Cheesejawa Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I am thinking of setting up a pond in an old bath tub. Is there anything impostant I need to know? My main questions are? How many gold fish would you fit in a standard bath? Do you need to keep the bath out of the sun? Do you need to have any water circulation or airation? Do you need to feed much or do they mostly live off insects? Can you buy plants from garden centers or should I go trade me? Which goldfish varietes can live outside? specificaly shubunkins. Can gold fish live with WCMM or tadpoles? Do you need a substrate? Help apprieciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookieskennels Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 i was thinking of the same, i know we will have to put a mesh over the tub.....to keep strays and other animals out, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 How many gold fish would you fit in a standard bath? Depends on whether you aerate and filter it. I wouldn't put more than 4. You can have more when they are small but they grow fast and poo lots. Do you need to keep the bath out of the sun? Preferably have it shaded part of the day or it will go green very quickly and you won't be able to see the fish. Do you need to have any water circulation or airation? No Do you need to feed much or do they mostly live off insects? No you don't nbeed to feed much. Yes they will eat insects falling in. Can you buy plants from garden centers or should I go trade me? Do both or gather oxygen weed from your nearest river Which goldfish varietes can live outside? specificaly shubunkins. As far as I know, "shubunkin" refers to the colouring. You can have different types of shubunkins. Comets are good outside and fantails and veiltails. Depends on where you live and how cold it gets in winter. Can gold fish live with WCMM or tadpoles? Yes, they will enjoy eating them very much Do you need a substrate? No Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 thanks caryl How many gold fish would you fit in a standard bath? Depends on whether you aerate and filter it. I wouldn't put more than 4. You can have more when they are small but they grow fast and poo lots How do you get a filter or pump goin without having an extenion lead going inside? Can you buy plants from garden centers or should I go trade me? Do both or gather oxygen weed from your nearest river I can get oxygen weed and lily pads from the local ponds and rivers. Do you need a substrate? No Would a substrate help with holding benificial bacteria if there was no filter? also would I need netting over it to stop cats from eating. My cat has eatin goldfish before so I would need something to proctect them. It gets very, very cold here ie frozen pons that you can walk on, enough snow to close roads. Would I need a airstone or something to stop the top freezing over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Would a substrate help with holding benificial bacteria if there was no filter? i wouldnt with gold fishes, theyre messy at the best of times. A clean floor makes it so much easier to syphon the muck. Ive found the water lillies are great in the warmer months for keeping green algae at bay but you need good coverage. mine are covered with duckweed too so you never see the fish, just scoop it aside to view/clean etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 i wouldnt with gold fishes, theyre messy at the best of times. A clean floor makes it so much easier to syphon the muck. Ive found the water lillies are great in the warmer months for keeping green algae at bay but you need good coverage. mine are covered with duckweed too so you never see the fish, just scoop it aside to view/clean etc. do I need to change the water very often? I could always change my plan and go with natives or WCMM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I syphon the bottom once a week then top up with the hose. IMO, You'll probably never see WCMM in a pond, esp planted. Goldies (all types) are great as they learn to feed from you hand and get very friendly after a while. As mine have grown over the years.. i have added more tubs and divided the fish so there's only a couple in each. Easier to keep the sexes seperate too for the breeding season. Although i did see 2 very lucky 2cm babies swimming amongst the plants today. Lucky to not have been eaten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesejawa Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 how many litres is a standard bath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandysme Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 i have 37 minnows in the outside bath tub with plenty of room to spare. it gets grubby (green) and i don't change the water much, but they have all survived and it attracts more bugs so i feed them less. one year i put 6 in. six months later i pulled 60 out of the tub. i haven't yet left them outside over winter as i'm not sure if they would like their water being frozen over for half a day, every day. i have a tank that i put them in that has mainly bristlenoses and a betta. they don't seem to mind the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I hear the same question about aerating an outside pond/bathtub all the time. Short answer - run a long air line to the tub from the air pump inside. With 76M of siliconized air tubing for $25 on TradeMe it's a cheap easy and inexpensive way to prevent electrocution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveie Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 So does anyone know how many ltrs are in the average size bath tub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Bath tubs come in many different sizes :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imsweet Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hard one to say how many ltrs an "average" tub is. Best just to measure your one, L x H x W to get volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveie Posted October 11, 2008 Report Share Posted October 11, 2008 I just measured mine and it was about 225 ltrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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