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Wed, Jun 2, 10 at 10:39
| I currently have 5 regular goldfish in my pond, I've had them for 2 years, they are approximately 4". I am ready to add new fish to the pond and need suggestions. My pond is plenty big enough and deep enough to house even a koi, but I'm not sure I want to get a koi because I've read that they destroy the pond plants. Any suggestions? |
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| Koi get very large and when they are big, they are very destructive to plants, especially water lilies and other floaters. They also love to root the plants out of the pot. How many gallons is your pond and how deep is it? Koi need a bare minimum of 250 to 350 gallons each, with a minimum pond size of 1000 gallons. You also need excellent filtration for koi because they are much dirtier than even goldfish. But there are fantastic creatures and very well worth the trouble, if you have the space and patience for them. |
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- Posted by sugarchalet z5OH (My Page) on Wed, Jun 2, 10 at 11:34
| I'm thinking more of a larger than goldfish, but not as big as koi type of fish. Can anyone tell me about shubunkins, or comet, or maybe fantails? |
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| shubunkins and comets are regular goldfish. The kind you have that you are calling regular goldfish are probably comets. Some comets have longer tails, but they are still single tailed. The fancy, round-bodied types, such as Ryukins and Mollies generally don't do really well in outdoor ponds in the winter. Their round bodies make them much more prone to swim bladder problems. They are great at temps above 50° though. How about Wakins? Those a really neat goldfish that get pretty big. They are very hardy and have fan tails. They mostly come in red and white, but are also now being bred in calico and blue. |
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- Posted by pondbucket 5 - 6, KS (My Page) on Wed, Jun 2, 10 at 12:21
| sugarchalet, I have goldfish in my pond (approx. 1500 gal). I have a couple of each, fantails, comets, shubunkins, calicoes. You probably have standard reds if you have "regular goldfish" in your pond. The Comets are the fastest... Hard to catch and therefore best if you have predators visiting your pond. I think Fantails are the prettiest but are slower, but still faster than your average Oranda or other fancy. It's a matter of preference I guess. My mosquito fish from last year didn't survive our long, cold winter... but they really populated the pond and did a wonderful job when they were there. |
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