For those of you with goldfish in your water troughs

Sorry, have found a link but don't know how to paste on my iPad!

They are called Fresha and you can buy them from Lakeland. Or eBay prob.
 
Although goldfish may eat the algae, what goes in one end must come out the other and goldfish create a LOT of mess! They also raise the ammonia levels in the water.
I personally wouldn't put fish in the trough for this reason and also because if the troughs freeze in winter they won't be able to get deep enough (fish go as deep as they can naturally to escape ice, it is warmer at the bottom) and would probably die.
I have to say, good old scrubbing is the best way :)
 
The chlorine in tap water strips the lining of the gills from fish, hence why you have to de-chlorinate water before it goes in fish bowls. the dechlorinator isnt toxic as Degus have to have dechlorinated water and our parrots had their water dechlorinated using a dropper. People who dont dechlorinate water for fish are @rses IMO :mad: Its less than a fiver for the little bottle and it takes a few drops to do it. Avid fishkeeper here had two ponds and a few fish tanks as well as working in pet stores. I hate it when people do this to fish, then they have the cheek to come in and moan the fish they bought died :rolleyes:

I wouldnt do it unless you going to go to the bother of insulating the watertrough in winter. Just get your hands wet and clean it instead of being lazy.
 
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myhorsefred said:
You can get a little silver disc to put in the tanks.
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But they don't work - in my experience.

I know several people who have kept goldfish in stone troughs but not in plastic or metal troughs. It is true that tap water should be treated before being added ot a fish tank/pond. It is even advised water changes are not made over weekends as the intensity of chemicals is increased to cope with higher demand on the public water system.
 
I put them in our troughs, about 4 little ones in each. They are there to eat the insect larvae, algae is because of the sunlight, not the fish. We take them out in winter and put them in a pond as the troughs do freeze sometimes.
 
PollyP99 said:
Gold fish live happily in tap water all over the country so don't think this is accurate. Mine grew huge and went out in the pond.

Don't think I fancy fish poo in the trough tho.
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ester said:
Afaik it's not really very fair on the goldfish. The fish dudes on here have got a bit twitchy about it before ;). and just because they can live in tap water doesn't mean they should.
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I work at Pets at Home so I am more than qualified to say that keeping Goldfish (or any fish) in untreated tap water is a very bad idea, the chlorine in the tap water is toxic to the fish and it causes them a lot of pain and discomfort, and usually results in death.
A bottle of dechlorinator is about £2, and frankly any person who does not dechlorinate their tank water is causing unnecessary suffering to the fish.

As for keeping goldfish in water troughs, I'd personally prefer that my horse wasn't drinking fish waste, but then again it's each to their own!
 
Not exactly a nice life for the fish TBH! You'd have to feed them daily and they need more care than you think. They dont just live on algae. People also dont realise goldfish get rather large so the do need a big tank (far bigger than those ridiculous bowls some people put them in!). I think you simply need to clean the trough once a week, pretty simple...
 
LollyDolly said:
I work at Pets at Home so I am more than qualified to say that keeping Goldfish (or any fish) in untreated tap water is a very bad idea, the chlorine in the tap water is toxic to the fish and it causes them a lot of pain and discomfort, and usually results in death.
A bottle of dechlorinator is about £2, and frankly any person who does not dechlorinate their tank water is causing unnecessary suffering to the fish.

As for keeping goldfish in water troughs, I'd personally prefer that my horse wasn't drinking fish waste, but then again it's each to their own!
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'Fish waste' lol, God forbid they ever drink out of a stream or river.
 
Pale Rider said:
Do water troughs not have an inlet and outlet?:)
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If self filling then it will be an inlet of tap water i imagine therefore harmful to the fish and the outlet if maintained correctly will be the horses drinking from it so hencewhy your horse will be drinking fishwaste. Unless you have an incorrectly tuned autofiller to which your tank overruns constantly but again you runs the risk of the fish leaving the trough and being on the ground due to the running over of the water.

So really all in all NOT a good idea, clean the trough with good old elbow grease ;)
 
harveysmom said:
I have to agree with POLLDARK on this
My dad spent a couple of days last christmas in hospital as a result of cleaning his tropical fish tank
He caught something nasty which got into his system probably through a cut, but it was serious enough it could of killed him
There will be no fish in my water troughs
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My friends had them in all her water tanks for 40 odd years and her horses are all well into their 20's and healthy with it too

Horses will drinkk out of a muddy puddle when it suits, they are grubbing around in the dirt for their grass - some fish poo is really not going to be a problem.

