Growing outdoor pond fish in an aquarium

[MaartenH]

I'm currently busy constructing my first outdoor goldfish pond. The pond is almost ready.

I already bought some fish, together with an 110 litre aquarium.

I currently have the following fish in my 110 litre aquarium:
- 2 x golden tench
- 4 x sarasa
- 2 x yellow comet

A photo of these fish is attached to this thread. On the photo (on the right side), you can see a small white goldfish and a carp. These 2 fish won't be moving to the outdoor pond (probably), because I already have them for a few years (indoor). The rest will be moved to the outdoor pond.

Here's my questions:
1. When should I move them to an outdoor pond? What size should they be?
2. How long will it take to get them to that size?
3. The outdoor pond is approximately 5.000 litres. I think it would be awesome to just put the 8 mentioned fish in the pond, and then try to build the pond so that there is an ideal place for eggs, so there will be fish spawning. But as I don't really have experience with that, I would love to know some things about this:
a) Is this a good idea? There will be a pump on the bottom of the pond, so I don't know if the little fish could swim up there and just get killed in the filter system(?). Or when there are eggs, do I have to remove them and place them in my indoor aquarium for example?
b) If my dream comes true and there eventually are eggs (most likely from the sarasas, since they are with 4?), there will probably suddenly be too much fish for my 'small' pond?

Thanks!

Maarten

 

[Mmathis]

@MaartenH I sure hope you meant to say "5000 liters" instead of "5.000 liters."

Goldfish are going to reproduce so your chances of having babies are good, though it depends on how old they are and if you have boy fish and girl fish. Some fry will survive and some won't. If you give them plenty of cover with plants, you have a better chance of survival with them.

What are the size dimensions of your pond and how deep is it?

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Marteen. You are actually creating a mini eco-syetem when you build an outdoor pond. If you have an area in the pond that is planted with thick sedges there will be a place for fry to hide and develop. The more fish you have the more hungry mouths there will be. You don't need to do anything because when your fish population grows it will be less likely the fry can survive. The pond will find it's own natural balance and you don't have to do a lot for it to happen.

 

[MaartenH]

Hey @Mmathis and @CometKeith

I meant 5000 liters, yes. The pond has these dimensions: 2m (width) x 2,5m (length) x 1,4m (depth). But in length, there is a a part that is only about 0,50m in depth, for the entire width. I attached a photo of the pond.

On the right side, you can see the part where it's only about 0,50m in depth. This place will be used to place the skimmer (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p-27938-37726P_002-pond-2.jpg).

But I was also thinking to put some plants (or like you said, some thick sedges) on this part. Would that be ok?

 

[Mmathis]

@MaartenH Whew! Knew that # of gallons couldn't be right! The ledge for the skimmer would be a good place for sedges except that the sedges might interfere with the operation of the skimmer, IOW, get in the way. You can only give it a try.

And the sloping sides -- that's interesting.

I would love to see pictures of your yellow comets! It's hard to find GF that color these days, as they've bred more for the oranges. "Yellow" is what I grew up with and would love to find some here.

 

[MaartenH]

@Mmathis I've attached some photos of them.

But since they are pretty active, I guess a video could be better. So I just uploaded one on YouTube:

.

But so, the depth of the ledge seems to be ok? Or should I make sure the sedges are planted on a specific height (ideal for eggs)?

 

[Mmathis]

@MaartenH Thank you! They are lovely --- like aquatic canaries! Do you know if they will stay that color?

 

[MaartenH]

@Mmathis I'm not sure what will happen to their color, these are my first (yellow) comets.I hope they will keep the yellow color!

 

[Mmathis]

@Mmathis I'm not sure what will happen to their color, these are my first (yellow) comets.I hope they will keep the yellow color!

Me, too!

 

[MaartenH]

What size should the fish be before I can place them into the pond?

My setup is currently like this (maybe this info is necessary to answer my question):

- External Filter:
https://www.oase-livingwater.com/en_EN/water-garden/products/prd/11553.html

- Internal Pump:
https://www.oase-livingwater.com/en...ucts/prd/aquamax-eco-premium-10000.11260.html

- Internal Skimmer (placed on the ledge):
https://www.oase-livingwater.com/en_EN/water-garden/products/prd/aquaskim-40.4666.html

- Sloping walls with a protective cloth + pond liner.

- A layer of substrate on the bottom of the pond. In the middle of this substrate, I planted a water lilly (the water lilly is placed in a seperate box, filled with special soil + a layer of substrate).

The only thing that's still missing, are the thick sedges, which I would like to place on the ledge, to both sides of the skimmer.
=> I don't really think this is the best place for eggs, since the outlet of the pump is really close to the ledge. But it's the only place I can think of, so I guess I should give that a try.

I filled this pond with water today, so I'll try to post a photo of it later. I'm also planning to just keep everything up and running (pund, filter, ...) for at least 3 few weeks, before moving my fish in there.

Fish types are:
2 x Golden Tench
4 x Sarasa
2 x Yellow Comet

I'm also planning to buy 2-4 shubunkins, but I will buy them large enough (and not have them in my aquarium first).

 

[Mmathis]

I don't think there's really a size limit -- I think that's more an issue for people who are growing fry where there's going to be a huge size difference between existing fish and the babies. Yours are going into an empty pond and will do well. But no matter they're size, they're going to do better in the pond than in the aquarium.

 

[MaartenH]

Ok, good to know! Thank you!

They'll have to wait at least 3 weeks though! Then I'll have the water level tested, and we'll see!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[EricV]

@MaartenH I sure hope you meant to say "5000 liters" instead of "5.000 liters."

In Europe it is quite standard to use a dot where we would use a comma in numbers and vice versa (as you can see from a later quote of 0,50 meters). It's confusing until you get used to it, then you almost always understand the context.

 

[Mmathis]

In Europe it is quite standard to use a dot where we would use a comma in numbers and vice versa (as you can see from a later quote of 0,50 meters). It's confusing until you get used to it, then you almost always understand the context.

Thank you -- I didn't know that!