On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 22:10:48 -0800, "Bill Oertell"
wrote:

Thanks everyone for your answers.

The wife wants to put the fish back into the pond, after several hours of
acclimation, of course. My vote is for an aquarium and getting the little fella
a companion from the petshop and then putting them all into the pond in the
spring. I know fantails aren't the best type of goldfish for an outdoor pond,
as they don't swim that fast. But it adds some diversity to a pond full of
comets.
The other thing I'm thinking about is that I really can't keep up on the
string algae all through the winter. It just grows too fast. So if I put the
fantail back in the pond, it just might get tangled up again.
No, I think it's going to spend the winter in an aquarium. I know it's used
to having 1,000 gallons of space to swim around in, but it's just going to have
to get used to a smaller hotel room for the winter.


You could try adding a bale of barley to control the string algae.
Our local pond/aquarium shop sells the bales. Also, you could add
more shade to the pond such as lily pads. No concern about the fish
getting tangles in the algae, though. The goldfish is between a rock
and a hard place--reducing the temperature slow enough, or be
depressed in a hotel room. If you go the pond route, you could put
the fish in a closed Styrofoam cooler for 24 hours or more to help a
gradual decrease in temperature.