How can I responsibly source some goldfish

[PatchWorkAnnie]

I have a small pond and would like some goldfish in it (to eat the mosquito larvae 🦟 and because I like them), but I don't feel like buying them from a pet shop or such. I've thought about looking on gumtree etc but most of them have been kept inside-will they thrive in a cold climate?

Or, are there any other species of fish that would do okay in a UK garden pond?

My MIL is accidentally breeding goldfish in her pond (!) so you might be able to find someone similar. Also sometimes people get rid of their pond so you could rehome the fish they don't want. I guess local freecycle sites or noticeboards at garden centres/word of mouth might get results? I think you can buy a breed of fish called orfe if you don't fancy goldfish but goldfish are just fancy carp, really. They will naturalise if you give them the opportunity and can grow quite big in lakes and rivers.

Thanks bunny I looked at orfe too,they're really pretty aren't they. So a tank goldfish would adapt to a pond would they? Interesting. Id love to have some fish to watch.

I think you can put a tank fish outside if you do it very carefully. I've only ever had indoor fancy goldfish but that's my understanding. The crucial thing is probably temperature, if you shock them they can die in theory but bog standard goldfish are pretty tough. Local aquarium/fish shops can be brilliant for advice so I'd go in and have a chat. Often they're really knowledgeable people who are only to happy to help and share what they know.

I second freecyle, gumtree and facebook. I stocked my pond with 'rescued' goldfish from three different people. I returned the favour when I moved house five years later!

My daughter put the school goldfish in our pond during the summer hols. A decade on and they are huge and healthy. Acclimatised to the temperature by floating in a bag of water was all we did.

Tank goldfish can be put outside if you do it in the summer so it's not such a shock, however you say your pond is small so it depends how small. It also needs to be deep enough that if the pond freezes they can survive in the warmer water at the bottom, an absolute minimum of two feet.

I wouldn't - I'd see if anyone nearby has newts in their pond and get some newt tadpoles.

Goldfish need netting to stop the herons (I know this from when my muppet of an ex left the net off the pond for too long when cleaning it - no more goldfish!)

After ignoring the pond for awhile newts and frogs moved in and we never had mosquitoes in there. I used to love watching the newts at sunset dart up for a feed. I used to put the wrigglers from the rain water tank in and they adored gulping them down!!!

I have some tiny goldfish indoors, they are waiting for their outdoor pond to be completed 😊

I wouldn’t get them just to stop mosquitoes, I have a wildlife pond too and although there was a lot of mosquito larvae the first year they were very quickly eaten by something and have never returned.
The wildlife pond is home to a thriving newt population.

Goldfish and wildlife really don’t mix and you are very unlikely to see much in the way of wildlife if you add goldfish tbh; it will very much be an ‘ornamental’ pond.

How big is it and will it be properly filtered?
Goldfish are carp which are messy fish so they do need strong filtration and if given enough room they will naturally grow absolutely enormous (30cm long minimum)

And I’d look at gumtree, pets4homes etc for fish, lots of people sell goldfish that have bred too much in ponds or need to be sold because they are moving house, filling the pond etc

Yes @TheDiddlyGang is correct, goldfish will eat newt and frog eggs etc so you'll have nothing in there apart from the fish. Once our newts moved in we had newts, frogs, and the most amazingly coloured dragonflies etc. The dragonflies can spend several years on their nymph (water) stage so can't really survive goldfish.

Green tench are purely veggie so compatible with wildlife. On the other hand, they’re not very visible. We had one that grew to over a foot long, but we’d see him only once every few weeks.

I suppose if it’s a large pond you could buy sticklebacks.
They are native to the UK, though of course not at all brightly coloured

goldfish in a small pond will poo too much & poison the water unless you have some fancy filters or change the water etc.

frogs & newts are much better & will eat the mosquito larvae.

a newt showed up in our tiny pond even though I live in a london block surrounded by roads & I don't know of any other ponds in the block. So just leave the pond to nature & hope for a newt

Thanks for all these replies, very informative! I don't know how many litres my pond is, It's about 6ft long and 3 feet wide, 3-4 feet deep in the deeper part? Roughly. I am thinking against goldfish now if It's likely they'll upset the ecosystem. Perhaps I should just see what happens. Sticklebacks is also a good idea!

Sounds like it’s about 1500 litres at a guess, so pls try big enough for goldfish or two, that few in a pond that size will need a filter but not a massive one and shouldn’t unbalance things too much. Try searching cor fish rehoming groups on Facebook, I’m on some and they’re very helpful

I would go for native species Have a look at DC freshwater fish there a company they breed native fish plus ornamental they all so courier /deliver and all fish are bred outside

@PatchWorkAnnie - my pond was smaller than that and I had LOADS of newts etc!!!!

There's also carpco

Just make sure you have lots of plants for them. Newts lay 1 egg on/under a leaf, so underwater plants with smaller leaves are perfect for them. And they like larger leaves for a bit of protection/hiding.

Sticklebacks are fun because of their nesting behaviour. The male builds the nest to attract the female - in fact, more than one female - and then guards the eggs.

I couldn't find anywhere to source them legitimately, which is why we turned to green tench instead. It's surprisingly difficult to find purely vegetarian fish.

Newts lay 1 egg on/under a leaf, so underwater plants with smaller leaves are perfect for them. In my pond, they lay on water forget-me-not, which produces bright blue flowers the whole summer, so rather a nice combination.

I have goldfish and newts in my pond, they seem to co-exist happily? Whereabouts are you, I can give you some if you are nearby and don’t mind travelling? Will PM you my location.

@MereDintofPandiculation

Sticklebacks are fun because of their nesting behaviour. The male builds the nest to attract the female - in fact, more than one female - and then guards the eggs.

I couldn't find anywhere to source them legitimately, which is why we turned to green tench instead. It's surprisingly difficult to find purely vegetarian fish.

Newts lay 1 egg on/under a leaf, so underwater plants with smaller leaves are perfect for them. In my pond, they lay on water forget-me-not, which produces bright blue flowers the whole summer, so rather a nice combination.

Both places I posted about sell them no idea how you found it hard there even for sale on ebay

@Perching - from my research if the pond is big enough and/or there are hiding places for newts, you can have both but the goldfish will eat the newt eggs so it can easily tip over to goldfish killing off the newts.

Awww no forget the fish and encourage some frogs they are ace !

And while youre thinking Pond Safety don't forget some rescue steps in case you have a hedgehog in your garden they can easily drown

We needed to get rid of hundreds because we're changing our pond to a wildlife one. Quick post on Facebook and someone came and rehoused.