What to do with too many fish
 

Seems like the unofficial breeding program in my pond has been
successful this year with something like 6-8 young fish looking like
they'll reach maturity. If this goes on for another year or so I'll have
too many fish in the pond. I don't like the idea of just killing some of
them, though my cats might enjoy it ;-) So what do others do in this
situation?
--
Nik Simpson

What to do with too many fish
 

nik Simpson wrote:

Seems like the unofficial breeding program in my pond has been
successful this year with something like 6-8 young fish looking like
they'll reach maturity. If this goes on for another year or so I'll have
too many fish in the pond. I don't like the idea of just killing some of
them, though my cats might enjoy it ;-) So what do others do in this
situation?


Hi Nik,

Here in San Diego I have Gambusia (mosquito fish) in my pond. The county
gives them away to pond owners as part of their mosquito abatement program.
They eat anything, including the eggs from Koi spawn. Haven't had a birth in
five years.

They do breed like crazy though and need to be in a warm area or they will
die back in the winter.

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

What to do with too many fish
 

Hi Nik,

We have mosquito fish as well. Seldom do fry get through, even with
lots of lilies and plants in the pond. With 20+ koi and goldfish in
our pond, it is a good thing they don't make it! We sometimes have a
few new ones...but seldom.

Our mosquito fish handle the winters easily...even 3/4 inch of ice.
Any winter diminution of numbers is quickly made up. They do, of
course also eat their own fry. We keep them in all of our water; berm
ponds, water fall pools and filter barrels. No skeeters.

Jim

What to do with too many fish
 

On 8/4/2010 7:02 PM, Joe wrote:



nik Simpson wrote:

Seems like the unofficial breeding program in my pond has been
successful this year with something like 6-8 young fish looking like
they'll reach maturity. If this goes on for another year or so I'll have
too many fish in the pond. I don't like the idea of just killing some of
them, though my cats might enjoy it ;-) So what do others do in this
situation?


Hi Nik,

Here in San Diego I have Gambusia (mosquito fish) in my pond. The county
gives them away to pond owners as part of their mosquito abatement program.
They eat anything, including the eggs from Koi spawn. Haven't had a birth in
five years.



I'm in N. Alabama, not aware of any program for mosquito fish and have
never seen mosquito lava in the pond, though I do see them in pools of
standing water, so I'm guessing my fish do a good job there. The pond
itself has lots of nooks and crannies that fry can escape into. The
offspring are Comet goldfish and Shibunkin. the count so far is up to
about ten that are in the 1" and larger range, so it's obviously a good
pond for breeding ;-)

I also get lots of tree frog spawn and tadpoles, so the large fish have
a target rich environment which may account for the fry surviving in
numbers.

--
Nik Simpson

What to do with too many fish
 

On 8/5/2010 12:07 PM, wrote:
A few Orfes should do it, they eat the eggs and young. Ingrid


A few what?

--
Nik Simpson

What to do with too many fish
 

On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 10:19:22 EDT, nik Simpson wrote:

Seems like the unofficial breeding program in my pond has been
successful this year with something like 6-8 young fish looking like
they'll reach maturity. If this goes on for another year or so I'll have
too many fish in the pond. I don't like the idea of just killing some of
them, though my cats might enjoy it ;-) So what do others do in this
situation?

So far in the 1000 gallon lily pond with the 9 adult wakin goldfish and 3
yearlings that I kept from last year's spawning, I have only seen 3 fry
make it. 2 of the fry went into the large mesh basket nursery, and the
other is free swimming. Pretty dismal breeding here, my fish apparently
like caviar way too well, even with me feeding them 2-3 times/day. I do
have 3 small fry in a pot that were transferred as eggs and 2 in a bowl on
the kitchen counter.

What I did with most of my 2 dozen fry from last year was give them away
when people purchased plants from me. I have 2 left... planning to take
them to the next meeting with the hope people will buy what plants I bring
and take the fish... or I'll donate them to the raffle. Even though we're a
koi & pond club, we have a lot of goldfish lovers in our group. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

What to do with too many fish
 

In article , Joe
wrote:

nik Simpson wrote:

Seems like the unofficial breeding program in my pond has been
successful this year with something like 6-8 young fish looking like
they'll reach maturity. If this goes on for another year or so I'll have
too many fish in the pond. I don't like the idea of just killing some of
them, though my cats might enjoy it ;-) So what do others do in this
situation?


Hi Nik,

Here in San Diego I have Gambusia (mosquito fish) in my pond. The county
gives them away to pond owners as part of their mosquito abatement program.
They eat anything, including the eggs from Koi spawn. Haven't had a birth in
five years.

They do breed like crazy though and need to be in a warm area or they will
die back in the winter.

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

Same here. In our area the mosquito fish live and thrive all year 'round
and have never had any breeding (aside from them). Perfect for
population control and no one gets killed.