Lots of times fish will run and hide when they sense movement above water. All it will take is one adventureous fish to come out when you are around and discover FOOD!!!! Before long they should all be eating right in front of you.

My fish (comets) took about 2 years to reach full length - about 10 inches. You will be surprised how much they will have grown by the end of the summer.

Feed them two or three times a day and they will grow faster.

I did see a few orange flashes yesterday, ,but after the pump came on in the evening,they have all disappeared... Hopefully they didn't get sucked in... :(

I have the kind of pump in my little pond that sits on the bottom and it has a little pre-filter cap on it to keep things from getting sucked into it. But the pre-filter cap fell off and one of my little fishies did get sucked in. I'm very careful now to make sure that cap is always in place.

One of the things I do just before I feed them is to stand at the edge and shake the food canister. When they see me and hear the canister they come to the top. It took a while, but they learn to respond pretty well. After a while, instead of tossing the food on top of the water, get it wet and hold it in your hand and they will eat it right out of your hand. Once they get used to doing that, you can reach into the pond and they will swim into your hand looking for food. Cheryl

Cheryl, your fish sounds so cute... I am really hope ful of my fish too... Today when I was adjusting a pot in the pond, I saw four of those little fishies hovering a couple of inches away... But so far, they haven't eaten the food I have given them...

I did exactly what the OP did, I started my pond off with 16 of those Petsmart 27 cent feeder fish.

I've still got 5 left after 2 years and they seem to have topped off at about 6 inches each. I could tell a whole story about each one's loss. I followed the direction of "don't start your pond with expensive fish" (in case they die) but never thought about what happens if they live! I barely had room for 2 Koi with them.

They did breed last spring and I managed to keep some with me (they do get eaten in the pond!) but 3 are living happily on my desk in a 1.5 gallon tank.

I did the same thing last year and bought 10 little feeder goldfish to help "establish" my pond. The fist few months I did not see much of them and thought like you they were dead. finally I started catching glimpses of them and now they are anywhere from 5 to 8 inches long. I also had them eating out of my hand and theought that was so cool until I noticed they were coming right up for the dog also. I thought if they'll do that then what's to stop a predator from getting them, so I stopped. They still practically coume out of the water at me when I walk up and will follow me all around the pond when I am working. We probably have between 50 and 60 come6ts, shubunkins, koi and fancy tail goldfish. We have this many because a friend gave me some of his last spring and they were all pregnant!!. They are a joy to watch.
jerrie

That is encouraging... So far I have been able to see 6 at a time... Considering they are feeder fish, they look very cute... we tried to get the multicolor variety as much as possible... One even seem to have a very promising long tail... I never knew comets could swim this fast! I guess there is a reason they are called comets :D ... But the 2 fantails are the bravest and the cutest... And I love the way they swim, almost waddling... unlike the sleek comets...

I have 23 cent wal-mart gold fish that are 10-11 years old.One is over 12 inches long.They have had babies several years.We lost our old fantail last winter.
The first batch of babies I brought into the house for the winter.Put them in a fish tank by spring they were over 3 inches long.
My pond has a veggie filter which has kept the water clear.Still have algae.I winter the fish in a big stock tank in my greenhouse.The babies are in a tote with a veggie filter made from a plastic coffee container.
We are building a new pond for the babies.
The last picture in the web shots album *pond* shows the veggie filter.There are also pictures of the pond under the *gardens* album.I really enjoy the fish and they do know when I shake the can it is time to eat.
http://hardincountykeepsakes.blogspot.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: webshots

Hi
i had a complete wipeout of my tropical fish due to the freaky winter. I was fearing mosquitoes so got some feeder gold fish (10 for a buck) I was onlygoing to keep them until spring and then replace with tropicals but they went from under an inch to over 5 inches and even spawned !! They disappeared for almost a month though I kept placing food in the same place everyday, Finally they got the idea . I fear I've created more of a problem than I solved the adults are going to be tough to catch and the fry?? lol. Have never been able to keep goldfish due to herons and egrets but so far they've left these alone .
for some reason. I still have 7 for sure and I know I lost one the first day. I was going to feed them to my marine fish when I got replacements but way to big for that already lol.. never dreamed they'd grow that rapidly let alone spawn ?? Oh well yet another lesson in "ponding" lol gary

hi...I live in northern alberta canada.have put 12 goldfish in my outdoor pond. Are doing great. I want to keep them in there throughout the winter. I was told i could put a unit in there to do so. Any tips for success? This is my first ever fishy adventure :)

Hi shell5! Invest in a pond heater for sure if you pond freezes over. How big is your pond? And how big are your fish, just curious. Stay away from Thermopond heaters..had two . both tipped and sank. I use Laguna Powerheat 500 watt De icer for my pond and they work great for keeping a hole open in the ice. Hope this helps you!

crazy4koifish

I live in Edmonton and bought a stock tank heater at Princess auto for $40. I have used it for the past 7 winters and have never had a problem. I have a relatively small pond 8x6x2 and it only ices over when it goes below -25. The power consumption is about the same as running the a/c in the window in the summer.

Heaters are almost always ludicrously expensive to run. Most do not have a thermostat and essentially run continuously. A de-icer does have a thermostat and warms only the water that comes in range. Since you need only a hole in the ice rather than a warm water pond, the de-icer is a much more reasonable investment.

Also, many heaters I've seen have bare heating elements that can cause a burn if you come into contact with them for any length of time. A cage is usually available for extra cost, but some places don't stock or bother to sell them. Since they don't always float the way deicers do they can come into contact with the pond liner which can degrade the rubber.

Even if a de-icer costs a little more, in the long run it is a much better buy. Your electric bill will be noticeably lower.

We bought a new home this winter which had been empty for a year. Our yard has a pond in it that is about 12 feet by 10 feet. It was incredibly neglected but were shocked when we saw baby fish in the pond in May. Being new homeowners and having no idea what to do to maintain the pond, we just drained it in the spring, cleaned it, filled it, and turned on the pump. Well the comets that were there are now 6-8 inches big and have been busy because now there are about 30-40 babies all at various different growth stages. What do we need to do (if anything) so they survive the winter?