New from MI.

[Pemburu]

Hi all, Kind of new to forums.
I have a 16' x 6' three level pond DYI. it is in it's 12th winter and never thought of looking into forums for adviice. Although I have read a few posts concerning filtering. I am using a pool filter for the main filteration now (makes for a good waterfall). My highest pond is filled with cat tails and forget-me-nots (they thrive and bloom all summer). middle pond some michigan native reeds ~18" tall and more of the little blue flowers, the lower and largest of the three is where most of the wild life lives in. Mainly feeders and a painted turtle (it's third winter now) named Par, my neice found him golfing with her dad, hence the name. Two Koi used to wonder in the depths. One lost to a cat I believe, the second lost to this rough MI winter. (Fish cicle) he was about 8-10". why he come up and got stuck I will never know. I did notice my circulating air pump went out??? Pond is 42" deep. I still see the feeders swimming below the ice.
Anyway I could lost for hours reading all the information that is posted here. A couple of pics. The frog pic was not staged Thanks for having me...

 

[sissy]

welcome and love that pic of the boat real frog hitching a ride .Hope you enjoy the pond forum and sometimes our crazy stuff .We are not stuffy just love to share and get info ourselves on failures and success stories ,seems we all have them .

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! I know, sometimes I just get on and read stuff. That froggy pic is adorable! You can't make me believe that little guy isn't posing for the camera .

 

[Pemburu]

think he thought I was shooting for the frog swimsuit issue of :goldfish: ponds international

 

[sissy]

hmm might be a new type of swimsuit issue of interest to ponders or frog lovers ,could be a money maker

 

[j.w]

Pemburu
Love that frog in the boat. You should enter it in our photo of the month contest :razz:

 

[Pemburu]

PI for thos in the know... Low overhead... a couple of flies and all are happy... High protien low carb diet....exoitic ponds; what else does a frog need???

 

[Pemburu]

A two peice... and designers??? :ideacyclops:

 

[koiguy1969]

hello from a fellow michigander... where abouts you from?

 

[sissy]

hey that frog paid for his cruise ticket and he is going no matter what :razz:

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome from Plymouth UK. Reading your thread I note you use the word feeders m'mmm from what I've heard about these fish on various websites it'd be better not to use them as they are not really in the best of health most times and people tend to loose them, Feeders are not a thing we have here in the UK we simply dont use them. Could you tell us a little about what happened to your two koi please ? rgrds Dave

 

[gardengimp]

Ha Dave, most of my goldfish in the pond are 'feeders'. And generally speaking, the feeders I purchased are generally healthier than the sarasa's I've purchased. This is a general statement, but all those fry culls have to go someplace. Better to sell them as feeder fish than rose fertilizer is what I think the fish farms are thinking. I'm going to venture a guess that the first few weeks of a fry's life is not terribly different whether it is destined for the .13 cent feeder tank or the $5 sarasa tank. Go take a read through the thread I had about QT'ing baby fish. Oh, and in the states, goldfish feeders are generally comets. Though I've read stories of folks finding other goldfish and sometimes even koi or koi crosses in retail feeder tanks. Comets are good hardy garden pond fish.

Now, if you are talking about a $50 + speciality goldfish, then yes I would agree that those fry are going to have a much better baby fishtime than any fish coming from your local big pet store.

In short, it is bad form to unequivocally state 'do not use them'. Rather, educate people on how to pick them, quarantine them and raise them. I'm just a beginner, so I can't pretend to have all the answers, but I've been pretty successful at not loosing them and have not seen what you call 'not really the best of health'.

 

[Dave 54]

.

In short, it is bad form to unequivocally state 'do not use them'. Rather, educate people on how to pick them, quarantine them and raise them. I'm just a beginner, so I can't pretend to have all the answers, but I've been pretty successful at not loosing them and have not seen what you call 'not really the best of health'.

.


Congratulations on your success with them and I stand corrected, but many people dont want to know they just pop along and buy more,I see it all the time in the UK, many dont understand that with the right treatment a goldfish can live to around 40 years or more.
Many fish shops take advantage of this sadly

rgrds

Dave

 

[j.w]

My 12 feeder fish I bought at Petsmart 10yrs ago are mostly doing fine. A few did die prolly from being weak and some got eaten by the heron several yrs ago but I have some nice big ones still left in the pond along w/ a bunch of other off spring and various other goldfish I got off free cycle. Bought a few Shubunkins on sale from Petsmart also and they are doing fine so far too. So for the most part the feeders did pretty well. When I buy new fish now I quarantine them in my bathtub pond outside just to be safe and fatten them up a bit before adding to the bigger pond.