Discovered two black fish in pond

Hi
we moved into a house over 8 months ago and we knew there was a pond in
the garden. They said there was nothing in their but the odd frog which
visited.

However, much to my surprise I glimpsed two very quick and very timid
baclk fish in there.

Heaven knows how long they have been in there. The pond is only about a
foot deep and a metre wide each way. They seem quite happy indeed - very
fast and they dart around like mad.

However, three things have been intriguing me:

1. How come they have managed to live this long with no supplementary
food? The pond has lots of plantlife in and around the pond and insect
life around it - have they been eating insects falling in?

2. Why are they black? I've tried to look at species and they look like
goldfish but are almost 100% black (which doesn't exist in goldfish
species.) They are not Black Moors. They are more slender than those.

3. There is no filtation or 'bubble machine' in the pond.I have no way
of doing this easily (no electricity) but they seem ok like this.
Someone in the aquarium shop said as there are only two fish, there;s
no need.

To be honest the pond isnt that great and I never expected to be
looking after two fish - but I will if I can get the proper advice.

I bought some fish flakes so am giving them a few. They didn't come
over straight away. Not surprised! Imagine having had no food for years
then being offered food! They are eating a bit now.

Any advice greatly appreciated

Debs


--
deburs

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 19:51:12 +0100, deburs
<deburs.1x60ug.TakeThisOut@news.fishkeepingbanter.com> wrote:

>
>Hi
>we moved into a house over 8 months ago and we knew there was a pond in
>the garden. They said there was nothing in their but the odd frog which
>visited.
>
>However, much to my surprise I glimpsed two very quick and very timid
>baclk fish in there.
>
>Heaven knows how long they have been in there. The pond is only about a
>foot deep and a metre wide each way. They seem quite happy indeed - very
>fast and they dart around like mad.
>
>However, three things have been intriguing me:
>
>1. How come they have managed to live this long with no supplementary
>food? The pond has lots of plantlife in and around the pond and insect
>life around it - have they been eating insects falling in?
>
>2. Why are they black? I've tried to look at species and they look like
>goldfish but are almost 100% black (which doesn't exist in goldfish
>species.) They are not Black Moors. They are more slender than those.
>
>3. There is no filtation or 'bubble machine' in the pond.I have no way
>of doing this easily (no electricity) but they seem ok like this.
>Someone in the aquarium shop said as there are only two fish, there;s
>no need.
>
>To be honest the pond isnt that great and I never expected to be
>looking after two fish - but I will if I can get the proper advice.
>
>I bought some fish flakes so am giving them a few. They didn't come
>over straight away. Not surprised! Imagine having had no food for years
>then being offered food! They are eating a bit now.
>
>Any advice greatly appreciated
>
>Debs


I kept my goldfish in a pond with no supplemental foor for two years,
they got by just fine.

There are black goldfish, and dark ones that would look black in a
pond. they are usually culled out as undesirable. If you can put
them in an aquarium or bowl for a few minutes you will probably see
that their bellies are a bronze color.

don't feed them too much. overfeeding can cause problems with the
pond, especially without filteration. Oh, I also kept my pond for
several years without filteration, finally got ashamed of how bad the
water was near the bottom and added a filter, but what you are doing
will work.