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I keep reading that fancy goldfish can't winter in a pond? I live in North Florida, so it never gets too cold down here, but just in case I haven't made any steps towards digging up my backyard.

I turned my 75G tank into a goldfish tank. Which my ex husband (whom I still live with) was very excited about. I'm not sure why he likes goldfish so much, I told him I was going to move out once and he begged me to leave the goldfish. Long story short, a couple of trips to the pet store for him and I'm overstocked. Not at their current sizes, but I will be soon. I hate taking anything back, especially a live animal.

There are 8 small Ryukins about 2.5 inches not including the tails (some a little bigger, some a little smaller), two fan tails around 3 - 3.5 inches not including the tails and an oranda that about 4 inches not including his tail.

The ryukins have doubled their size in a month. The fan tails and oranda aren't growing quite as fast, but I know they're bigger than they started out. I know I have to do something soon. I'd almost rather find a home for the oranda and the fan tails and just keep the ryukins. Even so, they'll also soon outgrow the tank anyway.

I thought maybe I could keep them with no problem until the spring at least and then put them in an outdoor pond. My only other option will be keeping them in a kiddie pool in the garage with a space heater and a pond filter. Which, I'm sure may be somewhat functional, but not what I had in mind.

Is there any problem with keeping fancy goldfish in a pond? Should I just put them in a large tub in my living room? Should I make them a pond in the enclosed garage? Maybe just get some more tanks and keep them all in the garage? I'd really love a pond, but I don't want to risk losing my goldfish over a really cold night.

Fancies are a little more delicate than the common, but you're right about location playing an issue.

I can't remember the last time I heard a report with snow/ice forcasted for FL, but I'm sure you guys get them once in a third blue moon. However even if you did get cold temps the thing to consider is how long the cold snap lasts.

Depending on how large you make the pond, the water may not have time to cool down properly. If you follow the guidelines for feeding the fish as temps cool you may not have a problem at all.

If you can, I would say go for it dig up that back yard! Even if they can't winter over (and you do go with a stocktank in the garage or living room) the pond itself will look great year round.

^_^

I could always set up a temporary pond out back when it's warm. I was thinking about just sitting the big 300g tub on my back porch. It will keep it shaded in the summer so it won't get so hot, it's also flat concrete, so I'm not worried about messing anything up.

I was taking some pictures of my 14g SW biocube and the goldfish got jealous. So I had to feed them, and then I took some pictures. They have enough room to swim all over the place. After they eat they just hang out around the filter intake on the left side. Basically just swimming in a little circle there. I'm not sure why, they're weird. Here they are. I have a ryukin colored like a red capped oranda. Which I think is adorable.

I think the biggest issue with keeping fish, especially goldfish in smaller tanks, and even larger ones, is that at times we forget to do water changes on a weekly basis. The issue isn't always nitrates either. From what I know fish release a hormone as they grow that somehow triggers growth in the fish in the same waters. If there's too many fish in the water (be it a lake or tank) all emitting this hormone without enough water changes to remove it, the fish remain small and stunted, even if the tank is large enough.

All goldfish will grow at a remarkable speed if they have waterchanges and plenty of room to grow. For the 75 I really would only suggest 2, max 3 with weekly WC's and plenty of filtration.

Always hard to give up goldies Get a pond .

^_^

The goldfish (Carassius auratus) is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish.
A relatively small member of the carp family (which also includes the Prussian carp and the crucian carp), the goldfish is native to east Asia. It was first selectively bred in China more than a thousand years ago, and several distinct breeds have since been developed. Goldfish breeds vary greatly in size, body shape, fin configuration and colouration (various combinations of white, yellow, orange, red, brown, and black are known).