Blog Archives 11/21/10 - Thinking Outside Can Include Gathering Global Ideas 11/11/10 - Café Olivia Adds Value, Volume to Store Traffic 10/27/10 - Pond Business Expansion - A Leap of Faith 10/4/10 - Attract New, Different Water Garden Customers « All Editorial Blogs

Views from Across the Pond

Goldfish for Ponds, Water Gardens

By Trevor Cole

Ornamental fish often are used in ponds and water gardens to add movement and color, but which are the right choices? The answer depends on the type of pond you are working with. If your water garden is a showcase for aquatic plants, then goldfish are a better choice than koi to coexist peacefully with your aquatic plants.

The Chinese have been breeding goldfish for more than 1,000 years, and they are extremely popular throughout Asian cultures. In fact, on one of our recent trips to China my daughter was mesmerized by a small goldfish pond in one of the public parks where children were allowed to use tiny hooks to ‘fish’ for goldfish. Whatever they caught was bagged up to take home as a pet.

Goldfish come in many sizes, shapes and colors. Some of the most popular are:

Comets or Commons: These goldfish are the typical win-at-the-fair variety. The colors vary from red to white to chocolate to almost black or any combination thereof. The comet is distinguished from the common by its long, single, deeply-forked tail fin.

Shubunkins: These goldfish have a similar body shape to a comet but are usually a tri-color fish of red, white and black. Sometimes the darker pigmentation appear blue.

Sarrassa comets: These single-tailed goldfish sport vivid red and white coloring with a similar body shape to comets and shubunukins.

As a species, most goldfish get along. You can easily add an assortment of goldfish to any pond for variation and color, and goldfish are relatively harmless to plant collections. They also do not grow as large as koi, so goldfish take up less room and do not compete with the plants for space. Goldfish also produce less waste, so there is less demand on the filtration system to keep the water clean.

To enhance the variations of these basic goldfish, consider adding a few fancy Chinese goldfish as well. They differ in two ways: 1. As the name implies, they have some ‘fancy’ anatomical features, such a fantails, bubble eyes or egg-shaped bodies. 2. While common goldfishs' movements are as graceful as a Fred Astaire dance, fancy goldfish are clumsy swimmers. Something about the gawkiness is awkwardly attractive, like watching a new foal learn to walk.

Traditional Chinese fancy goldfish were bred for displaying in an aquarium and are best viewed from the side. These fish can grow very quickly, and a 5- to 6-inch fancy goldfish actually looks very nice in a pond and has charming appeal.
 
The downside to choosing goldfish for a pond is that they breed very easily. Also, fancy goldfish are not as cold hardy as regular goldfish, and because of their poor swimming abilities, they can be more susceptible to predators.

Inexpensive goldfish are colorful and easy to care for. For these reasons, they are often the first choice for new pond owners.

« See All Editorial Blogs »

 Give us your opinion on
Goldfish for Ponds, Water Gardens

Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed.