Goldfish fry

[Kimberleyc]

Hi all,
I live in the North UK. Temperature today is around 8 degrees. Today whilst doing a routine check of my pond, I found this little man. I thought at first that it was a water beetle as only about half an inch long but bright orange.
I fished him out to have a look and definitely a fish.
I have koi and goldfish in the pond so a couple of questions really
Is he likely to get eaten? Should I remove from the pond?
At this size, he can't be very old, I didn't think fish laid eggs at this time of the year. Also how come he is brightly coloured, I have last years fry, much bigger and still a dirty brown colour..just curious

 

[Kimberleyc]

 

[Kimberleyc]

Pics attached, I hope

 

[WaterGardener]

Looks more like a koi or maybe a shubunkin if you have those in your pond. I would think he can be eaten at that size. If you are able and want to be sure he has a chance to survive, take him inside and set up a tank for him there. Just be sure not to shock him by putting him in warmer water all at once. Take some pond water inside with him and let it heat up to room temperature on its own.

Best of luck with him.

 

[Kimberleyc]

Looks more like a koi or maybe a shubunkin if you have those in your pond. I would think he can be eaten at that size. If you are able and want to be sure he has a chance to survive, take him inside and set up a tank for him there. Just be sure not to shock him by putting him in warmer water all at once. Take some pond water inside with him and let it heat up to room temperature on its own.

Best of luck with him.

Many thanks @WaterGardener. If I bring him in, what do I feed him

 

[WaterGardener]

Baby brine shrimp are good, or you can use finely ground fish food, or you can make your own fry food. There should be lots of info here or other sites online on what and how to feed him. Be careful not to overfeed and cause poor water conditions. That's probably the biggest theat to him.

If you have lots of places in the pond for him to hide, you could leave him in there. He has managed to stay alive this long so he must be hiding somewhere.

 

[rubyduby]

I agree, if you have hiding places he will probably be fine at that size...All of mine survived to adulthood in my pond. Personally I think it would be traumatizing to take him out of the only place he has known..Just my opinion though

 

[Lisak1]

He made it this far without your help... I'd just leave the little guy be. I find the other fish will eat the eggs, but they don't eat the babies that make it past the egg stage.

 

[Kimberleyc]

Thanks all for advice, temps here were -5 last night and pond has ice on it so I brought him in a couple of days ago. He seems quite happy in a tank ( with filter and air). Doing partial water changes with room temp pond water, feeding bloodworm and crushed flake. Anything else I should be doing?



Named him lucky as he seems to Be the only survivor

 

[GBBUDD]

I'D SAY NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT TILL SPRING TO LET HIM BACK INTO THE POND....... i'm ready to destroy the caps button

 

[Kimberleyc]

I'D SAY NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT TILL SPRING TO LET HIM BACK INTO THE POND....... i'm ready to destroy the caps button

lol @GBBUDD , I intend to keep him indoors until spring. Was hoping to find him a friend but looks like he was the only survivor