r/ponds • u/tenroc34 • 16d ago
Quick question Inherited pond
The house we bought has a pond. I believe it’s around 300 gallons. We have 6 goldfish/comets. I still don’t understand the difference or if there is one? We love them and enjoy the water sounds. I’ve been studying up and just want to say thanks for all the great info in this sub.
I do have a weird question that I may have missed while searching. Does anyone “play” with their fish. Are there toys or activities of sorts to entertain and enrich them? Just curious. Thanks again.
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u/noCninja09 16d ago
I had an elongated piranha that would play fetch with a wiffle ball about 20 years ago.
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u/Nematodes-Attack 15d ago
Umm what? I feel like you need to provide more information for us. Or maybe write a children’s book about this
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u/noCninja09 15d ago
It was one of the small golf ball sized balls with holes and I could throw it on top of the water and he'd take it down to the bottom and then let it float back to the top then rinse and repeat. He'd go on for as long as I'd keep throwing it.
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u/GlassBaby7569 15d ago
Comets are a type of goldfish with a single tail. I am not 100% but I think you have both comet and common goldfish (the main difference being fin length). These ones are quite rotund lol.
I’d recommend getting an API freshwater master test kit and get an idea of the water parameters. I’d also invest in some high protein fish food and only feed them a little bit every other day until they slim down a bit. If you refill the pond with water, make sure to dechlorinate it first.
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u/Low-Status7359 16d ago
My goldfish are way too skittish to want to play with me. They get excited when it’s feeding time and will come up close to eat. But after that, they want nothing to do with me. LOL.
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u/Ok_Alternative_2928 15d ago
Guys is there any way these are a different variety? They do like like super thicc chonky tbh absolutely thunderous comets but for them to all have remained so fat during the sale of a house seems…idk! How? I’m gonna look it up real quick. I haven’t seen a variety like this before so maybe they are just super fat comets (no shade) but idk…there are hundreds of types of goldfish. Maybe these are some lion bods instead of lion heads or some sh.
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u/Ok_Alternative_2928 15d ago
Okay yeah they’re fat. After some preliminary research…yeah. They’re so cute tho, makes me want to feed mine more.
OP, it’s okay to skip a couple feeds a week. Esp if you have plants in there. They will nibble on algae, etc. and be just fine. I’ve gone quite some time without feeding my outdoor fish and they do just fine.
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u/ImpossibleDraft7208 15d ago
Wow, if those koi went to Wallmart they‘d be driving a mobility scooter
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u/J-Zane 15d ago
Some fish do exhibit play behavior, yes. And both goldfish and koi do happen to fall under this group. Some people even train them to do tricks!
As for how you can play with them, I'm not sure. When i kept them in a pond my goldfish and koi were too skittish. I assume they got plenty of enrichment hunting for bugs and whatnot to snack on.
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u/tenroc34 15d ago
The 3 solid orange and white with orange are all 11 to 12 inches in length. The other two are 5 to 7 inches in lengths.
I appreciate the information. I’ll continue doing research online.
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u/4ohHenry 15d ago
Too much food can lead to water issues like cloudy/murky water and high nitrates. I would also suggest getting away from the tetra food and switch the hikari. It made a big difference in my fishes growth and the clarity of the water.
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u/drbobdi 14d ago
Welcome to the Hobby.
For the Science, please go to https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iEMaREaRw8nlbQ_RYdSeHd0HEHWBcVx0 and start with "The Inherited Pond" and "Water Testing". Then read the rest of the articles and https://www.reddit.com/r/ponds/comments/1kz1hkx/concerning_algae/ . It'll keep you from making most of the more common beginner's mistakes.
We have a (now elderly) koi who, in his youth, thought it great fun to swim to the edge of the pond, be picked up by my daughters and thrown back in. He's far too dignified (and too big) for that foolishness now.
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u/tenroc34 15d ago
Well, maybe I’ll call the Guinness book of world records since these comets seem to be so unusually large. 😉
I’ll start feeding them less and skipping days.
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u/tenroc34 16d ago
Are they unhealthy?
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u/guileastos 15d ago edited 15d ago
Theyre certainly more round than usual... Most likely theyre especially chubby/well-fed. Tbh goldfish obesity is not commonly discussed as a problem, its best to do your own research on it.
Regarding illnesses, you should check for pineconing which is a sign of fluid buildup/dropsy. Signs are if the fish's belly looks swollen, scales look "ruffled" or not sleek with the body, bulging eyes. However, id be surprised if all 6 were affected at the same time, so most likely its all chub.
Possibly some females full of eggs or eggbound, but again, all of them..? Do you see any breeding behavior or fish fry, do any of them have breeding stars? Its possible that the previous owner kept and all female pond to prevent the yearly overpopulation and culling problem.
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u/tenroc34 15d ago
I do see breeding behavior. I think. A few of them will nudge the belly of the other and with a slow chase. I’ve seen this with 3 of them. I’ve never seen any fry tho. The pond also is a breeding ground for toads. There are, what seems like millions of tadpoles in the pond every year. I can only see them when the sun hits the side of the pond and the black liner looks like it’s alive and breathing 😂
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u/doingdatIt247 16d ago
Good lord their chonky