Adding goldfish to a pond?

My sister has a regular 25 cent common goldfish. She wants to add it to our outside pond (I think the pond is 400 gallons). I tested the water and all is perfect. The pond has a filter, light, lily pads, rocks and hiding space, and a small waterfall. The only thing is that the pond has algae. Of course we can treat the pond for this though.



So is it ok to add the fish? What I was thinking was we put the goldfish in a bag like the pet store, float it in the pond, etc.



We will probably get a few more goldfish to go with this one.



Also, do we feed him his regular goldfish flake food? Or the special pond fish food? We own both.

Adding goldfish to a pond?
you can add him with the bag method. Goldfish are very tolerant of movements so they will be fine. If you choose to add another goldfish go with 3 so you have a total of 4, which is enough for 400 gallon ponds.



Make sure they are all comets though. You dont usually put fancies in an outdoor pond.



They can eat both pond koi food as well as goldfish food. They will find other things to eat as they are in a pond.
Reply:yes, do like you said, float the bag,

[allows the water temp to even out]

the gold fish will eat the algae, it,s in the carp family. either food will do,
Reply:how cold dose it get in the winter time and do you have a heater in the pool, how deep is the pool is another question the deeper the better (keeps the fish warmer in the nighttime) If you want to try different fish in the pool you can put coy fish in they are made for out door pools and such and can handle changes in temp better then your daughters fish can but make sure the watter and PH are OK for the gold fish or coy before you put them in (you can not put gold fish and coy in the same pool)
Reply:yes ur doing everything right u need to float the gold fish for around 30 mins so they get to the right temperature and feed them regular fish food!
Reply:huh?
Reply:No problem adding goldfish to a pond.



You must choose between feeding them or letting them find their own food in the water. Probably best to feed them but you must keep it up.



We had four in a pond. Two died first year, one died about four years later and one is still alive although now in a huge indoor aquarium.



Beware of raccoons, cats, snapping turtles, egrets and herons which may eat your goldfish.
Reply:well once i left my goldfish in a pond that doesnt sound nearly as nice as this one, and it lived for a good 2 years.

so i wouldnt think there should be any problems..

and if you have pond food, why not give it that ? :b
Reply:If you bag the fish in his aquarium water and float it in the pond for awhile, you can add it. I wouldn't use the standard algae killers to the pond though. There's a small fish that eats algae and mosquito larvae that would be good to add a few of too. They are called gambusias (sp?) If the algae you have is the big kind that grows and floats on the top of the pool (bushy), you may have to just drag some of it out. The pond should have about two-thirds coverage with lilies, etc., to stay healthy and clean. The goldfish will probably like to have other goldfish too. Good luck.
Reply:You are doing everything right. Just be careful adding water(tap) if your pond gets low (chlorine). Also, does the waterfall provide adequate aeration? If not, you might consider an aerator. Goldfish are just a type of Koi, which people pay big dollars for. As for food, pond food would probably be better, if its small enough.