Goldfish in Water Troughs?

Given my boy's - how can I put this - "different" approach to life, he'd probably think they were a nice tasty new snack!
 
I think it is more that the ammonia that the fish are producing are not good for the fish in a closed system, ponds or lakes being a little larger and unlikely to be technically 'overstocked'.
 
ozpoz said:
It strikes me that if your tap water is so toxic to fish that it is cruel to keep them in it without adding more chemicals, then perhaps it should be filtered for humans and horses?
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It is the chlorine present in tap water that is so damaging to fish. However you are right it probably isn't the best it could be for people either, there is some evidence that floridization of water had had a causal effect on the prevalence of thyroid disease in tbe western world.

It is interesting that thyroid disease didn't exist at all in cats, for example, before the 1970s (tests on historic tissue samples and reviews of old case records have confirmed this to be the case) but now it is fairly common. Cats are a good indicator of disease patterns in other species because of the way their kidneys process toxins so patterns seen in cats are usually reproduced later in other species, including humans. links are now being made between thyroid disease and flouride intake.
 
HGA-12 said:
Unkind????

fish have a home
water to swim
natural food in the way of algae???

FWIW the fish swim down to bottom when a large shadow horse - human- bird- comes over the top of the trough and cast shadow
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The clean water going in burns them: this in not ok, in my book.

ozpoz said:
It strikes me that if your tap water is so toxic to fish that it is cruel to keep them in it without adding more chemicals, then perhaps it should be filtered for humans and horses?
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We can cope, fish can't. This is why tanks have filters.
 
Cortez said:
Once a YEAR!!! Good grief, I clean mine at least twice a month..............
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Blimey, no way would I need to be power hosing ours every 2 weeks!!! Have never, ever been on a yard that does this either, in all the years of owning horses. They are each done once a year - the troughs in the summer field are done in the Spring just before the horses go out onto them and the troughs in the winter field are done in October time before we swap over. My mare actually prefers to drink the green water from the trough in her field than she does the fresh water in her stable. In fact, every time I have turned her out recently she has gone straight over to the trough as soon as I have turned her out. Can't be doing much wrong!
 
cinnamontoast said:
The clean water going in burns them: this in not ok, in my book
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The amount going in that is then diluted by the existing water makes the effect of chlorine negligible, as I said in an earlier post a friend has some that have been in her water troughs for over 10 years. Goldfish are tough!

Montanna, my mare prefers the green water in her trough to her fresh clean stable water yet they both come from the same water source.
 
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Patterdale said:
If you get 2 identical bowls of water, put them side by side, and put a living, pooing fish in one and nothing in the other, I know which one I'd bet would end up dirtier...!
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Two points.

Do you add food to the bowls? Would you drink a bowl of fish food?

How water LOOKS is not a reliable indicator of its potability. Dirty looking water can be reasonably safe to drink and crystal clear stuff can kill you. Plus, you're not a horse. If horses couldn't drink out of ponds there wouldn't be many horses in the world.

Maybe all the horses that prefer trough water would be even more keen on fish water?
 
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HGA-12 said:
Unkind????

fish have a home
water to swim
natural food in the way of algae???

FWIW the fish swim down to bottom when a large shadow horse - human- bird- comes over the top of the trough and cast shadow
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Water to swim? Oh dear.

Water has to be fully cycled and filtered for goldfish to survive. It is not just for them to swim in.
 
I've used Barley Staw logs in the water troughs.
(like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Barley-Straw-Logs-1-x-2pk-Natural-Control-For-Pond-Algae-/181411027639)

They work really well to keep the water clean. Actaully put one into a full trough that was very pea green and after a few days it was relatively clear.
I weight them down with stones or put them in the enclosed section with the ball valve, so the neds cant eat them!

I've also read somewhere that putting a piece of copper pipe in the trough works; or using copper suplphate as an addative, which I'm sure is fine for the horses, but I couldnt be wrong.
 
atropa said:
THIS!

It drives me mad that people see goldfish as an easy pet option. To thrive they actually need quite a complex and large set up. Yes they may survive in small uncycled, unheated, uncleaned bowls but that doesn't mean they should.
Would never keep them in a trough.
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Same here - I hit the roof when people bring out the stupid stories 'oh we kept ten goldfish in a cup of tea when I was 9 and they all lived to be 8 years old so it's fine they're tough' yes ok thanks for that - why did they die aged 8 when they can live over 20 years and were they the correct size or horribly stunted and were they simply surviving rather than thriving? Blood boiling...
 
cinnamontoast said:
The clean water going in burns them: this in not ok, in my book.



