[MWG] Today's Pond Q&A
------------------------------- Today's Pond Q&A In this issue: - MOOR GOLDFISH - WINTER IN OR OUT? OVERWINTERING FISH THE FIRST YEAR ----------------------------- Question> I have a very small pond and in it, in addition to a few other fish, I have a black Moor (the kind with the very bulging eyes). This morning when I went to feed the fish, I could see that one of his eyes is missing! He has the normal bulge and eye on one side of his head, and no bulge whatsoever on the other. He obviously got hurt somehow, but I can't imagine how he lost an eye. Could one of the other fish have done something to him (comet, shubunkin)? I guess I should note that he may not be a he, because I have babies, but I'm not sure who the mother is. Although I don't think it is the Moor, because the babies don't have the Moor body shape (although a few are completely black). So I guess I have a couple of questions: 1) If the Moor is the mother, could it have gotten hurt so badly during the spawning process that it lost an eye? 2) Did the eye likely get knocked all the way out, or might it have been absorbed into the body if it was merely damaged? He llooks so strange with only a huge bulge on one side! 3) Do I need to worry about the Moor not surviving without an eye? It seems to be eating and swimming around okay. 4) When fish of different varieties mate, how does the coloring and body shape get determined? Some must be dominant over others, I guess. For example, if the Moor isn't the mother or father, is it usual for the other fish, who are completely patchworked white/orange/black, to have some offspring that are totally black? Any help you could give would be appreciated! Thanks Diana Rochester, MI ========== @SK Carolyn ============= Have a pond question? Just send it in to: Carolyn@macarthurwatergardens.com and our own in-house pond expert will try and answer it for you! ==================================== Answer> Dear Diana, I am not an expert on fancy goldfish but did have some Black Moors at one time. I will try to answer these questions, but again, they are just my best guesses. 1) It could have happened during spawning, yes. Sometimes spawning is so rough that the fish are killed and that I can say from experience. I would imagine the protruding eyes would be a jeopardy for a Moor in a community pond. 2) I don't believe the eye could contract so my guess is the eye was knocked out completely. And eyes don't grow back. Can you live with it as it is? 3) Fish have lived with serious damage for many years. Look at our own amputees. We do fine. 4) A little history of goldfish breeding: they are born black and lose the black later on. It was through selective breeding that those fish were developed as they are now and who knows what you might get by letting them breed on their own. Some might revert back to the native carp and some might be really special. But they don't always follow the colors of the parent fish unless you bred two of the same type together. But you might want to forward this to my friends in the Mid-West Koi and Goldfish Club for more insight. I was attending a show last week and spent time visiting the fancy goldfish tanks. This guy knows what he is talking about. The fish were amazing. You can go to the website for yourself www.goldfishpages.com - Carolyn == Question> Hi Carolyn! I really enjoy you pond q and a's. There's alot of good information there. My question is this. My pond is a small one, appr. 250 gallons and is on average about 6 feet in diameter with the deepest part appr. 3 feet in diameter and about 16 inches deep, the rest being a shelf appr. 6 inches deep. Do you think my fish would survive the winter outdoors or should I bring them inside for the winter? I live in northeastern Ohio. I've heard they would and wouldn't survive so as you can guess, I'm pretty confused. By the way, this is my first year with my first pond, so I need expert advice. Thank you very much for your help. - Mike Malcuit == Answer> Hi, Mike. I lean toward bringing them in. I say that because you are a novice and you would have to use some sort of heating element or de-icer to keep the pond from freezing solid. It is too shallow for your area. It would have to have something to keep an area open even if it were deeper for the exchange of gases, but in this case, the ice would encase the fish and that would be that. If you were to have even a couple of hours power outage, and a winter like we had last year, the pond would be frozen and the fish would be dead. Hopefully you will have sufficient housing for them indoors this year. Better safe than sorry. By next year you will have much more knowledge. Have you joined a club in your area yet? It is always a good idea to get the knowledge of a good club to get you started. - Carolyn == Happy Pondkeeping! Brett Fogle MacArthur Water Gardens www.macarthurwatergardens.com © MacArthur Water Gardens 1698 SW 16th ST Boca Raton, FL 33486 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This email is never sent without permission. You (or someone using your email address) bought something from MacArthur Water Gardens, or signed up for our newsletter, affiliate program, mini-course or requested a fr^e report.. The information we have on file is Your name: Friend Your email: If you wish to be removed from this list, simply click once on the link below.
Message Added: September 1st, 2005 at 1:00 pm
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