# Goldfish in water troughs?



## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

Who uses goldfish and what exactly do they do to the water in your goat trough?


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## clementegal (May 23, 2013)

We used to have goldfish in our horse water tank they grew really big and ate the green film that grew on the sides.


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

Do you give any food, how do they do on the cold nights


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

We have three goldfish in our water trough. They eat most of the bugs that land on top. Goldfish are VERY large, and VERY messy, so you need a VERY large trough to house them in, and change 90% of the water often. (You don't want to change all of the water if you can help it) also, a pond filter is good to have on the trough if you do put goldies in there  How large is your trough? You should have 100 gallons at least per fish, that's how messy they are. And, the poop turns into ammonia, which your animals then drink, and the fish live in.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

wildegoats23 said:


> Do you give any food, how do they do on the cold nights


We offer good quality pellets and veggies like lettuce, peas, and aquatic plants.

Ours do fine when there is 6+ inches of ice on the trough. Of course, our are adults, so they are going to do better with the harsher water than young little ones. We do have a trough heater. Also, don't feed them when it gets cold. They hibernate and won't eat/digest the food.


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

My biggest one is like 50 gallons. I was thinking about getting a little 13 cent goldfish


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

And it's 36 degrees here now


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

I personally wouldn't put one in there. They get big and messy. And if you don't have a filter on it, I honestly don't think it would last long. Not to mention most of the 13 cent little goldfish are diseased, anyways.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Goldfish are messy and I don't understand why some people put them in their troughs. It would be better for the livestock to just get their trough cleaned regularly instead of relying on goldfish to clean up the algae. The algae is a lot safer and healthier than having goldfish and goldfish waste in their drinking water.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

KW Farms said:


> Goldfish are messy and I don't understand why some people put them in their troughs. It would be better for the livestock to just get their trough cleaned regularly instead of relying on goldfish to clean up the algae. The algae is a lot safer and healthier than having goldfish and goldfish waste in their drinking water.


That is why we only have three in a 1000g trough, with plenty of algae. They wouldn't be there if they hadn't been there when we moved in.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I don't think 3 in a thousand gallons is going to be an issue...i'm thinking more like smaller troughs with numerous fish, though I personally would rather have none. :laugh:


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

Okay so I'm not going for the fish lol will a little algae kill them? They drink out of the pond so that can't be any worse


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

No, algae actually is good for the water.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

Aside from eating algae, I think a lot of folks use them to prevent mosquitoes. Gold fish LOVE mosquito larvae. 

I dont have a trough, since I only have three does - I just use a rubbermaid tote. But I do have a little patio pond. Goldfish DO get BIG (even the lil 13c guys). Cold doesn't seem to phase them. Mine have had several inches of ice on top and been fine. I've heard of them freezing solid and still being alive when things thawed... but that could be an urban myth. I know a person or two who swears they've seen it though.

To keep "muck" to a minimum, I had a catfish in my pond - however THEY cannot tolerate freezing temps. I keep an aquarium heater in my pond, which doesn't keep it warm, but it keeps the water at least in the 40s. I also use "japanese trapdoor snails" - which are live breeders so they dont overpopulate. They do a GREAT job of cleaning up - in fact even since loosing the catfish my pond still requires no maintenance other than rinsing the filter once a week or so. The larger gold fish do eat a lot of the young snails, but a few manage to survive. My snail population has held stead at 6 or 8 for years now, which is perfect for my lil 50gal pond. They do have plants and stuff to hide in though.

I dont generally feed my goldfish. In the summer I toss a few pellets in there once a week or so. In the winter, even less often. 

So... anyway... I dont know about how goldfish would affect goat health - but goldfish and snails do a great job at mosquito and algae control in other bodies of water. I'm tempted to put a couple goldfish in each of my rain barrels... but not sure what kind of a "life" that would be for a lil fishy.


