First, how cold can goldfish stand the water? It's getting chilly at night
here near Boston - I don't know when to bring them in. For the winter they
are going into a 55 gallon tank w/one other fish, and it's pretty much a
constant 80 degrees - it'll take time to get 'em used to the warmth, but
they survived over the summer in the shallow pond and that water got very
warm!

Second, how do I know what kind of GF's they are? Best be to take a pic and
post online for all you experts to look at? I'm thinking they came on the
plants I bought or via bird, just didn't know if one species typically comes
about this way more than others.

Are there wild goldfish populations in the Northeast? Ok ok, so that's
three questions, sorry.

LeeAnne

--
------
If you're an insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic do you lay
awake at night wondering if there is a dog?
-----

I had my GF in water that was about 34 degrees. As long as they dont freeze
solid they are ok.

"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...
First, how cold can goldfish stand the water? It's getting chilly at
night
here near Boston - I don't know when to bring them in. For the winter
they
are going into a 55 gallon tank w/one other fish, and it's pretty much a
constant 80 degrees - it'll take time to get 'em used to the warmth, but
they survived over the summer in the shallow pond and that water got very
warm!

Second, how do I know what kind of GF's they are? Best be to take a pic
and
post online for all you experts to look at? I'm thinking they came on the
plants I bought or via bird, just didn't know if one species typically
comes
about this way more than others.

Are there wild goldfish populations in the Northeast? Ok ok, so that's
three questions, sorry.

LeeAnne

--
------
If you're an insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic do you lay
awake at night wondering if there is a dog?
-----

"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...

Cold no problem, make sure there's a hole in the ice for
oxygen exchange.

Second, how do I know what kind of GF's they are? Best be
to take a pic and
post online for all you experts to look at? I'm thinking
they came on the
plants I bought or via bird, just didn't know if one
species typically comes
about this way more than others.

There are a lot of sites that describe goldfish. Here's a
basic one:
http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/Go...dfishGuide.htm
l

Are there wild goldfish populations in the Northeast? Ok
ok, so that's
three questions, sorry.

Dunno. I think goldfish are goldfish. "Wild" simply means
they got loose (or were dumped) and managed to survive.

Gail

bring them in before the temp outside drops below 55oF. that is when their immune
system shuts down and they need functional immune system to deal with move into tank.


"LeeAnne" wrote:

First, how cold can goldfish stand the water? It's getting chilly at night
here near Boston - I don't know when to bring them in. For the winter they
are going into a 55 gallon tank w/one other fish, and it's pretty much a
constant 80 degrees - it'll take time to get 'em used to the warmth, but
they survived over the summer in the shallow pond and that water got very
warm!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Thank you Doc - I'll be bringing them in this weekend then.

And, thank you to the others as well! I'd keep 'em outside but the "pond"
freezes solid in the winter.

LeeAnne
wrote in message
...
bring them in before the temp outside drops below 55oF. that is when
their immune
system shuts down and they need functional immune system to deal with move
into tank.

"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...
Thank you Doc - I'll be bringing them in this weekend then.

And, thank you to the others as well! I'd keep 'em outside but the "pond"
freezes solid in the winter.


Be very careful on theree counts. Even now the pond water will be at a
significantly lower temp than 80 degrees - suspect you are looking at at
least a 15-20 degree difference. Suggest you bring the fish into the house
in a large container of water from the pond and let that sit and warm up to
room temperature of its own accord. When it gets up to room temperature then
add an aquarium heater to heat it further up to the same temperature as the
tank. Then and only then transfer the fish.

You havn't said how many fish you are bringing in but whatever the number
you will be putting a significant extra load into the tank's bio filter and
it will take a few days for the bio filter to enlarge the bacterial colonies
enough to deal with it. In the meantime you may see either an Ammonia or
Nitrite spike so test the water morning and evening for 3 or 4 days. If you
are going to see anything it will appear in that time frame. If you do see a
bad spike then change water.

Lastly, water at 80 degrees has a far lower capacity to absorb and retain
oxygen than water at 60 degrees. Also the surface area of your tank is far
smaller than that of your pond so watch for signs of oxygen deprivation. You
may or may not see this depending on the number of fish. If you think it
might be an issue then add an Airstone to the tank.

In the spring then you will need to reverse the temperature equalisation
process & it may be worth taking the fish outside over 2 -3 weeks (depending
on how many you have) to allow the pond's bio filter to kick in & process
the waste that they will produce.

HTH

I.

Hi dee hi, thanks for all of that :-) The 55 gallon aquarium now houses
one, lonely, Asian red tail cat (not the south American one) it had other
fish in it up until a couple of months ago when they slowly died off. So,
there is a fairly decent biofilter in place already -- the tank is
definitely established and already has an airstone. I think I will clean
some gravel and change the filter cartridge.

I will acclimate the 4 goldfish to being inside, that's a great idea -- I
think I have a couple goldfish bowls -or maybe I'll just go to Pier One and
grab some kind of giant, makeshift goldfish bowl :-) They are probably 2-3"
long now.

I know all about the fish-waste problem and that's one reason I actually
(sorry to say it) hate goldfish, all they do is poop and eat and poop some
more. Mother Nature bestowed them on me when I bought the plants in the
pond, so I will take very good care of them - I'm just not excited by them
and the mess they will create in there (I guess this means more aquarium
maintenance, lol). With, currently, having just 1 fish in a 55 gallon it's
very low maintenance ~sigh~

My work is never done, lol
LeeAnne


"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...
Thank you Doc - I'll be bringing them in this weekend then.

And, thank you to the others as well! I'd keep 'em outside but the
"pond"
freezes solid in the winter.


