When thinking about pond
fish for your freshwater pond, most people first think of a type
of goldfish. But there are other fish that will also work well in
a pond and will actually benefit the pond even more than goldfish.
This article will be discussing miscellaneous fish that can grow well
in a pond environment. It will also discuss how to best take care
of them so that they can adapt to their new environment
Some other pond fish that you might consider putting into your pond
are Mosquito fish, Bitterlings, Shubunkins, and Sarasa Comets. The
Mosquito fish are so called because they eat mosquito eggs, thereby
greatly reducing the population of mosquitoes in your pond and yard.
They come from North and Central America and will tolerate mild winters
if the pond is properly aerated. They are pale silver in color, long
and slender, and like to hide behind lots of plants. They are in the
same family as the Guppy.
The Shubunkin is a type of single-tail goldfish with speckled or
mottled colors of orange, white and black. They are good pond fish
and will grow well in a pond with 180 gallons or more of water. The
Shubunkins will grow in comparison to the size of the pond. They do
like to eat roots of plants, so you will want to protect your plants
by putting large rocks around the plants to protect them.
Another type of pond fish you might consider are the Bitterlings.
These fish are excellent for ponds because they feed upon insect larvae,
like mosquitoes, and also upon parasites that affect Koi fish. The
Bitterlings have silver or gold bodies with blue or pink tails which
will get their color when the fish matures. They need a pond with
at least 30 gallons of water and they love to hide behind rocks. When
the fish incubate, they will do so in a freshwater clam. You will
need several fish so that they can pair off and it is best to feed
the newly born Bitterlings brine shrimp until they can eat other food.
The last type of pond fish that we will talk about here is the Sarasa
Comet. This is a type of goldfish that lives well in ponds. It’s
a very resilient fish and is a bright red with white patches. These
fish are very similar to the Shubunkin in that they will grow in proportion
to their surroundings, and they like to eat the roots of the plants.
With proper aeration, these fish will survive well year-round.
Before you add any pond fish to your new pond, you will want to quarantine
them for two weeks. You do this by following a few simple steps. First,
you want to get a plastic container such as a children’s pool,
or a large plastic storage bin. You will want to fill it with pond
water and floating plants and put it into the pond. The water in the
container will naturally adjust to the temperature of the pond water.
You will need an air or water pump to filter and aerate the water,
and you might put some netting over the top of the container to keep
the fish from jumping out. Change the water frequently to keep it
clean, (maybe twice a week) and then your fish will have adjusted
to the pond water and you can transfer them to the pond after two