2 Fish Q's

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?
-----

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

"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.

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.

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.