Lookin for goldfish population control

[Wayfarin]

Yep, they're fierce little things. And they're live-birthers, so they're prolific. If I could have found rosie barb minnows when I first filled the pond, I would have preferred those. But sadly, no one seemed to be selling them at the time, and mosquitoes were a concern. I did later add nine rosie barbs, but I doubt they can breed due to the gambusias. But it's a big pond, so maybe...

Rosy barbs? Do you mean rosy red minnows?

Rosy red minnows are pink fathead minnows and can survive almost all water conditions.

Rosy barbs are tropical fish that can survive in unheated aquariums but cannot tolerate temperate winters (below 55 degrees Fahrenheit).

 

[YShahar]

Rosy barbs? Do you mean rosy red minnows?

Rosy red minnows are pink fathead minnows and can survive almost all water conditions.

Rosy barbs are tropical fish that can survive in unheated aquariums but cannot tolerate temperate winters (below 55 degrees Fahrenheit).

Ours are indeed rosy barbs. These days, our winter temperatures don't go below 10 degrees C. Twenty years ago, we might have gotten an over-night freeze and even some snow, but that's history now.

Typically rosy barbs are kept outdoors all winter here, though in colder areas they need deeper water. I've got something like six or seven of them in there now of my original nine, having lost a couple to kingfishers last spring.

They're marvelous fish for mosquito control, and far less aggressive toward other fish than are the gamuzias. They're also prettier. But sadly, when I first filled my pond, no one in the area had any for sale, and now there's no way they can breed in my pond with all the gambusias in there.

 

[Wayfarin]

Ours are indeed rosy barbs. These days, our winter temperatures don't go below 10 degrees C. Twenty years ago, we might have gotten an over-night freeze and even some snow, but that's history now.

Typically rosy barbs are kept outdoors all winter here, though in colder areas they need deeper water. I've got something like six or seven of them in there now of my original nine, having lost a couple to kingfishers last spring.

They're marvelous fish for mosquito control, and far less aggressive toward other fish than are the gamuzias. They're also prettier. But sadly, when I first filled my pond, no one in the area had any for sale, and now there's no way they can breed in my pond with all the gambusias in there.

Wow, what a blessing to be able to keep tropical fish outdoors in ponds all winter long! Where we live, even goldfish struggle to survive our winters.

However, I have to say that I am thankful for the invention of heated aquarium tanks. Without them, rosy barbs wouldn't even be familiar to me!

Maybe you could remove the rosy barbs and add a predatory fish to devastate the mosquitofish? Then you could remove the predator and add the rosy barbs again to boost their chances against the mosquitofish.

What to do with the predator then, though? Maybe, if it's edible, you could eat it!
Or you could keep it in its own pond. Then, if the mosquitofish take over again, you'll have an "overpopulation guard" fish whenever you want one!

 

[YShahar]

Wow, what a blessing to be able to keep tropical fish outdoors in ponds all winter long! Where we live, even goldfish struggle to survive our winters.

However, I have to say that I am thankful for the invention of heated aquarium tanks. Without them, rosy barbs wouldn't even be familiar to me!

Maybe you could remove the rosy barbs and add a predatory fish to devastate the mosquitofish? Then you could remove the predator and add the rosy barbs again to boost their chances against the mosquitofish.

What to do with the predator then, though? Maybe, if it's edible, you could eat it!
Or you could keep it in its own pond. Then, if the mosquitofish take over again, you'll have an "overpopulation guard" fish whenever you want one!

Not a bad idea, though I'd worry that anything capable of taking on the gambusias would also be dangerous to my goldfish and koi. Plus, it's a big pond, with lots of hiding places, so I doubt any predator would be able to get enough of them to make a difference.

And then, as you say, what to do with the predator? Answer, get a bigger predator! Oh yeah, I see where this is going... "And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why Yael now raises Nile crocodiles in her pond!"

I'm thinking of buying a minnow trap from Amazon and gradually catching the little buggers. Plenty of people in our area willing to take them off my hands. If I ever need to drain the pond, I'll take them all out then (though I doubt I'll ever need to drain it).

There are quite a few warm-water fish that people keep outdoors here. I know a guy who keeps fancy guppies in his pond outdoors, though he's up in the Jerusalem Hills, where it gets colder. He catches as many of them as he can each year and overwinters them indoors.

