How long will my plants and goldfish survive out of pond?

17 years ago

So I got in over my head with spring cleaning my pond this weekend. It has been a mess since last summer when the pump died and I just now got around to ordering a new pump (Tetra OFX2000 debris handling pump), and pressure filter with backwash (Tetra PRF-4000).

Anyway, so I'm draining the pond and pulling out what must be close to 100 pounds worth of dead leaves, and my 5 lilly plants (each in a flat wide pot @ 75 lbs easy). One large mess basically.

Anyway, I managed to net about 30 goldfish and about 15 bullfrog tadpoles (there must have been over 100 tadpoles total). So I now have these 45 guys swimming around in a 55 gallon tank with a canister filter (not cycled). It has been raining straight for the last 2 days, so everything is on hold until the ground dries back up and I can continue working. I'm doing 75% water changes in the tank each day day and feeding goldfish food. Hopefully that will allow me to keep then in the tank until next weekend, or?

As for the plants (lillies, water iris and strawberry and cream grasses), I think they will be fine in the shade if kept wet (no a problem right now of course).

Should I be doing anything else while I patch a hole in the liner and get my new pump and filter installed. It will likely be another 10 days before all this stuff goes back into the pond.

Here's a pic of how far I had gotten before it began raining:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/pondliner1.jpg

And a pick of the poor goldfish and tadpoles:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/goldfish1.jpg

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Comments (5)

horton
17 years ago
Your fish should be okay in the 55 gallon tank for a week or so.
I would cut back on the water changes a bit, every two or three days with a 25% change would be enough I would think.
Having an air pump and air stone to add oxygen to the water would be an asset.

You may also require to use a chlorine stabiliser after doing a water change and a dose of Stresscoat in the water during the transition period helps keep the fish calm.
Neither will harm the tadpoles.

The plants will be fine if kept moist and out of the sun.
"Horton"
pclausen
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks Horton. I have well water, so chlorine isn't an issue fortunately, but I'll cut back on the water changes. I'll also see if I can dig up an air pump and stone.

I'm not sure what to do with the lilly plants. I flipped a couple of them out of their bucket (24" diameter x 12" tall). And the main bulbs are completely rotten, yet there are many "side shoots" and each pot probably already have about 50 or so pads fully or semi fully formed. I guess I'll cut out some cubes from where the pads formed and hope I can salvage some of this mess...

I guess that's what I get for letting the pond go for a couple of years.
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This is just an example so you won't worry so much. I do not advocate this as a way to raise precious fish. I set up a 500 gallon stocktank last March. I had no electricity available so there is no moving water or filtration. I added a few goldie babies I had wintered over in an aquarium in the house and some extra water lilies that were destined to the compost heap. I have thrown out several inches of ice several times so far this winter. I go to work at 6:30 each morning so I don't open a hole most days. It is still 3 months til spring here so I don't know if they will make it the whole winter. I would never do this with my precious goldfish that are 6 years old now but the few fish in there all summer multiplied and are alive today. I did water changes weekly all summer and replace water when I remove the ice this winter. There are some elm leaves still in there from the fall.
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The PH of my pond is currently 8.5 (as of last week). The pattern last year was that it went up slowly to about 9.2-9.5. So by the time I add this fish, the PH will probably be higher than 8.5. Although I still have floating algae and sludge in my pond, I'm not going to do a total cleanout. I'm just going to do 10% weekly water changes and scoop out some of the sludge and algae with a net. It feels wierd that I'll be putting the fish which is in clear water, perfect conditions, into a pond with a higher PH and all kinds of algae and stuff in it, but I guess thats how it must be when you keep fish indoors and then move them back into the pond. I almost feel bad moving the fish from its sterile environment back into the natural 'dirty' pond, but she will have so much more room to swim and will finally won't be alone anymore. I guess what seems dirty to me, for her is bugs, algae, food, and whatever.
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I agree, wait a bit. In my little pond I prefer to see a few thriving pretty fish than a mass of babies I can only hope to find homes for.... I started with tons of plants and then had to add a second small 275ga pond, a 150ga stock tank and a 60ga veggie filter cause I couldn't see the fish for all the plants! I now have 2 dwarf lilies, 3 anacharis, and ~ 6 or 7 potted marginals in my 300ga pond. My how they grow! But each spring I am tempted to get more...'til they fill in. 'Course plants are easier to find homes for. Have fun! PS: Provided your aquariums are healthy I don't see that adding rocks or fake plants can hurt, but the beneficial bacteria in an aquarium may not survive in the 'real' world. Temp flucuations, sun, shade, etc. So I don't know if it'll help either. But I've never done it and I've been known to be wrong :0)
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Poor water quality and sick fish can stay on the bottom. Like if when moved they went from high pH to low pH. But assuming they're healthy my opinion has been they'll stay on the bottom because they don't know you're feeding them. As far as they know if there's going to be any food they're going to find it on the bottom. They will stay there until they learn otherwise. That is their nature. What I've done in the past is use flake food. It floats, so you kind of stir it a bit so it slowly sinks. As it sinks into that lower world the fish see it, taste it and you now have new best friends for life. You can use other slow sinking foods, but flake is handy. It can take a few sessions. But pretty soon they'll follow the trail of food to the surface. There's a saying amongst goldfish, translated it goes something like "first in line gets the most food". It's really the only saying they have. From then on you just let the food float. Often this can take just one secession. However if the fish don't take the sinking food when they should be able to see it you have sick fish. You don't want to let a lot of uneaten food pile up on the bottom. You can call them, certainly works. However they will work out very quickly clues the food is coming. It's pretty much all they have to do all day, figure you out. A door shutting or just a large figure by the pond is enough. As you walk around the pond you'll have a school following you on the off chance you might pity these pour starving fish...who were fed 1 minute ago.
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horton
17 years ago
Yes [lol]it sounds like it was time for a clean-out and a plant revamp.
You will have more lilies than you probably will have room for once you split them up.
Good luck with the spring cleaning.
"Horton"
sheepco
17 years ago
Hi pclausen!

No offense, but what were you going to do if we said "AHHHH! It's too late!!!"

You'ld do exactly what you're doing, fix the problems as quickly as you can with minimal stress to the fish and plants. You can't control the weather, so ease up on yourself.

Ponding in my book is pretty forgiving (at least in my garden). If those fish have lived in a mess for a year they'll probably be okay in the tank as long as they have air, food, and ocassional water changes.

The plants will survive, keep them wet. You can put several pots in a garbage bag and fill it with several inches of water. If you're worried, buy a kiddie pool, or better yet borrow one from a friend (it's too early for the kiddie's anyway) and chuck all the plants in there.
pclausen
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks guys. Well, it looks like that "Nor'easter" has finally passed. My power has been out since about 6 this morning (running on generator right now), but all the wind has helped dry things out outside. So hopefully I'll be able to continue what I started Friday once I get home from work this afternoon.

I'll look into the kiddie pool for the plants since it will take me a while to salvage things, especially those monster lilly pots.

I'm hoping that my new pump and pressure filter with backwash will make maintenance going forward a lot easier. I think this is also the year that I'm going to construct a mesh cover for my pond to deal with all the fall leaves (my house borders on a forrest).

How long will my plants and goldfish survive out of pond?

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How long will my plants and goldfish survive out of pond?

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