Tips to Keeping Goldfish Outdoors

I have reached the number of Goldfish I want to keep in my outdoor feature this week. I have finally amassed (OK slowly collected) 8 teenage goldfish. There are 6 Fantails and 2 Dragonhead goldfishes now swimming happily in the water feature outside my house.  

I took a whole 2 months to add them up as putting too many at once will introduce new bacteria as well as possible diseases to the stock, so I started with 2 on the 27 January 2019 and added 2 more just after the Chinese New Year, another 2 around 23 March and 2 on 29th March. 

The key "No Nos" to keeping goldfish I have painstaking (and painfully watching them die sudden deaths not knowing what exactly caused their sudden demise) experience and can safely say what NOT to do with aquarium goldfish born and bred in fish tanks and now are out in the open elements.

1. Chlorine kills - Buy anti- chlorine water treatment supplements from the fish dealer. Mine cost about $25 (US$ 20) for a 0.5 litre bottle. Put in easily 1 capful per gallon (4 litres) of water. That (so far) works well for me.

2. Put in salt to reduce the acidity in the water. Again this may be a life saver. So far so good.

3. Choose teenage to young adult goldfish ; I try not to buy baby goldfish. The life insurance bathtub curve which is based on infant mortalities being very high is true to both humans as well as fish, or goldfish. You see, babies have not developed immunities to bacteria and viruses, hence alot of them will die at or just after birth, till about (in human terms) 5 years of age.   So buying teenage or slightly older goldfish reduces the possibility of death as they should have some immunity and be stronger than baby goldfish. 

4. Retain at least 25 % of the water when you change water in your aquarium or tank. For me, I keep 2 bucket fulls of water plus some leftover water in the outdoor feature, this retains some bacteria, as well as some alkalinity from the 'old' water and should be mixed with the new water.

5. Algae is good especially for outdoor water features. Algae are living plants, hence photosynthesis occurs and hence they give out Oxygen during the day and oxygenates the water - good for the goldfish. So clean the tank or water feature but some algae should be beneficial for your goldfish.

6. Keep the Pump and filter running 24 / 7. Previously I stopped the pump and water filter every night ; I believe this was harmful to the previous fish as not enough oxygen was being generated and water was not filtered properly. 

7. Never ever use detergents, brushes, buckets for cleaning house, or gloves when cleaning the aquarium or water feature. Detergents and chemicals kill fishes quickly, hence I keep a separate set of pails, 2 buckets, special gloves, brushes, cleaning scrubs, packet salt and water de- chlorinater all specially for the water feature to raise my hobby goldfish.

May they live long and keep me enchanted by their existence, happily playing in their new home.  

Enjoy the video taken today 31st March 2019.