Fish Activity Level

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I am concerned because the goldfish my family has put in their pond have been rather lethargic. We put them in a week ago a couple days before a bout of cooler weather. Water dropped slowly to just above 50 farenheit but has since warmed to 60+. Our fish (two shubunkins and two fantails) seem more active but are still somewhat slow. Also one fantail is just hanging around near the bottom while a shubunkin has been in hiding. Is this normal for fish adjusting to a new pond or should I be worried?

P.S.
The ones not hiding or on the bottom are eating fine now that they have warmed up.
 

sissy

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mine do that with the changes in temps could be they are just getting used to there new surrondings maybe .Are you feeding the wheat germ .I am still feeding mine that as the temps change to much right now .maybe someone knows more than me as my temps go up and down like a yoyo here and welcome to the forum also just noticed you were new orandawhisper
 
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No we tried bread but took it out because people said that was a bad idea. We will try that. We are also taking the one fantail out because he is looking very bad off. Thanks
 

sissy

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wheat germ pond sticks work for mine but could be they are in temperature shock I have seen that here with a neighbor maybe you should take them in or get a pond heater to warm the water up .My neighbor put hers in to soon and temp went from almost 80 degrees down to 40 the next day I had to help her catch all the new ones she put in .The older ones were fine they were used to it .last 2 weeks here temps up and down
 
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I had the same thought... temperature shock. Those fish were probably raised in an aquarium and have never seen anything below 70 degrees before. I usually try and wait until my pond temps are creeping into the lower 70's before I try adding new fish from the store, that way it's close to what they are used to. On the other hand, my goldfish that have been in the water for a couple years were coming out looking for food once the water temp got above 45. I've never seen them so active this early!

If the new fish survived the drop into the 50's, then they'll probably be OK, just got to give them time to get used to it.
 
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Welcome to the forum orandawhisperer, thats a great name! As you know goldfish actually don't feel the cold because they are cold blooded. So their only reaction to cold temps is that their metabolism slows down. I wouldn't be concerned about what they are eating because there is probably plenty of algae in the pond as long as it's not brand new. You can actually go more wrong by overfeeding them. You may want to look up how to cycle a pond on old forum posts. Probably leave them alone for a while and let them adjust and they will be just fine.
 
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yeah i put my first 4 fish into my new pond about 3 weeks ago, and they just sat on the bottom or hide for first week then they started having a snoop about (mainly at night ) now they are out looking for food through the day and becoming much more active, apart from 1 little shubunkin which still hides, so it just takes time for them to adjust to there new environment.
 

addy1

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My five little fish are still hiding, they were put in last year august/september saw them only once. Finally saw them again this year but only when the temperature in the pond read 55-60. We dropped back down to 42 and they are hiding again. I won't be adding any fish until we climb up to 65-70 and stay there. Mine have never eaten since put into the pond (well food from me lol), but they have grown in size.
 

sissy

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I guess I was really thinking Texas and how cold can it get and what the weather the way it's been .I notice Texas has been hit hard but cold weather also .I know fish are shy and I also have noticed with mine they have tempers as Agie can get made at you and keep swimming away when you try to talk to her ,She will even get insulted ,but maybe thats me thinking that not sure .She will swim away and take her gang and go under the bridge and turn around and look at me .But the gang always gives up first when they see food ,lol .She has a stubborn streak in her
 

sissy

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she is leader alright where ever she goes they follow and then you just py them away from her with food .The hungry little critters give up then .Just like men food wins over anything
 

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