Who doesn’t love koi in their pond? They’re beautiful and friendly, providing glimmers of color as they weave their way beneath the lily pads. Certainly they deserve their rightful place in a tranquil water garden. But what about other options? An array of pond fish is just waiting to call your pond their home!
Goldfish
Most people relegate goldfish to a small glass bowl for living quarters, but goldfish are a perfect choice for your pond. They’re resilient and able to handle all different kinds of water, but prefer cooler water around 68 degrees. For the new pond owner, goldfish are a great choice for getting started with fish-keeping. Several varieties of goldfish are available, from comets (plain orange and white) to the exotic types like ranchus and bubble-eyes. 5 Most goldfish live around 5 to 10 years if properly cared for, but in the wild they’re known to live 25 years or so. Goldfish will grow to a decent size if you care for them properly. Be sure not to house smaller goldfish with large fish or turtles that can cause them harm. To keep your goldfish happy, feed them a high-quality fish food such as Aquascape Premium Fish Food, being careful not to over-feed them.
Exotic Goldfish
Included in this showy category are lionheads, telescopes, black moors, orandas, ranchus, and ryukins. The single most distinguishing characteristic of this group as a whole, are their round, bulbous abdomens. With this exotic group, extra caution should be taken if they are going to be placed outdoors, especially over the winter. Because they’re not as hardy as some of the other goldfish, they may become ill if left outdoors in the winter. This is especially true of the adults of these varieties. 7 The reason for this overwintering weakness is thought to be related to the compacted, contorted abdomen of these fish. Their abdomens serve as a delicate balancing act of downward ballast, intestine, and fat versus the buoyant structure of the airbladder. The hardship of winter almost always degrades this equilibrium, resulting in the fish flipping over and eventually dying. This is easy to overcome by bringing these finned friends indoors to join you just in time for the holidays! You can release them back into the pond when spring makes its welcome return.
Shubunkins
Shubunkins are a type of single-tailed, longbodied goldfish that originated in China. There are two different types of shubunkins. One has a long tail fin, with broad tail fin lobes that are rounded on the end. The other one looks more like a common goldfish, with a short tail fin. Bred mainly for their coloring, shubunkins often have a red, black, and sky blue coloring, similar to a calico. The most valuable of the shubunkins are primarily blue with strong accents of white and red, with the overall pattern sparingly flecked with black. In fact, when blessed with a white, black, and orange pattern, some may resemble baby koi but are far from it. They are different in size and markings. Most notably, they lack barbells (whiskers of sorts) that are found on koi. Shubunkins are hardy fish that can survive sweltering summers and severe winters, and can grow up to 14 inches in a minimum 180-gallon pond.
Sarassas
Sarassas are very similar to shubunkins in that they both have a similar body shape, however sarassas don’t quite reach the same size as their larger shubunkin counterparts. The sarassa features a white base color and brilliant red highlights. It is believed that they came from a cross between the red cap oranda and the comet goldfish, and are sometimes referred to as “poor man’s koi.” Amazingly, the brilliant red of the true sarassa is a lifelong proposition and the fish are very enjoyable. Uncontrolled breeding of the sarassa will yield more brown fish until the pond population has returned to unselected comet and brown goldfish ancestry.
Golden Orfe
If you want pond fish with personality, look no further than golden orfe! They are playful in nature and a joy to watch. In its native habitat of the Danube River, the golden orfe is a dark silvery color, but received its golden color when bred in Europe. The bright orange color you see today is very attractive, especially since they characteristically swim near the surface of most ponds with the rest of their group. This is helpful because their presence near the top of the pond can also encourage koi and other goldfish to visit the surface of the water as well. Keep in mind that golden orfe grow extremely fast. A 2 to 3-inch golden orfe can quickly reach sizes of 2 to 2 ½ feet! Golden orfe feed mostly on insect larvae, worms, and fallen insects, but will gladly eat quality fish food. If you choose golden orfe for your pond, always purchase at least two of them. They enjoy schooling and grouping together but will interact nicely with other fish, as well.