My butt fish

A few months ago I was reading a Country Smallholding magazine and there was an article in it by a smallholder. She said that anywhere there is stagnant/still water, there will be gnats and mozzies. To combat this, she put goldfish in her water butts!

I loved the thought of this, so I bought 2 goldfish and put them in our water butts.





There wasn't much choice at the shop I went to, so I got fan tailed goldfish that will need over-wintering indoors, but normal goldfish can stay in the butts all year round! We have definitely noticed a reduction in the gnats around.

 

My ex, who was a cowboy, kept a couple of goldfish in all his stock tanks. At first I thought it was a bit strange but they survived in there. Don't know if any of them ever got sucked up by the cows.........

 

Thats so strange lol ... Just need to make sure it always has water in it. What happens when winter sets in ... surely the water will freeze ... killing the fish?

 

Eric & Eric the fish lived for years in the little leat fed by the downpipe.



First winter I was going to work & coming home in the dark so i'd be feeding them on the way out, not realising they don't eat below 10c. when the days got longer I realised there was a girt layer of manky fish food on the bottom

 

I think maybe ex had heaters in his tanks, can't remember. The cows would still need water in winter. The fish almost go dormant, not moving much and as Zigs says, not eating. As long as it doesn't freeze completely solid the fish are ok. Ex never fed his either. They survived on bugs and bits that fell into the water.

 

Hmm, don't want to pour water on your fire, but it might not be such a good idea. Bear in mind, if the water should become stagnant, it would become lethal to the fish.

 

I've always found if you have a lid on the butt, excluding the light, not much lives in a water butt.

 

Like catztail said, as long as it doesn't freeze solid they'll be ok. When I first read the article I thought WTF? it does seem odd, doesn't it? But both of mine are doing fine. They don't need feeding, but I give them both a few flakes one a week just so they come to the surface & I know theyre still ok.
Our water butts have solid tops with about a quarter cut out. The water in them is pretty clear.

 

If the top freezes over you'll need to remove the ice, not by breaking it as that will send a shock wave to the fishies. Put a floating ball in there.

 

Yes, quite agree Keeping the lid on does help to keep the water 'sweet', but like us, fish wouldn't appreciate being kept in the dark

 

Saw some cave dwelling fish recently that had lost their eyes as they'd evolved for so long in the dark

Reminded me of this

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/the-signalman.37951/

 

Yes, it's about letting any gases escape

 

Just pointing out, if you keep a lid on it you dont need to put the poor bloody goldfish through the hell of living in a water butt.