Goldfish in a small pond

[Carlotta2018]

Hello everybody

We have set up a small pond at home of approx. 160 gallons. It is mainly for water lilies but would like to have some goldfish because of the mosquitoes.

What do you think would be the ideal number of goldfish to have in the pond? Also do you think they would survive without a pump? Thanks!

 

[GoPond2018]

Good question - I'll tell it to you like this. My experiences with no pump usually means it'll eventually get dirty faster because Goldfish love to give waste as much as you feed them. I would consider using a pump to filter out the water to keep it clean and clear and possible extend the life of the Goldfish too. As for the controlling mosquito with Goldfish - I'm not sure if Goldfish would eat as many mosquito as we think. You would be better off getting "mosquito fish" to do the job since they'll eat a large # of mosquitoes and their eggs.

Best of luck!

 

[callingcolleen1]

you could have minnows and goldfish together. Minnows have small eye and see small fly....

 

[Lisak1]

If you had a larger body of water you could go without a pump. But that small of a container pond will benefit from water circulation. A couple of goldfish would be fine, but be aware that they will outgrow your pond (both in size and number as they multiply) so have a plan for your new big pond! haha!

 

[j.w]

@Carlotta2018 If your not gonna have a pump you will need to treat your pond as if it were a goldfish bowl and give it clean water now and then. Not empty the whole pond just run some old water out and some new clean water in for a bit. 2 or 3 goldfish would be about all you could do.

 

[Mmathis]

That depends...... And like we’ve (pond and fish keepers) all learned over the years, sometimes what works in one situation won’t necessarily work in another. IOW, you never know until you’ve tried it.

Moving water and filtration are almost necessary for gold fish as they do produce a lot of waste — and as @Lisak1 said, the smaller the body of water, the greater need there is for filtration [because the water/toxins are more concentrated]. But, water lilies don’t like water currents — they tend to be happier in calm water. And it might be hard to “contain” water movement in a small space.

Without a pump/filter, as @j.w mentioned, in order to keep the fish healthy and happy you would need to do frequent water changes. In theory this sounds fine, but in practice.....it gets old real fast. The fewer fish, the better. Maybe a few minnows instead of GF.

Have you tried “Mosquito Dunks”? They are made especially for situations like this. Or — stick around here long enough....and we’ll have you digging a pond — they are addictive and fun!

BTW, “hello and welcome”! Where do you live?

 

[Gemma]

@Carlotta2018 welcome to the forum!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group, I would stick with minnows to control mosquitoes. Goldfish do create a lot of babies.

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

I second @addy1 's recommendation about the minnows. If you need fish just for mosquito control they would work just fine and won't create as much waste as goldfish would.