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they are not common goldfish or comets, i have comets in the pond, if that is what they were one of them would grow somewhere in hemisphere of the same rate as the true comets, same scenario if it were a common goldfish.

also once again theyre not stunted or crowded, by way of the minnow trap, there are realistically 40-50 left in the pond maximum. i dont know how to express this to you anymore, seriously explain how in this long of a time period every other fish, including comets which you claim these fish to be grow and flourish yet not a single one of these guys have, period. this fish just seems like a gold colored minnow, either way this thread has become hair pulling to read and even worse is how i can practically write your next post for you, miss quoting the lengths a gave and all...

i got baby fry that i bought and put in a tank around 2.5 liters until they are a little bigger ill buy more and put all in a 30 gallon tank that i found and cleaned and drying this very second

by the way i only got 5 baby fry rite now... in the future breeding tank

little mouseling, dont choose that name for any of those pond goldfish that you show therewe are haveing gold fish tonite]]

"i must have 200 living in my 2,500 gallon backyard pond for 3 years "

"That's precisely why they're small. Overcrowding stunts goldfish in the same way it stunts other fish; they're just hardy enough to live through the stunting.

These are BIG fish, given room to grow."


i disagree, 200 was an estimation, the population is probably smaller though calling 2-4" fish in 2500 gallon pond with geat water stunted (while other fish grow and thrive) is in accuratte imo. these feeder fish started out from a group of 6 or so i dropped into the pond years ago, theyve since reproduced a lot but I certainly do not believe are stunted, they'd certainly break the 4" mark after all the years, at least one would have.

i have 3 other variety of fish in that pond: 6 koi which ive seen put on 6" a summer, 3 shubunkins which are growing very well but not on the level of the koi and 3 comets which grow roughly the same as the shubunkins, the smallest non feeder fish in the pond is roughly 8"s or so and still growing very well yet the maximum size feeder ive seen or caught (i removed quite a few by way of minnow trap) would fall in the 3-4" range. The water qaulity is and has been terrific for years. So based on what ive observed these fish will not get huge like commons, comets, shubunkins, koi etc...
also like ive stated in regards to reproducing, these fish are 100% sexually mature by 3" if not sooner which would strike me as odd for a giant.

however if you post a picture of the huge feeder fish you personally have (you have kept them for an extended time right) or of one of the many that you have seen(and is not a comet or other variety) that would certainly sway me to question what ive seen with my eyes for years.

Feeders are comets. And reaching sexual maturity at 3inches makes sense for fish. The eggs and fry are preyed upon often in the wild and so it is necessary for the fish to produce often and early.

Your feeders are goldfish and probably the most similar to the wild goldfish. Unlike the fancy varities they are not bred to be any physically different from their wild counterparts. Therefo they should actually exceed your fancies.

If your pond is 2500 gallons then:

Six Koi (300 gallons each) = 1800 gallons

Three fancy goldies (About 90 gallons each) = 270 gallons



Just those fish almost stock your pond. If you have some feeders hitting 8", but not a lot you may be going past your limit.

Like LittleMousling said, a crowded pond (no matter how good the water) will stunt the fish.

Last edited by katieb at 16-Nov-2005 20:57

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Allt he fishdiscussed are exactly the same species, just different morphs, of course they all have the potential to grow to the same size as the standard Carassius auratus

Not really. Its the same way that a chihuahua cannot grow to the same size as a great dane. Its still Canis familiaris, but years of consistant line breeding has resulted in two very different dogs.


And stunting can be shown in a few ways, usually a bit of disfigurement in the spine is a dead giveaway. tricky to tell sometimes, but in some fish its immediately obvious, even if the fish itself is in a large body of water at the time.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

no, my feeders are not comets or common goldfish.

"If you have some feeders hitting 8", but not a lot you may be going past your limit."

as ive stated multiple times, ive never seen a feeder over 4" and 90% of them dont even approach 4" and that is after years and at the same time real comets have grown to the 8" mark.

as for 3" goldfish being sexually mature, i dont know but i do know that koi have to be 4 times that size before they are.



Last edited by Ghost22 at 17-Nov-2005 10:22

"no, my feeders are not comets or common goldfish."

Then what are they? Feeders are the common goldfish and some are comets. They get very big and if you have ones that are over a year or two old and not past 4 inches something is wrong. Theres no other way to say it. My friend had common feeders that hit 4 inches and never got any bigger. The bowl was two gallons and covered in algae. That is how tough these fish are.

"as for 3" goldfish being sexually mature, i dont know but i do know that koi have to be 4 times that size before they are."

Koi are Cyprinus carpio carpio and goldies are Carassius auratus auratus. Also, size doesnt always accurately show age(like when fish are stunted).

"All goldfish varieties start out as metallic, bronze-coloured fish. Depending on the variety, they colour up between 100-500 days old. Properly cared for, they become sexually mature at 14-18 months of age, but continue growing and developing finnage etc for several years."
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Cauratus.html#7

Last edited by katieb at 17-Nov-2005 10:59

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

"Cold fresh water fish" is way to general a term. It could apply to a 4ft koi or a 4 inch bitterling.

For that reason the apparent ".5in of fish per gallon" rule is useless.

A fancy goldy needs at least 55 gallons. They are huge. End of story.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

no, my feeders are not comets or common goldfish.

Sorry Ghost, just to clarify, at no point that I can see have you stated that they are in fact goldfish. Are they actually goldfish? Do you have a photograph?


Also, "feeder goldfish" in my region are bronze fantails.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

feeder goldfish here are young common goldfish:

from :http://www.msstate.edu/dept/srac/baitgold.jpg

Heres an adult:
]
from: http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/common/yellow2.jpg[/font][/font]

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This is making me curious... Ghost22, you said that your fish are more like minnows than goldfish? Do you think you have the rosy red? These are commonly sold as feeder fish in at least the U.S., and only grow to a maximum size of three or four inches. They are a minnow or are at least labeled as such, so it's possible that you have this fish. [link=Here]http://www.goldfishutopia.net/images/rosyred.jpg" style="COLOR: #808080[/link] is a picture of them.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Yea i thought it would be cool to have profiles for some of the fancy types rather than one for just the regular goldfish.

yes, thats what I was thinking books.



Last edited by Callatya at 18-Nov-2005 07:57

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

that's the guy sirbrooks, gold colored and sold as feeders near me but definetly not a common or comet.

Rosy reds arent goldfish at all and hit about 3 or 4 inches.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

After having many debates about minimum tank sizes for goldfish with people who obviously are a few cans short of a 6-pack, I was wondering if it would be possible to accumulated a single thread on the sizes, requirements, and pictures of large goldfish.
Anyway I think it would be great to have an amalgam of goldfish information here, that could possibly be stickied, and left for future goldfish enthusiasts to browse without having to search through hundreds of sites/posts for the appropriate info!

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For a cold fresh water fish I'd put .5 inches of fish per gallon.

Did you even check the pics at the beginning of the thread?
Ten to twenty gallons is not enough to house pond fish!



I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.