How Many Goldfish In 300 Gallons?

[Sxusie]

I’ve read all sorts on the Internet but everyone sounds like they don’t really know what there doing...
I have a 320 gallon pond, it’s a circle with around 5ft diameter and 3ft at deepest, around 2ft deep everywhere else.
I want to have the easiest pond possible as I will be leaving my brother to look after it when I have to go away for about a month at a time very frequently.
So I want to have some goldfish as I have read they are easiest, and out of this the common goldfish is the best... is this right? Please tell me if not. And how many can I have? I would like it quite under stocked so my brother doesn’t have to do any water changes.
Thank you and please point out anything I’ve done wrong!

 

[david1978]

Well I guess best fish would be dependent on what you want. White cloud mountain minnows, mosquito fish or goldfish are all good candidates. I'm not the best with exact numbers but what filter/filtration you are using, rain and plants will all have an effect on the number you can have.

 

[Skavatar]

common and comets would do well outdoors. comet's body aren't quite as big as common, they have the long tails.

3-6 would be low bioload. 3 would give you 100 gallon per fish, and 6 would give you 50 gallon per fish.

put lots of plants, like hornwort, water lettuce, duckweed, hyacinth, etc.

 

[Gourami36]

Even if it’s understocked you’ll still have to do water changes to get rid of nitrates unless you have very fast growing plants

 

[oldsalt777]

I’ve read all sorts on the Internet but everyone sounds like they don’t really know what there doing...
I have a 320 gallon pond, it’s a circle with around 5ft diameter and 3ft at deepest, around 2ft deep everywhere else.
I want to have the easiest pond possible as I will be leaving my brother to look after it when I have to go away for about a month at a time very frequently.
So I want to have some goldfish as I have read they are easiest, and out of this the common goldfish is the best... is this right? Please tell me if not. And how many can I have? I would like it quite under stocked so my brother doesn’t have to do any water changes.
Thank you and please point out anything I’ve done wrong!

Hello Sx...

I have a 300 gallon outdoor water tank and keep Rosy Red Minnows and Goldfish fry in it. The Minnows are a bit hardier than the Goldfish. Goldfish are best kept inside in tanks where the water temperature stays fairly cool, but constant. The Minnows do better in water that gets pretty cool in the winter. They're more tolerant of cold water than Goldfish. I still change half the tank water monthly.

Old

 

[aae0130]

What is your geographic location? Do you get a frozen winter? If you do, your pond needs to be deeper than the frost line. If not, it will need to be heated or the fish need to be moved indoors for the winter. If your teamps do not drop to freezing your depths will be fine.

 

[oldsalt777]

What is your geographic location? Do you get a frozen winter? If you do, your pond needs to be deeper than the frost line. If not, it will need to be heated or the fish need to be moved indoors for the winter. If your teamps do not drop to freezing your depths will be fine.

Hello aae...

I live in Colorado. The winters are pretty cool, around 20 degrees most evenings, but temperatures can be lower. The tank is insulated and heated with a floating heater made for cattle water troughs and I keep a large airstone running. The fish stay in the tank year round and are fed food pellets once a week. There's never been ice on the surface and the water stays a constant 50 degrees in the winter. I change out half the water once a month.

Thanks for asking,

Old

 

[Sxusie]

What is your geographic location? Do you get a frozen winter? If you do, your pond needs to be deeper than the frost line. If not, it will need to be heated or the fish need to be moved indoors for the winter. If your teamps do not drop to freezing your depths will be fine.

I live in the north of the uk. It gets to around 30 degrees Fahrenheit and has got to 20 before but not for at least 5 years so that probably won’t happen again...

 

[aae0130]

Do you know the frost line depth of your location? You want the deepest part of your pond to be a foot below that level. Then your fish will be able to make it through winter.......or install a heater as Oldsalt described.

 

[Sxusie]

Hello Sx...

I have a 300 gallon outdoor water tank and keep Rosy Red Minnows and Goldfish fry in it. The Minnows are a bit hardier than the Goldfish. Goldfish are best kept inside in tanks where the water temperature stays fairly cool, but constant. The Minnows do better in water that gets pretty cool in the winter. They're more tolerant of cold water than Goldfish. I still change half the tank water monthly.

Old

So will the goldfish be alright? Or should I avoid them?

 

[david1978]

If it only gets down to 20 f I wouldn't expect frost line to be deep. Here in Pennsylvania on the east coast of the us it gets minus degrees for weeks and our frost line is 3 feet. So yes goldfish should fine.

 

[aae0130]

I’m in NJ and it is basically the same. I think it is 32 inches. I helped my buddy dig his pond. We went 40 inches in the middle and the rest was about 20. His pond is 10 feet long x 3 feet wide. We dug it out by hand and put peat moss on the bottom. We covered it over with some kind of blue pool liner he bought. Then we lined the edges with giant square pavers from Home Depot. He does not have any kind of substrate. There are giant plants in wicker like pots on the shallow areas. He vacuums it like a pool. It is very neat and clean looking. I hope to do the same eventually but I need to finish fencing m6 property before I can legally have one.

 

[Jimmie93]

Well I guess best fish would be dependent on what you want. White cloud mountain minnows, mosquito fish or goldfish are all good candidates. I'm not the best with exact numbers but what filter/filtration you are using, rain and plants will all have an effect on the number you can have.

Mosquito fish need heat and will not survive in outdoor ponds they are basically like guppies.

 

[david1978]

Guess I should of asked were op lived first. But yes it would get too cold for them there.

 

[aussieJJDude]

Mosquito fish need heat and will not survive in outdoor ponds they are basically like guppies.

Not entirely true. We have numerous wild populations of mosquito fish in Melbourne, Aus... they handle cooler temps pretty fine!