Baby Fish Control

[Austrian Fish]

Hi Guys,

I've had my pond for about 2 years now.

I started off with 3 Goldfish, about 10cm long, and last year i was gifted with loads of baby goldfish. There are about 170 fish in the pond now, and the babys are about 5cm long. They look fantastic swimming around in a group.

However, the pond cannot support any more fish (i'm trying to find good homes for about half of the ones i have now) so i need a way to control the baby fish.

A few friends have suggested putting in a fish that eats the babys, but from what i've read on the 'net that kind of fish could also attack the bigger fish as he grows.

Does anyone here have any suggestions? The carnivorous fish idea sounds good, but i really don't want to lose any of the big fish through attacks.

cheers,

Andy.

 

[ZmanArt007]

I don't know about the carnivore, and I am not very experienced, but if you can reach the babies with a net, why not catch them and if they are big enough, use the ulgy or poorly/plainly colored ones as fishing bait? If they are still fry, just send a mesh net through them and simply throw the babies that you catch away.

I have gathered that this is what some people do through reading magazines, books, and websites. I don't actually have baby fish in my pond, cuz i dont have a pond!

 

[Olee]

Fertilizer for the garden?

 

[stroppy]

ohhh yuck poor little fish :icon_sad:

 

[lovinglife]

I'm guilty of that....when you are buying expensive food for your koi and 500 ugly green goldfish are eating it all, you get unattached pretty fast. The problem is catching the little buggers, they are fast.

 

[Airic]

Ug, now I have the fear. My pond is way to big (40,000 gal) to be able to catch them. I went to a pond/koi show last week and they recommended I get rid of all the goldfish saying they bread every 3 weeks in the summer. Maybe this fall I drain to try and get rid of them.

 

[BBK]

Net them out and give them to your local fish store. They will take them (may even give you a couple of cents store credit per). They are the same thing as "feeder goldfish".

 

[Austrian Fish]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm too attached to the fish to simply kill them. I did think about releasing some into local ponds etc, but that doesn't seem right either.

Local pet shops here only take fish from registered breeders for insurance reasons, so i can't get rid of them there either.

And this morning i came out to the pond to find what looks like hundreds of bubble clumps on the surface.... this is fish spawn, right?

Catching the fry when they're really small seems the best idea so far, but it's going to be hell of a job!

cheers,

Andy.

 

[stroppy]

i put a note outside my house offering free fish .... i got lots of people wanting them ...problem solved rofile:

 

[BBK]

Pet shops won't take them? I have never heard of it. I've been breeding and selling tropical fish to pet shops for years along with thousands of other people. I bet 70% of the fish they sell came from local breeders. It's cheaper for the pet shops to buy local.

 

[lovinglife]

I don't think releasing them into the wild is a good idea unless you already have them in the wild. It is illegal here. I had to drain my pond last year to get the little buggers out, and I STILL missed a bunch, must have been hiding in a pot or something. I will be draining it again as I have a new pump to install, I plan on getting rid of all the goldfish, its the only way I can avoid this issue in the future.

 

[Austrian Fish]

Hi,

@bbk... I was surprised as well, this wouldn't have been a problem in the UK.

But this is Austria, where you need a permit for *everything*. They do love their legal stuff.

I've approached 6 different pet shops here and all of them refused to take them..... registered dealers only. :banghead3:

So apart from killing them all no one can recommend a fish that will eat the fry and not attack the remaining goldfish?

cheers,

Andy.

 

[BBK]

Channel catfish. Get one about 6" long and take him out when he gets to about 10-12"

 

[Airic]

Wow, Just caught a baby fish. I had put 20 gold fish in my pond 3 months ago all no more than 1 1/2" long and they have grown to about 4" in this short time. I now just found a baby brown fish which I'm assuming is a goldfish about a 1/2" long.

 

[MassKoi]

Do you have Craigslist in Austria or another free advertising web site? If you do, advertise in the free section. There may be people that would take them off your hands for free. Tell the people to bring a bucket and the fish are yours.