Lone baby goldfish in my pond

[JanS]

Hi there, I’m new to the group and have a question… cleaning out my pond today and we’ve found a tiny baby fish atm I’ve put him in a bowl with pond water and brought him inside because I’m worried the others will eat him but I’ve no idea what conditions he needs or what to feed him on.. we had no idea there were any fry and he’s to tiny probably about 1.5 inches long … any advice would be good please TIA

 

[j.w]

@JanS
I think that little one is past the size of getting eaten. If you want to tho you can keep him inside till he grows a bit more and feed him flake fish food for goldfish. Or just smash the fish food you have into powder.

 

[JanS]

Thank you… I’m so proud of him for surviving so I’d like to take him inside and watch him till he gets a bit bigger I’m not sure how to keep him though.. will he be alright on his own and any ideas about how old he might be TIA

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Sounds like he’s a survivor!

 

[mrsclem]

I think he is a size that goldfish will not eat him. Put him back in the pond

 

[HARO]

will he be alright on his own and any ideas about how old he might be

At that size, he could be last year's young, or he's from this year, and just ate well! He'll be OK in an aquarium, or in the pond. Congratulations on a nice little shubunkin.
John

 

[JanS]

Hello and welcome! Sounds like he’s a survivor!

Thank you for the welcome He certainly seems lively enough so I hope so

 

[JanS]

At that size, he could be last year's young, or he's from this year, and just ate well! He'll be OK in an aquarium, or in the pond. Congratulations on a nice little shubunkin.
John

Thank you so much He has to be this years because the pond is emptied and thoroughly cleaned twice per yer..
Sound stupid I know but I’m so proud of him for surviving this far .. he’s my new baby lol

 

[JanS]

I think he is a size that goldfish will not eat him. Put him back in the pond

Thanks I’m a bit worried about the frogs though.. we cleared out 16 from the pond ( some kept climbing back in though ) .. won’t they eat him? He’s only about an inch long

 

[JanS]

View attachment 141503@JanS
I think that little one is past the size of getting eaten. If you want to tho you can keep him inside till he grows a bit more and feed him flake fish food for goldfish. Or just smash the fish food you have into powder.

Thank you for the info He’s indoors in a bowl with pond water atm I just hope he survives The other fish in the pond are about 8-10” long and very strong so I’m worried about him having come this far

 

[brokensword]

unless you have bullfrogs, I'd not worry re getting eaten by frogs. Now, we HAVE to talk; cleaned thoroughly TWICE a year? Ah, you don't need to do that. Most here will tell you they NEVER scrub their pond, NEVER change water. When you do such a cleaning, you essentially start over with NPS. Once established, algae will be outcompeted by the plants in your pond. That film coating the sides and any underwater objects is actually GOOD for your pond, so don't ever scrub it away. The algae growing on sides/objects will feed your fish easily.

And, put him back in the pond or at least give him a proper aquarium; a bowl is not the kind of space necessary. Goldfish in bowls are actually being mistreated. They deserve a better/larger living quarter, hence your pond!

 

[SarahT]

If you keep him inside (I think back to the pond is a good idea), make sure the aquarium has at least 10 gallons of water and really good filtration and aeration like an air stone, then when he's bigger, transition it to the pond. (and I agree with the above - no need to clean a pond thoroughly. Net anything big, like leaves , out when they start to build up, but otherwise, good filtration, good plants, don't feed the fish too much, and your pond will be fine.) Happy ponding, welcome to the group.

 

[JanS]

unless you have bullfrogs, I'd not worry re getting eaten by frogs. Now, we HAVE to talk; cleaned thoroughly TWICE a year? Ah, you don't need to do that. Most here will tell you they NEVER scrub their pond, NEVER change water. When you do such a cleaning, you essentially start over with NPS. Once established, algae will be outcompeted by the plants in your pond. That film coating the sides and any underwater objects is actually GOOD for your pond, so don't ever scrub it away. The algae growing on sides/objects will feed your fish easily.

And, put him back in the pond or at least give him a proper aquarium; a bowl is not the kind of space necessary. Goldfish in bowls are actually being mistreated. They deserve a better/larger living quarter, hence your pond!

 

[JanS]

unless you have bullfrogs, I'd not worry re getting eaten by frogs. Now, we HAVE to talk; cleaned thoroughly TWICE a year? Ah, you don't need to do that. Most here will tell you they NEVER scrub their pond, NEVER change water. When you do such a cleaning, you essentially start over with NPS. Once established, algae will be outcompeted by the plants in your pond. That film coating the sides and any underwater objects is actually GOOD for your pond, so don't ever scrub it away. The algae growing on sides/objects will feed your fish easily.

And, put him back in the pond or at least give him a proper aquarium; a bowl is not the kind of space necessary. Goldfish in bowls are actually being mistreated. They deserve a better/larger living quarter, hence your pond!

Oh wow, ok thanks I certainly didn’t know that about not cleaning out the pond, we’ve had it 4 yrs now and always had the pond man come and clean it out and suck out all that muck at the bottom Despite the plants it does get pretty murky in there not crystal clear so we can’t see the fish very well. We’ve been assured that the pump and filter is big enough though as we have approx 1000 gallon built up pond with 5 large goldfish/ shabumpkins including 4 males and 1 female as we now know
Yes I was going to put him in an indoor aquarium and buy him a little friend the same size just so I could watch him grow and maybe put him back next spring, but I’d never want to mistreat him, just the opposite in fact
I’ll put him back in the pond then and just hope he survives thank you for your input

 

[JanS]

If you keep him inside (I think back to the pond is a good idea), make sure the aquarium has at least 10 gallons of water and really good filtration and aeration like an air stone, then when he's bigger, transition it to the pond. (and I agree with the above - no need to clean a pond thoroughly. Net anything big, like leaves , out when they start to build up, but otherwise, good filtration, good plants, don't feed the fish too much, and your pond will be fine.) Happy ponding, welcome to the group.

Thank you for your welcome it’s clear I have a lot to learn so the advice is gratefully received From the responses I think I will put him back and just hope he survives We called him ‘Lucky’ because he was
Incidentally, all the fish in the pond started out in an indoor aquarium until they outgrew it so we built a pond for them