Baby fish!

[Susan]

Hello I'm looking for some advice on my baby fish. I have what I believe is a 60 gallon lined pond. I have 5 fish which I have had for about 4 years, They are now 5 - 6 inches long. They were 15 cent feeder fish although one of them is very pale gold with long fancy tail and fins. A couple of months ago I saw they have produced two baby fish ( black with their little noses already turning color). My question is how many fish can this pond sustain? The fish do just fine during the winter. I put in a floating de-icer in case the surface freezes over and I keep the pump on although I've read conflicting views on that. I have three plants in pots in the pond plus the pump so I imagine that decreases the actual volume of water. Basically, can the pond handle the addition of the two new fish?
(Mom also to 3 zebra finches, a black lab mix who is an amazing Agility dog and my son's 13 year old blind Husky mix.)

 

[Dave 54]

The problem is you dot know the exact gallonage of your pond believing its 60 gallons (imperial or US)? , doesnt make it 60 gallons which is important .....
You need to know the exact gallonage when it coms to treating your fish or you may overdose with chemicals.
I think your pond will take the two babies but if you start getting them every year then your going to need new homes for them


Dave

 

[JBtheExplorer]

7 fish in a 60 gallon pond seems to be pushing it, but do-able with good filtration. Keep in mind if they successfully had babies this year, they may successfully have baby fish every year. I have twice as many babies as I do adults at this point. You may want to consider a larger pond, but not completely necessary if you maintain those 7 fish. Goldfish tend to breed easier than I personally ever expected.

 

[dieselplower]

20 gallons per adult size goldfish minimum in my opinion. Unless you have great filtration and plants.

 

[j.w]

Susan
Start digging cuz this will never end

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Hi Susan! Welcome to the forum

We would love to see pictures of your pond

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Susan. Your pond will balance out. The more hungry mouths you have the less likely there will be future babies. So as your fish quantity increase it will stop at some point unless you do something special to help the babies survive. You do have a pretty high bio-load for that size pond so you will have to monitor your water quality as time goes on. The less bio-load you have the easier to maintain and the converse is true too. Good luck with your babies!

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome!

How are you filtering the water and do you test your water?

Also, just to clarify, what are the dimensions of your pond, as 60 gallons sounds kinda small.

As others have said, you may do OK with the 2 babies, but your fish won't stop there, I'm afraid -- your population is bound to increase. And, you can always make a bigger pond......

 

[addy1]

to our group! I tend to not feed my fish a lot during spawning season..............all summer. They eat up any eggs that are laid, helps with population control.

 

[sissy]

welcome and a good filter and not over feeding may help for awhile but you may need to go bigger or find a new home for some of your fish .