 

[Wayfarin]

Not a bad idea, though I'd worry that anything capable of taking on the gambusias would also be dangerous to my goldfish and koi. Plus, it's a big pond, with lots of hiding places, so I doubt any predator would be able to get enough of them to make a difference.

And then, as you say, what to do with the predator? Answer, get a bigger predator! Oh yeah, I see where this is going... "And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why Yael now raises Nile crocodiles in her pond!"

I'm thinking of buying a minnow trap from Amazon and gradually catching the little buggers. Plenty of people in our area willing to take them off my hands. If I ever need to drain the pond, I'll take them all out then (though I doubt I'll ever need to drain it).

There are quite a few warm-water fish that people keep outdoors here. I know a guy who keeps fancy guppies in his pond outdoors, though he's up in the Jerusalem Hills, where it gets colder. He catches as many of them as he can each year and overwinters them indoors.

There's a distinct size difference between gambusias and goldfish/koi.
Unless you are breeding the carps, most mosquitofish predators will be simply too small to prey on goldfish and koi.

While a predator won't wipe out all of the mosquitofish, I wouldn't underestimate its impact on controlling the invasive buggers. After all, the only reason they reproduce so prolifically is to counter predation.

 

[GBBUDD]

Not a bad idea, though I'd worry that anything capable of taking on the gambusias would also be dangerous to my goldfish and koi. Plus, it's a big pond, with lots of hiding places, so I doubt any predator would be able to get enough of them to make a difference.

And then, as you say, what to do with the predator? Answer, get a bigger predator! Oh yeah, I see where this is going... "And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why Yael now raises Nile crocodiles in her pond!"

I'm thinking of buying a minnow trap from Amazon and gradually catching the little buggers. Plenty of people in our area willing to take them off my hands. If I ever need to drain the pond, I'll take them all out then (though I doubt I'll ever need to drain it).

There are quite a few warm-water fish that people keep outdoors here. I know a guy who keeps fancy guppies in his pond outdoors, though he's up in the Jerusalem Hills, where it gets colder. He catches as many of them as he can each year and overwinters them indoors.

i have made my own minnow trap which also works for koi and gold fish babies. take a five gallon water bottle and where the bottle starts to narrow at the top you cut that off . then flip it around and stuff the top first into the bottom drill a couple holes through both the top and the bottom where they over lap and zip tie them together. throw a couple rocks inside so the trap doesn't float toss a couple pieces of food in and tie a rope to the handle. check your trap often. persistence will prevail.

 

[Wayfarin]

i have made my own minnow trap which also works for koi and gold fish babies. take a five gallon water bottle and where the bottle starts to narrow at the top you cut that off . then flip it around and stuff the top first into the bottom drill a couple holes through both the top and the bottom where they over lap and zip tie them together. throw a couple rocks inside so the trap doesn't float toss a couple pieces of food in and tie a rope to the handle. check your trap often. persistence will prevail.

You can make a trap for almost any small animal that way!
I made a cricket trap with a bottle to capture the crickets that escaped their container (we buy them as food for our bearded dragon).

It didn't catch any, but I found them anyway and dropped them in the bottle. It works well to contain those crazy crickets!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Not a bad idea, though I'd worry that anything capable of taking on the gambusias would also be dangerous to my goldfish and koi. Plus, it's a big pond, with lots of hiding places, so I doubt any predator would be able to get enough of them to make a difference.

And then, as you say, what to do with the predator? Answer, get a bigger predator! Oh yeah, I see where this is going... "And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why Yael now raises Nile crocodiles in her pond!"

I'm thinking of buying a minnow trap from Amazon and gradually catching the little buggers. Plenty of people in our area willing to take them off my hands. If I ever need to drain the pond, I'll take them all out then (though I doubt I'll ever need to drain it).

There are quite a few warm-water fish that people keep outdoors here. I know a guy who keeps fancy guppies in his pond outdoors, though he's up in the Jerusalem Hills, where it gets colder. He catches as many of them as he can each year and overwinters them indoors.

"And that, ladies in gentlemen, is why Yael now raises Nile crocodiles in her pond!"