Be very careful on theree counts. Even now the pond water will be at a
significantly lower temp than 80 degrees - suspect you are looking at at
least a 15-20 degree difference. Suggest you bring the fish into the house
in a large container of water from the pond and let that sit and warm up
to
room temperature of its own accord. When it gets up to room temperature
then
add an aquarium heater to heat it further up to the same temperature as
the
tank. Then and only then transfer the fish.

You havn't said how many fish you are bringing in but whatever the number
you will be putting a significant extra load into the tank's bio filter
and
it will take a few days for the bio filter to enlarge the bacterial
colonies
enough to deal with it. In the meantime you may see either an Ammonia or
Nitrite spike so test the water morning and evening for 3 or 4 days. If
you
are going to see anything it will appear in that time frame. If you do see
a
bad spike then change water.

Lastly, water at 80 degrees has a far lower capacity to absorb and retain
oxygen than water at 60 degrees. Also the surface area of your tank is far
smaller than that of your pond so watch for signs of oxygen deprivation.
You
may or may not see this depending on the number of fish. If you think it
might be an issue then add an Airstone to the tank.

In the spring then you will need to reverse the temperature equalisation
process & it may be worth taking the fish outside over 2 -3 weeks
(depending
on how many you have) to allow the pond's bio filter to kick in & process
the waste that they will produce.

HTH

I.

get a rubbermaid tub instead... one holds 20 or more gallons works better. be
careful of the catfish. it may be responsible for killing off other fish if it
stressed them.
If you feed them very small amounts of high protein, high quality food, their poop
load will decrease significantly. frankly, for over wintering inside I like a 150
gallon rubbermaid in the basement with a ... they do great. Ingrid

"LeeAnne" wrote:
Hi dee hi, thanks for all of that :-) The 55 gallon aquarium now houses
one, lonely, Asian red tail cat (not the south American one) it had other
fish in it up until a couple of months ago when they slowly died off. So,
there is a fairly decent biofilter in place already -- the tank is
definitely established and already has an airstone. I think I will clean
some gravel and change the filter cartridge.

I will acclimate the 4 goldfish to being inside, that's a great idea -- I
think I have a couple goldfish bowls -or maybe I'll just go to Pier One and
grab some kind of giant, makeshift goldfish bowl :-) They are probably 2-3"
long now.

I know all about the fish-waste problem and that's one reason I actually
(sorry to say it) hate goldfish, all they do is poop and eat and poop some
more. Mother Nature bestowed them on me when I bought the plants in the
pond, so I will take very good care of them - I'm just not excited by them
and the mess they will create in there (I guess this means more aquarium
maintenance, lol). With, currently, having just 1 fish in a 55 gallon it's
very low maintenance ~sigh~

My work is never done, lol
LeeAnne


"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...

"LeeAnne" wrote in message
...
Thank you Doc - I'll be bringing them in this weekend then.

And, thank you to the others as well! I'd keep 'em outside but the
"pond"
freezes solid in the winter.


Be very careful on theree counts. Even now the pond water will be at a
significantly lower temp than 80 degrees - suspect you are looking at at
least a 15-20 degree difference. Suggest you bring the fish into the house
in a large container of water from the pond and let that sit and warm up
to
room temperature of its own accord. When it gets up to room temperature
then
add an aquarium heater to heat it further up to the same temperature as
the
tank. Then and only then transfer the fish.

You havn't said how many fish you are bringing in but whatever the number
you will be putting a significant extra load into the tank's bio filter
and
it will take a few days for the bio filter to enlarge the bacterial
colonies
enough to deal with it. In the meantime you may see either an Ammonia or
Nitrite spike so test the water morning and evening for 3 or 4 days. If
you
are going to see anything it will appear in that time frame. If you do see
a
bad spike then change water.

Lastly, water at 80 degrees has a far lower capacity to absorb and retain
oxygen than water at 60 degrees. Also the surface area of your tank is far
smaller than that of your pond so watch for signs of oxygen deprivation.
You
may or may not see this depending on the number of fish. If you think it
might be an issue then add an Airstone to the tank.

In the spring then you will need to reverse the temperature equalisation
process & it may be worth taking the fish outside over 2 -3 weeks
(depending
on how many you have) to allow the pond's bio filter to kick in & process
the waste that they will produce.

HTH

I.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

yeah, my cellar isn't really a good place for that -- tons of spiders and we
even get mice, so I can imagine finding little furry drowning victims :-(
yuck. And, I don't have a place upstairs to keep something like that
either.

They'll be fine in the 55, the cat isn't big enough to eat them - he's about
4-5" and isn't "all mouth" like some species. Can you recommend a high
protein, high quality food?

LeeAnne

wrote in message
...
get a rubbermaid tub instead... one holds 20 or more gallons works better.
be
careful of the catfish. it may be responsible for killing off other fish
if it
stressed them.
If you feed them very small amounts of high protein, high quality food,
their poop
load will decrease significantly. frankly, for over wintering inside I
like a 150
gallon rubbermaid in the basement with a ... they do great. Ingrid

tanks MUST be netted, so no mice. spiders, yeah. a good vacuum works wonders. drop
a couple moth balls in there.
http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/p...care/food.html Ingrid

"LeeAnne" wrote:
yeah, my cellar isn't really a good place for that -- tons of spiders and we
even get mice, so I can imagine finding little furry drowning victims :-(
yuck. And, I don't have a place upstairs to keep something like that
either.
They'll be fine in the 55, the cat isn't big enough to eat them - he's about
4-5" and isn't "all mouth" like some species. Can you recommend a high
protein, high quality food?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.