O.K...you all know about my goldfish problem.
I didn't have the original 7 spayed and neutered and now I have a million babies.

Well, these suckers are getting big FAST!
So, like, they are really gold, but have a fungus on top of the gold?
That's just gross! :rolleyes:

Cindy Sue

Cindy quit playing in the kinderpool and get back on your couch!!!!! Bad Girl.

He!!, I came a hair's breath away from falling into the pond last night.

It has some strange power over me...
...drawing me to it so it can KILL ME!!!

Here's some info I found on the net...



Oh...by the way...I got that graphic especially for YOU!

G-Mom

Uhhh...like I'm supposed to pay attention to a blue mouse in his socks, wearing a tie?




hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahaha!

If you don't he'll take his socks off!

Bad Girls hehehehehe

Love the second graphic G-mom. Can't wait to see what you two do with the cartoon.

I have found that many of my fry are born black as well. My guess is that this is nature's way of providing camoflauge to lil guys who otherwise would become a nice snack.

Mine turn orange over time as they grow up.

Sometimes, especially in store tanks, you will see orange feeder goldies with black smudges and spots...these are often ammonia burns from bad water...but that shouldn't be the case in a pond.

Also, fungus is an opportunistic organism that grows on dead and decaying tissue. Fungus does not grow on the healthy tissue of a healthy fish. About the only time you ever really see fungus on a fish is sometimes on a fin that has been damaged, or if there is a traumatic wound, fungus will take up residence on the edges of the tissue where decay is still present.

If you cut back on the amount of plants in your pond (thus removing some of the hiding places for the eggs and fry) your fish numbers will be more easily controlled.

I got a good close look at them yesterday and they look like they're changing colors.

I have another question now...
Are goldfish GOOD for a pond or BAD for a pond?


Cindy Faye

Depends on a number of things:

- *bad* Goldies nibble plants sometimes. Not all types of plants and sometimes, if other foods are available, they leave most plants alone...but if you are using tender plants in the pond, sometimes the temptation is too much.

- *bad* Goldies are HUGE poo producers and can really wreck havoc on the water quality in your pond if you over stock them. They are also extremely messy when they spawn which can effect water quality.

- *good* Goldie poo makes for great fertilizer in reasonable quantities in your pond.

- *good* Goldies add interest to a pond and provide an aspect that most people can bond with on some level.

- *good* The health of the goldies can be a good indicator that your pond is stable.

- *good* Goldies eat all the icky buggies that sometimes take up residence in your pond. They also love the larvae and eggs of the bugs that live around your pond, again reducing pest numbers.


I think it's personal preference. For me, my first love are the fish and the plants come second. The plants started out as a way to simply keep the fish healthy actually...then I decided I loved the plants too.

Well, this time last week I had a pond full of fish and NO plants.

I think that I was supposed to plant some of the plants that njoynit sent me IN the pond, but I planted them all in the boggy, soggy ground AROUND the pond.
(My pond doesn't really have a liner like most little yard ponds...I dug the hole, threw a few vinyl sign banners on top of the mud, then a layer of gravel...so the grass around the pond is always wet.)

Gardencrazy sent me a box full of different plants, because I was moving a big umbrella around the pond all day to provide shade for my fishies. Some of the plants I've put in the pond are already blooming! I mean, they've only been there 2 days!

I am so excited about the plants now I can't hardly stand it!

And, I love my fishies.

Now, I just wish my pond was bigger!

Afgrey, I'm so pleased you are getting a bit of help with your charming pond that was so much work.

I don't know the rationale behind the law, but here in Maine it is illegal to stock yard ponds with goldfish.

Merme

WHAT???

I gotta "google" that one just out of curiosity!

I have probably 50 fish in my pond now and we only started out with 2! From what I saw most of mine were black when new then changed color as they got older. We have 2 that are pure white now and one that is pure white with an orange circle on its back. He is very pretty! None however are black still

About the Maine Law concerning goldfish in yard ponds.

The ban is because of the concern about them potentially getting into lakes and large natural ponds and streams, upsetting the balance of things.

But it is also illegal to put game fish in a back yard pond.

People break the law all the time up here, but I'm thinking they shouldn't on this one. Especially when you consider our vast lakes region, the massive forests and all the creatures and critters that rely on it being right, including people who love to come here to enjoy nature's gifts to us.

There is some controversial water plant that has infested lakes in more southerly states, too. This stuff kills the lakes it invades. People pull their boats out of those lakes and haul them up here for vacation boating and don't bother to wash them off first. So now there are laws about that, too. Meanwhile, our lakes and forest people inspect the hulls of tourists boats to make sure there is nothing caught on the hull or in the motor blades.

Consideration for our impact on earth goes a long way, I think.

Merme

For FL, I believe you are talking about anacharis. However, there are 3 varieties of it and only one is an invasive plant that is outlawed. Only one variety really thrives in warm water, the other two prefer cooler water.

Water lettuce is also illegal here.

Around here, they inspect boats for a certain type of mussel that will take over the lakes and kill off the native mussels.

Isn't water hyacinth a restricted plant in the south? I think it clogs streams.

I'd like to get some water hyacinth, but not for my stream. My mom read in Birds and Blooms magazine that if you put a little water hyacinth in your birdbath it will keep the algae from growing.

I checked the Maine.gov web site and found out that there are actually 11 aquatic plants that are illegal in Maine. Apparently Maine is the only state in the continental US that is still free of these....

Eurasian water milfoil
Variable leaf water milfoil
Parrot Feather
Water Chestnut
Hydrilla
Fanwort
Curly leaf pondweed
European naiad
Brazilian Eladea
Frog bit
Yellow floating heart

The topic of what is natural and non-invasive in one area of the world and hugely damaging in another has always interested me. Like rabbits in Austrailia, for instance.

Merme

merme..,
I would be in jail if I lived in Maine.

I am in violation!

Thank God Kentucky is a few years behind the times...

(...a little slow compared to the rest of the world.)

I think that might be what Gardencrazy sent me...
My pond cleared up so fast it made my head spin.

Where did the *spinning head* graemlin go???

This morning when I was feeding my little fishie babies I could see GOLD color on them!

Woohoo! Yay for healthy baby fishies!