Koi and Goldfish eat their babies

Question I received lately: I have Koi and Goldfish. I feed them daily. Why don't I have babies?



Pondladay sez: Chances are the fish are eating their babies. They are not good parents.
You must feed koi. Goldfish can exist and live well eating off the plants in the pond....unless you have koi who will eat them all.

The more you feed them, the bigger they get and the hungrier they get. Sooner or later your bio-load will be too heavy and your biggest fish will die, but in the meantime, your fish will eat every baby they catch.

Spring questions

I get questions via email constantly. I like to feature the most common ones so all can see.

Here's one I get often:

Hi Jan,

I love your site and hope to ask a question specific to our pond. Can we avoid changing out all the pond water in the spring, as is recommended for most ponds in the spring? We live in Westminster, Maryland and have a 3' x7' x10' pond with liner to 2' depth, then stacked landscaping stones to surface and above to the bank. It is an awful lot of water to exchange for spring maintenance (more than 1200 gal) and the habitat is very healthy - 15 koi/goldfish and aquatic plants. We use an ultraviolet clarifier with regular filter ( no biofilter) and a separate pump for the waterfall. In December we removed them down for winter.

Could we simply start up the pumps, filter and uv system in the spring to get things rolling instead of exchanging all that water? I know we'd have to clean our filter almost daily for a period, but don't mind. I'm afraid to shock a healthy ecosystem, but not sure how to proceed.

It's our first spring with the pond and I don't want to mess things up!

Thanks so very much!

I think you can get away without a full water exchange. Use an enzyme like Microbe Lift PL
to get things started when the temps hit 55ºs day and night. First pump out about 25% of the water, put the Microbe-Lift in. Start up your pump/UV/filter. Repeat the following week. If you do this 4 times, you should be fine. If you see lots of gunk at the bottom, you have to get it out of there before it starts to release ammonia as the weather gets even warmer. You may need a pond vac
to get it out of there. I like it as well as any of the vacs even tho it is not perfect.

Pump that water into a veggie or flower bed because it is great fertilizer. Don't forget dechlor every time you exchange water.

Birds need a bath

Here in New Orleans, we are in the midst of Mardi Gras partying that all stops at midnight tomorrow, Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent.

This time of year, our temperatures begin to warm and birds begin their migrations north. This swamp bird has all the water he needs in which to bathe and they do like their daily baths. If you are not near water, try to provide water for your birds to drink and bathe in.






If you are like me, daily changing of bird bath water is something that sometimes does not get done. A solar powered birdbath keeps water constantly flowing in the basin and through a hidden reservoir, so birds can enjoy their daily bath.

My goldfish are brown!

Most goldfish are born black/brownish. That 's because their mommas will eat them if they can find them, so being in camouflage is a survival tool. Most of the fry turn orange/yellow, but some stay black/brown. When you see tanks and tanks of gold goldfish in the store you are seeing them with the dark ones culled out.

After your fish spawn for a few years, you may find that the surviving babies, now grown up, are black/brownish, so,you may want to start over again. But, if you have named your babies and have become best buddies, and want to stay in contact, give them to a friend or relative.