gallons per fish plus), all should be well>
Recommending some articles to read online would be helpful.
<I wish I knew of such... perhaps you will write this>
By the way, the fish are not overly large, four inches in length at most. We
have two fantails that are quite fat. Thanks. Diana Weaver
<Do keep records of what you did, observed. And keep us informed. Bob Fenner>
koi
Hi Robert,
A blue heron has just eaten 6 of my 13 koi & comets. I have since put a
net over the pond, but the fish won't come out of their houses I had
made for them. I am sure they are still frightened but am quite
concerned about them. They have not eaten in a week. Will they get
over the scare and swim around as before? They use to come to me as
soon as they saw me for food.
Thank you for any help,
Irene
<Yes, your fish will recover, but this will take a few more weeks to a couple of
months... Do be vigilant about keeping the netting in place... and consider
placing motion activated lighting and sound effects about the pond's exterior...
Good luck, life. Bob Fenner>
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