I currently have three small common/comet goldfish, about 2-3 inches long. The plan is to put them into a pond this year (about 1000 gallons.) My husband is concerned, though, if they would be too small for a pond. I would plan on giving them plenty of hiding places and plants.

They have been growing very fast - I got two of them in December, and they seem to have doubled in size since then - and gotten much fatter as well. How fast will they grow in a pond, and will they be big enough to over-winter in 10 months or so?

And while I'm asking - how many goldfish should I plan on putting in there? I want to find them and quarantine them in plenty of time. (One such lovely just HAD to come home with me today. Did that ever happen to anyone? )

Thanks much!

no..no...I never impulse buy fish.... weeeellll...maybe occasionally..but mostly it's online anymore!!

The rule of thumb probably applies here, 20 gallons per straight finned goldie....but goldies in a pond have this habit of making sure you are not understocked in a very short period of time! So I'd not be getting a lot of them to put in..they will more than take care of that for you!

As far as size they will be fine... might be hard to find them lol, but if you've tamed them some inside in a tank they probably won't have a lot of problems being tame in the pond in a short time as well.

When I first put goldfish in my pond I Bought 100 goldfish (around 2 inches) out of the feeder tank. The pet store person scooped a bunch out and bagged them. I took them and dumped them in my pond. I didn't quarantine them or anything. I just dumped them in. Which is not recommended but my pond is big so it didn't matter. After I through them in I didn't see them for several years because the pond is so big and deep. Now it's around 10 years later and they look like their 16+ inches long. I should catch 1 and measure it.

100 goldfish! But I would love to have such a huge pond. Let's see, going by 20 gallons per fish - I could end up with 50! I was thinking maybe, about 10 fish? And then apparently they would multiply...

My first two fish eat from my fingertip, and are quite tame. I probably shouldn't get them too tame, or they would come to every stray cat in the neighborhood. That's why I talk to them before I feed them... They DO come when I call them. But do they really know the difference? Maybe it would be for the best that they hid for a year or so.

(P.S. Husband thinks I'm nuts, and this is about the only place I could admit to such things. )

lol ponding does make you nuts..or nuttier all depending...it's also very addicting as the goldfish themselves.

I have an article on my small pond blog called "Choosing Fish." It clarifies the relationship between length and weight, and it also explains why formulas about inches and gallons and square feet are fairly useless.

Good luck stocking your pond!

Philly Bill
Small Pond Blogger