I have 3 4-5" goldfish and one small bay in one above ground pond and 3 small babies in another smaller pond. I was planning to move the 3 in the small pond into the larger one for the winter . Easier to keep an eye on all of them together and I would have my quarantine pond back, but....

Now I am wondering if I should move the one baby in the big pond into the small pond because the fish stay active all winter here but they do slow down a lot and I am worried that if I am putting enough food into the larger pond for the bigger fish then the little one might get overfed. Right now I just crush some of the food I put in there so there is some small enough for him. I think he is a bit smaller then the other 3. Then, of course, .............

maybe I should leave them all where they are until I get the new bigger pond in spring?

All my goldfish are in one pond..ranging from 8+ inches down to 1 inch. It's starting spring here so I'm starting to feed everyother day until the filter bacteria kicks in. Everybody eats the flakes and I'm crushing up some floating sticks I had into tiny bites. The rest of the time they eat the algae off the walls. We have 4 adults and about 30 babies, I don't feed at all during the winter. I lost 2, one-I don't know why, and one to the current from the pump.
I wouldn't worry about 1 fish being overfed, the bigger ones would eat up the extra food. I would think it'd be a worry for underfed due to competition. If your smaller fish are big enough not to be eaten by your bigger fish...I would put them in one pond. Like you said ..free up your quarrentine pond. But that's just my 2 cents, wait to see what others say.

Last summer (about 10 months ago) I moved my three babies from the aquarium to the pond. Two were under 1" long, the other one was just over 1".
I was concerned because once in the pond I realized how dinky the babies were, compared to the large fish.
I thought they'd be eaten. The largest fish in the pond was/is 13".
The babies did not swim in the top half of the pond for at least a month, and most of the time were unseen.
When we did spot them they were nibbling at algae or hanging out in the safety of the plants down low.
I would sink some of the flake food in hopes that some might reach them, and some of it did.

By the third month of being in the pond, they were darting to the top for a bite of the big fishes food, then retreating to the bottom.
A few weeks later they would swim over the backs & heads of the large fish for a bite of floating food, then back to the bottom.

The three babies made it just fine over this winter. (we worried a lot during that time)

Now the three sibblings don't seem to know or care about the size difference.
They are a little bigger, and swim together with the others all the time.

I wish I had a quarantine pond set up and running. It would have come in handy these last few odd months.

PG

ColdGold, I am so tired after 13 straight hours of Sat. chores that your question is like one of those from school. If Joe is in a blue chair that's neither left nor right of Becca's purple chair, what color is Henry's chair if he's got green hair? My brain is fried.

What is your winter low there (Australia,right)? If it never really freezes, it probably doesn't matter which fish is in which pond. For those of us who have ponds that freeze, it's easier to just tend to one pond and let smaller ones freeze.

Hi Maggie, I don't think it matters which route you take. With your temps your fish would be fine either way. It's up to your personal preference ;) I noticed in your signature that you feed possums! Is there anyway you could post a picture of them?? I would really like to see them! Elaine

Thanks for the advice - I get very nervous when ever have changes to make with the fish.

I think I will put them all into the larger pond. I am not worried about them missing out on food because of competition - they all survived the first 3 months of their lives without me even knowing they existed. It will be easier to keep an eye on them all in the one pond and I will have my quarantine/emergency pond free then too.

I think Henry's chair is yellow with with red polka-dots. ;)

I can't find my possum pics - must be on the computer that needs repairs - but I will see if I can take some tonight. Should be ok if it is still raining because they are very eager for a handout on cold wet nights.

Elaine,

The possum pics are in the animal section here

http://z2.invisionfree.com/Fishpondinfo/in...?showtopic=4010

Thanks for the link Maggie! That was the cutest thing ever. I can't believe that, I would love to have little critters like that at my house. I was oooohing and awwwing and made my hubby look at the pix. I was like "isn't that the coolest thing ever??" He was like yep, but I am sure she would think it was amazing that you feed wild deer out of your hand" I was like NO, this is WAY cooler, LOL Thanks for sharing! :D

Oh yes, she does think it is VERY cool that you feed wild deer out of your hand !

I decided to pu the baby from the larger pond into the smaller one with the other babies. All three of the babies from the small pond are bigger than him so I figured he would be competing with 6 fish bigger than him if I moved them in.

He is doing really well in the small pond with the small fish - he can swim with them without having to dart out of the way all the time, lol.

I will put them all together in spring when I get the new pond.

Hi Maggie! That's great that your little fishies are doing well together. I am glad that you are enjoying your Autumn! It's my favourite time of year too but....since we moved up here, I am really loving these super long daylight hours. We have 19 hours of daylight everyday right now. The sun comes up at 4am, so by the time I get up at 7, it is already warm enough for coffee on the deck. Everything is turning green and the trees are just leafing out! I think I am changing my favourite season to this one now, LOL. Life would be perfect right now if it weren't for the pond leak and having to tear up the whole pond and start over! UGH!!!! I am getting some great ideas for the new pond though :D

I am not sure I could cope with 19 hrs of sunlight (or the equivalent amount of darkness in winter either) You really live in an extreme place. where I live is just about the opposite - we don't have extremes, except for bush fires - they are pretty extreme ;)

I wish that I could have a large pond with koi but our whole place is rock. What soil we have for the garden has been brought in. We would have to get in excavators to have a large enough in ground pond :(

Best of luck with your fish in the clay pond while you are fixing the problem with the other pond. You have a wonderful attitude - seeing this problem as an opportunity to create something new.