Now Ducks and Geese are another thing - they carry Botulism - how often have you found a duck swimming in your water trough - I have several times! :D
 
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Black Beastie said:
If self filling then it will be an inlet of tap water i imagine therefore harmful to the fish and the outlet if maintained correctly will be the horses drinking from it so hencewhy your horse will be drinking fishwaste. Unless you have an incorrectly tuned autofiller to which your tank overruns constantly but again you runs the risk of the fish leaving the trough and being on the ground due to the running over of the water.

So really all in all NOT a good idea, clean the trough with good old elbow grease ;)
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NOT a good idea, absolute rubbish, I expect it's chlorine you're on about, it's all gone after a few hours, and with the volume of water in the tanks, the bit the horses drink is not enough to cause the inflow of fresh any harm to the fish. Fish and frogs will only survive in unpolluted water, we have both in our lovely clean insect free tanks, oh no!! Frog poo!!!:D
 
So for someone who bangs on about how cruel people are using XYZ on horses but fish having their gills stripped by chlorine 'for a few hours' causes you no problem what so ever? Oh dear :(
 
Black Beastie said:
So for someone who bangs on about how cruel people are using XYZ on horses but fish having their gills stripped by chlorine 'for a few hours' causes you no problem what so ever? Oh dear :(
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With the quantity of water in the tank and its replacement rate - there will be minimal chlorine in the water. The only time therewill be for a few hours is when the tank has been completely emptied and refilled - and while that is happening the goldfish will no doubt be happily swimming around in a bucket.
 
I don't have a self filling tank, I have to fill butts for four equines everyday and in this wamr weather I'm currently putting out two or three 30ltr drums everyday and two come in at night. So if its a selfilling tank then that minimum 60ltrs of chlorinated water getting put in the tank daily, that's a fair bit of chlorine IMO :( but then to folk its only a goldfish, right :(
 
Oh FFS.
If the goldfish bred in our troughs, for years, they were clearly happy. Stop going on about *****. They were in chloride water, self filling troughs, quite shallow but didn't freeze, no chemicals, no ponsy fake castle, just a trough, goldfish and horses slurping.



Happy horses.

Very happy fish. How many of folks have managed to breed goldfish?
 
Goldfish are quite easy to breed actually, and just because they bred didn't mean they were perfectly happy. But I do find it ironic that if it was a horse kept in quite uncomfortable/painful conditions people would be up in arms but because its just a goldfish then that's okay..
 
Wells said:
I just need some advice! We've just had new automatic troughs linked up & my OH is obsessed with putting gold fish in them - does it really work at keeping them clean?!
Also, do I need a certain type of fish or are goldfish from the fair OK? I've got 6ft troughs so how many fish in each?
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We did this wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< back in the 1979- 80's and beyond. they keep the mosquito larvae clear and keep the trough from freezing help help too.

Our horses survived at training school well into 30's. If you have ever put a glass into a trough with fish then one without you will see the difference.

The only thing we did is put some cover for the fish at the bottom to avoid the birds getting them.


I think its a good idea to keep fish in , yes they poo in water but then some of the things birds drop in the water. No horse has ever died of drinking a bit of fishy water

The funny thing was when the horlicks chaff was about the fish would come and suck on horses whiskers was so funny, no fish harmed in this even or horses.
 
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shortstuff99 said:
Sorry but it is true, I have kept cold/tropical/marine tanks for many years! Yes they can survive but the chlorine in the water often burns their gills. If there is not much in the water then they could be okay.
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Seriously?? Cold water fish I've had have thrived in tap water - I can't bear seeing fish in tiny tanks ( cant bear horses 24x7 stabled either - boring for both) so the ones I've had all eventually go in the pond ( not planned purchases)

From goldfish 911 - yes really !!

"Tap water is the preferred freshwater source; it contains important minerals your goldfish need for good health; This is what we call the general hardness and carbonate hardness of your water. Do not use bottled water which has no pH value and will not sustain life; except to lower pH."
 
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Bloody hell fire !!!!!!

Some of the comments on this thread are hilarious.
Would never have believed people felt so strongly about goldfish in a water trough.
Also surprised to hear pets at home staff need qualifications.
The ones in my branch show very little sign of any real knowledge other than the company promoted nonsense to encourage people to buy things the creature doesn't need.
 
MagicMelon said:
Not exactly a nice life for the fish TBH! You'd have to feed them daily and they need more care than you think. They dont just live on algae. People also dont realise goldfish get rather large so the do need a big tank (far bigger than those ridiculous bowls some people put them in!). I think you simply need to clean the trough once a week, pretty simple...
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Actually no you don't fish in a tank daily, they need feeding every other day. Fish in a trough in the summer months survive on the green algae that grows thus keeping troughs cleaner.
 
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