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## wildegoats0426 (Aug 30, 2013)

My pond is huge and in a pasture so I don't think I can do a heater but it doesn't freeze here. It only gets to 29 degrees, the top ices but not much


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

FarmerJen said:


> To keep "muck" to a minimum, I had a catfish in my pond - however THEY cannot tolerate freezing temps.


Well, darn. You had to go and rain on my parade, didn't you?  I was draining the pit of the irrigation pump this fall, found a catfish in it and dumped him in the big tire tank in the back pens. Now I find that he has likely frozen. Bummer!


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

GoatCrazy said:


> Well, darn. You had to go and rain on my parade, didn't you?  I was draining the pit of the irrigation pump this fall, found a catfish in it and dumped him in the big tire tank in the back pens. Now I find that he has likely frozen. Bummer!


Most catfish are tropicals or semi tropical. Unless your water doesn't reach below 60, I don't think he'll make it


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

FarmerJen said:


> To keep "muck" to a minimum, I had a catfish in my pond


In all honesty, catfish really don't help with muck. They will scavange, but they don't eat muck. Most catfish actually create more muck, if you know what I mean


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

I could be wrong here, but this particular catfish is a wild catfish that came out of the North Platte River and I highly doubt he is a tropical fish.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

GoatCrazy said:


> I could be wrong here, but this particular catfish is a wild catfish that came out of the North Platte River and I highly doubt he is a tropical fish.


If he is a wild fish, then yes, he very well could survive the winter. I am mostly talking about the pet store catfish people buy and toss out in ponds


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

No, this guy is not a pet store catfish. He came through the head gate, down the ditch and got trapped in the pit. I couldn't just bail him out along with the water in the pit and let him die, nor could I leave him to freeze when the small amount of water left in the pit freezes, so I put him in the stock tank. That particular tank holds at least 500 gallons of water, so I figured he at least has a fighting chance of surviving for a lot of years.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Sounds like he has a good chance to me :thumb:


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

I hope so. I don't know the first thing about catfish, but I truly hope so.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

GoatCrazy said:


> Well, darn. You had to go and rain on my parade, didn't you?  I was draining the pit of the irrigation pump this fall, found a catfish in it and dumped him in the big tire tank in the back pens. Now I find that he has likely frozen. Bummer!


This was a store-bought catfish. If you're looking at a wild species... they might fare better. We have catfish in our lakes here and they handle the cold water just fine (though our lakes rarely freeze over completely, and even if they do, it's not for very long).

I've been tempted to keep a baby catfish from a lake - but they get too big for my little pond. Maybe if I ever install the bigger pond I keep dreaming about.


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## Electra552 (Aug 23, 2013)

How about using an aquaponics approach?? Have goldfish or such in your water stock tank. Trickle the water into a planted tank.... Use sand....gravel....bog or wet loving plants and circulate the clean water back into the water trough. Fish produce mainly liquid waste (nitrates,nitrites and ammonia). Plants feed and grow off the waste. The stock tanks could be placed one inside the pen (water with fish stock tank) and the plant tank on the human side of the fence.....this would keep the goats off the plants and electrical lines.....this could be easily done with a small pump for circulation. Depending on the return flow strength it could also possibly keep an area open for winter where a heater would be unnecessary. Hmmm. I see a spring project for myself here)). Oh and bull head or northern channel cats faair just fine in the cold.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

An aquaponics approach would work. But. How will you keep the plants alive, and working, in the winter? Fish only produce ammonia, btw  Bacteria converts ammonia into nitrItes, and another bacteria converts nitrItes into nitrAtes. Ammonia, Nitrites, are deadly in very small amounts, while nitrates, the end product, are virtually harmless. It is important to cycle a tank or pond before adding fish, or anything that produces ammonia, so there is enough bacteria to cycle everything and keep the fish alive. Plants use ammonia and nitrates, not nitrites. BUT if you had enough nutrient hog plants, you could get away with not cycling if you stock the tank slowly, so the plants eat up all the ammonia and not let any ammonia/nitrites build up in the water. 

OK.. Sorry for the science lesson! LOL!


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