Goldfish in ponds?

[AliceinSlumberland]

We have a pond in the back garden, I'd say it's a large pond, has a pump in it and a little waterfall thing. I don't know much about ponds, it was there when we moved in with koi karp in it. Sadly now the koi karp have all died and the pond is entry, there's just little bugs in the bottom.

I quite want to get some fish for it but can't afford koi karp haha! Would goldfish survive in the pond? They just seem so small.

[MamaPizza]

Yes, goldfish would be very happy in a pond as long as it has a filter. We have them, decided to not opt for Kois for the same reason as you - too expensive. We have shubunkins, comets and common goldfish. They are all about 4 inch at the moment, we got them small so we can watch them grow, plus they were much cheaper. Will also add golden orfe in the future, but they grow big (2-3ft) so you need a pond big enough for it. How long and wide is your pond?

[EauRouge]

Goldfish stay a lot small than koi too, they're unlikely to top about 10 inches. The ones you see in the shop are babies, you can get larger ones if you want but expect to pay more. They grow really quickly though and if your pond is suitable and you get them in quick they'll put on some decent growth before the winter.

As well as length and width of the pond, do you know how deep it is? It needs to be about a metre deep so that the fish can shelter from the cold weather and from predators.

Are there plants in there? Some floating plants would be good, water lilies are a good choice (another advantage of goldfish over koi, it's easier to grow plants!) or water hawthorn. It'll give them some shade and somewhere to hide.

You will need a filter but since there's already a waterfall it'll be really easy to plumb one in.

[AliceinSlumberland]

It is about 5 foot wide and 11 foot long, I'm not sure how deep it is, I will check later, but I know it has an upside down little hut thing in the bottom where the koi could hide which is covered by water lilies, so that sounds positive.

How would I go about getting/fitting a filter?

[EauRouge]

You can get a pond filter from most garden centres or aquatic stores with a pond section, or try ebay etc.

When you come to choose fish, make sure you get a non-fancy variety like the ones that MamaPizza listed, and not any of the fat fancy ones with long fins because they are too delicate to live outside.

[MamaPizza]

Oooh, lovely pond size! That's definitely a lot and if they previous owners had koi in it, I bet it's 3ft deep, but 2ft would be sufficient. If it is 2 ft, it is just under 3000 litre, that's a great size pond for goldfish!

We have this filter / pump and it is awesome. Lovely water feature and our water is so clear, we can see right to the bottom. Neighbours are jealous, because they can't see their fish in their mucky water and ours is so clear

I second having plans. We got lillies, some oxygenating plants (elodea), some floating plants and some marginal plants. Nice mix and the fish seem to appreciate them.

[AliceinSlumberland]

Wow I'm excited now, seems like we have a little hidden gem! I will pop the the garden centre tomorrow about a filter.