Hi, I have taken around 60 small goldfish from my pond with the idea that they might survice the winter better if housed in a tank (the cold or other fish might kill them) - is this the correct thing to do or should I let nature take its course? The pond is about 500 gallons. What size tank would be sufficient to house them in until next March/April? I am a total newbie to breeding and caring for fish and have never had a fish tank before.

Regards

Damian Luby

Hi Damian, and welcome to the board!
Goldfish babies are always exciting, arent they!
How old/big are they now, and what other fish in what size are out there in the pond?
Where do you live?

My biggest concern would probably be that you live someplace where it can get freezing cold during the winter, anything else can be taken care of. If you would live in a warmer climate like me (Florida), you could just put a pond net inbetween the babies and the bigger fish, and they would be okay. I build a baby area for my fish with PVC pipes from HomeDepot and a pond net, and that does the trick, unless the babies are still tiny winy, of course.
If it gets really cold where you live, you are probably better off taking them indoors, though.
A simple, and cheap solution for that amount of fry would probably be, getting 2 of those 50 gl rubbermaid containers for around 12$ each, an double outlet airpump from nnnnnn ($10), airline tubing and 2 sponge filters ($8 each). You can cycle the sponge filters now by putting them in your pond now, they should be cycled within a week or so. Then you can use them in the rubbermaid containers, put one in each container, connect them both to the airpump, turn the thing on, and you are set for the winter. DEvide your 6o babies evenly into both containers, and VOILA --- baby nursery!
Let us know how it works out!

The biggest question is how big are the fish? Also, where do you live? And how many fish are in the pond and what are their size?

Hi and thanks to you both for replying so quickly. I live in Ireland, so I'm not too close to a nnnnnn . While we don't get severe weather, the top of the pond will freeze during winter. There are around 20 fish, ranging from 2" goldfish to two 8" ghost Koi, the fry are less than 1" in size.

I hope to purchase a second hand 4' * 1' * 1' glass tank with filter and air pump for around 140 euro, is this adequate to keep all 60 until the spring?

I have a 500 gallon pond and leave my fish in it all winter. They have had babies and some survive and some don't. The ones that did not I assume were eaten. I live in Missouri, USA where I do put a heater in the pond but seldom turn it on. It is 2 foot deep so it has never froze solid. I also leave my pump running so the top never freezes over all the way. I really can't tell you much on what to do with the fry if you bring them in, but someone on here can. You need to keep in mind that if they would all survive (which is not likely) that you would have too many to keep in your pond so you would need to find them another home before they get too big. I just recently got a tank and brought my two black moors in, they are really fun to watch. Good luck.