Hundreds of baby fish need homes.

14 years ago

Hi everyone! My first post in almost a year. The new pond is finally almost done and everything worked out great including the Hayward pool filter that I was warned not to use. I took a chance using it and the water has been clean and clear. We took the sand out and replaced it with bio beads. But on to my reason for posting...I had no idea that this many fry would survive and thrive in this pond.

Last summer I put in 3 common goldfish from another little pond I had at my lake house and purchased 2 shubunkins, and 10 small Koi. The pond is 3000 gallons and 4 feet deep on one end. This spring I started seeing babies and now I see that there are several different sizes of babies, meaning these are not from the first batch.

I got in the pond to move some plants and all of the sudden I feel fish biting my legs and feet...I look down and there are at least 50 babies on each leg nibbling on my skin. My boyfriend said that they are biting at dry skin.....very strange. If I kicked them off, they would come right back.

After being in the pond a good 20 minutes I saw hundreds of babies. And they need to GO! The Koi are not big enough (guessing) to keep the population down.

They are all different. Some look like my shubunkins and some like the Comets. I have no idea on how you tell the difference. Does anyone know how to tell them apart?

If anyone in Michigan, (I am downriver) would like free fish, please, please come and get them! I also would like to find a home for the (3) 2 year old goldfish. One is solid orange about 6" , one is dark brownish olive colored 5" and one is white with sort of a fantail 7" with a little orange on its back. I noticed that they are still at it! More babies very soon.

I can send photos.

I considered Craigslist but was told some people will come get them for feeder fish and not tell you :( I can't stand the thought of someone sticking a hook through their little bodies.

I hope someone wants them. Thanks! Renee

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Comments (8)

angelajgood
14 years ago
Beautiful pond!
jpinard
14 years ago
Wow! What part of MI are you in? Your pond is absolutely beautiful! If you're not too far away I might be interested - and if you have pics I can usually tell the difference if they're matured enough.
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My pond is not all that big. It is about 4 feet wide and 8 ft long. it is 3.5 ft deep in one section and the other end has different depths for plants. I lost a koi this winter (just opened pond this weekend) and my large koi seems fine but my one shubunkin appears to have dropsy, most likely caused by the dead koi in the water. Luckily the temps have been warmer so I am adding some salt to the pond to hopefully help the shubunkin out. He is at least five yrs old now. I hope he makes it. My koi looks healthy at least. I think I may give the pond shop a ring and ask if I can bring him in. I have no idea how I will do this as he is pretty big. I don't want him to get sick. I feel terrible about giving him up. We saved him from certain death as he and his brother ended up getting ulcers after we purchased them (must have come w/ it) we treated them both and although they were in rough shape they both made it and grew up to be beautiful fish. We lost his brother last year. He was never really "right", probably because he was sick when he was young. He appeared to go to sleep in the shallow section of the pond and he was frozen in the ice. Guess he wasn't very smart. Do the shubunkin breed easily? I would love to see baby fish around the pond! My parents do have a larger pond but they are about 3 hours away and I just would worry about making the trip with the koi. I would LOVE to build a bigger pond however we have a stupid inground pool (grr!). It came with the house. Someday when we fill that in we will build a great big pond. We can't convert the pool to a pond because it is a vinyl lined pool. I feel like such a bad fish mom right now! Hopefully if my poor Shubunkin makes it I will purchase 3 more shubs and give my koi up for adoption. -renee
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Do a search for Dropsy or "pine cone disease". Really hard to diagnose so don't jump too fast. Look really close. You're going to want to say "Yeah, that's it" at first glance. In several fish I've had that expanded like this I always assumed eggs impaction or tumor. In each case it was a fluid sack inside the fish, found by autopsy. No tumor, no eggs, just a large hollow cavity filled with fluid. Looked completely normal otherwise. I'm not saying this is what your fish has, just that it's possible. All of mine lived for a few years with this condition until they got to a point of not being able to swim at all at which point I put them down. They seemed happy until then and counted as favorites. But we have to keep in mind these animals are very inbred and that for every one in a store hundreds of others were culled. I generally do not like to treat a fish unless I have a really good idea I know the problem. Good way to kill a fish is to treat it for something it doesn't have. Salt treatments are fine as a general things. Salt can help fluid issues, but I assume can't fix the cause. My thinking on egg and fecal impaction is death is going to come pretty fast. When they get this bloated, that would be some pretty serious impaction. And if the swelling was from infection due to impaction, well, I don't know how it would have lived this long.
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buyorsell888
14 years ago
Beautiful pond for sure!
renee48111
Original Author
14 years ago
I am in Wyandotte. I also have a home on Secord Lake (Gladwin) that I drive to every weekend. I am willing to bring fish to anyone close to the expressway (75)

I just need to catch those little buggers, man they are quick!

Also, my fish are and have been disease free. I have never had a problem....knock on wood.

Thank you for the kind compliments on my pond! Actually I enjoyed every step of the way building it. From research, digging the hole to hauling 6 ton of rock, you feel such pride from the hard work. It was my second attempt in building a semi-large pond and wow, what a difference age feels like on the body! This one at 53 years old was much, much harder than the one at 39!

It's almost complete now and my morning coffee on the bench surely can't be beat by much more!

You can contact me at themoosecat@yahoo.com if anyone would like some babies.

Thanks again!
Regards, Renee
angelajgood
14 years ago
I really like how you have the round containers and how they are placed. Really nice. I hear you about the morning coffee. I am sitting out by my pond doing the same right now. I stay out here until it gets too hot to bear (which is earlier every day). It is the best way I have ever found to wake up.
Angela
renee48111
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Angela.
Thank you!

The round containers, (if you are refering to the yellow circles in the pond), are hula hoops from the dollar store. I keep hyacinth in them so they don't go in the skimmer. And the other one I stretched the black bird netting on it and grabbed handfuls of creeping jenny from the perennial gardens and tossed it over the netting. I would rather have more water lilies and a couple lotus but it's not in the budget this year. Renee
frugalgardener
14 years ago
Hey Renee,
Your pond is great!
I'm in Midland, MI and I have to divide my water lilies. I really, really hate to throw them away. Let me know if you want some.
I agree with you on the 53yo body. But I love playing with rocks.
But no thanks on the fish. I have enough already!
sam
angelajgood
14 years ago
I would have never guessed hula hoops. That is a great idea. Now I wish I had a pond big enough to hoop some plants.

I had no idea that creeping jenny would grow in a pond, although I'm not surprised as it seems to grow anywhere and everywhere! I bought a tiny pot of it last year hoping it would cover the roots of a potted clematis. It has and then some. I have to pull it out of the flower bed constantly. I guess the netting keeps it from sinking?

Hundreds of baby fish need homes.

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angelajgood

jpinard

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Hundreds of baby fish need homes.

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angelajgood

jpinard

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