Pond stocking

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I’ve got a 150 g Rubbermaid tub stocked with a single Shubunkin Goldfish the kids all Sbow White. She’s a survivor we had a freeze of over 7 days and she came out growing an inch. 

I’m going to remove some leaf litter and prep the plants in there this weekend but I’m wondering about stocking. I have some Variatus Platys and I’ve thought about some White Clouds. I could put 1-2 other Shubunkins but I need something to eat the mosquito larvae and well goldfish are too lazy for that. 

 

[Bsquared]

White clouds or ricefish would be my recommendation to start with, especially if there is the possibility of some more cold weather.  When I had my small tub going with white clouds, they were able to handle pretty much anything the weather threw at them and definitely loved to chow down on any larvae. They also bred like crazy!

[macdaddy36]

Bitterlings are a good option that can tolerate cold water for longer periods. I think they would be fast and large enough to avoid being eaten by even large goldfish. Aqua Huna and Dan's fish sometimes has them. In Washington state, they probably couldn't survive the winter but would be fine for most of the rest of the year.

The one concern is that in some places they are illegal because they are potentially invasive, including in my state (michigan). 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Thank you both!