We can cope, fish can't. This is why tanks have filters.
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well they thrived on it as they grew and grew then were transferred into a local pond most were 6 years old

Well in the past 45 years or so we have always used tap water in the troughs and no fish has died or got ill in all that time.
 
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HGA-12 said:
well they thrived on it as they grew and grew then were transferred into a local pond most were 6 years old

Well in the past 45 years or so we have always used tap water in the troughs and no fish has died or got ill in all that time.
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I know of people who have had horses many many years, kept them on ragwort, with barbed wire fencing etc etc, and never once had a horse die or get ill on them. Doesn't make it correct or acceptable for them to be kept like that.

Fish are subject to the Animal Welfare Act and therefore the five freedoms need to be met. Keeping fish in a trough where they have nowhere to hide or get out of the sunlight is not acceptable.
 
We have goldfish in one of our troughs, but it is 1500lts and 100 cows drink out of it and they have a long plastic pipe to hide in. We never feed them and when the cows drink they swim up and eat what the cows spits in the water. They have also survived when the odd cow poops in the tank and we have to fish them out so we can clean it out. I bought them about 15 years ago and though some are not the original ones I have never bought any more and we still have 5, I bought 7 originally.
I think their 5 freedoms are more than met, much more than a small tank with a filter in a house.
 
Generally I think its a silly idea, and can't be that good for the fish.

At my last house we found a goldfish in the pond when we took some plants out, we'd lived there three years and never cleaned the pond or fed it. I saw the previous owners and mentioned it, they had had two and saw the cat with one, and presumed both had been caught. It lived in the bottom under a load of weeds. We never did feed it, it looked a good colour and size as it was.

We have well water where I now live, the well has fed these houses for over 300 years and hasn't ever been cleaned. Its also full of frogs and toads. It tastes gorgeous, and so much better than regular tap water!
 
Moomin1 said:
I know of people who have had horses many many years, kept them on ragwort, with barbed wire fencing etc etc, and never once had a horse die or get ill on them. Doesn't make it correct or acceptable for them to be kept like that.

Fish are subject to the Animal Welfare Act and therefore the five freedoms need to be met. Keeping fish in a trough where they have nowhere to hide or get out of the sunlight is not acceptable.
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I think I've said this before (I think it was you anyway!) but I love your fish related posts :D
 
I have found that the best way and cheapest in terms of metered at is to use large tub trugs and scrup them out every other day at least. Wet days the water lasts two days hot days I clean them daily but I am lucky and have mains tap water available at all times. We did have a trough but it got green and horrid very quickly so I was constantly wasting water tipping it out. They have three large tup trugs for 2 ponies
 
Moomin1 said:
I know of people who have had horses many many years, kept them on ragwort, with barbed wire fencing etc etc, and never once had a horse die or get ill on them. Doesn't make it correct or acceptable for them to be kept like that.

Fish are subject to the Animal Welfare Act and therefore the five freedoms need to be met. Keeping fish in a trough where they have nowhere to hide or get out of the sunlight is not acceptable.
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I agree with the the cover bit , I thought I had said it in this thread. NO it was another thread about goldfish in troughs we used to use large blocks to make a hidy hole at the bottom like a brick house where they could get under the roof brick for safety or troughs with the center ball cock area which has a covered bit is where they used to hide when they wanted out of the sun and danger
 
ester said:
I think it is more that the ammonia that the fish are producing are not good for the fish in a closed system, ponds or lakes being a little larger and unlikely to be technically 'overstocked'.
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Ponds and lakes have a larger surface area so oxygen exchanges more freely than in a tank. That is why fishkeepers use venturi and air pumps to provide fish with enought oxygen in the water.

Keeping goldfish in a water trough is just WRONG! They might live a while, they may not, but either way there's no way they are going to live a natural life span which can be 40+ years. Anyone who says their fish died at 8 in a goldfish bowl and that is a good life doesn't know much. We have fish in our pond at home that were bought when I was a kid and are still going strong (I'm 42 by the way).

Apart from all of that though, what on earth is wrong with a bit of effort and elbow grease to keep a trough clean and with filled with fresh water? Why do so many people seem to want shortcuts to doing stuff properly these days?
 
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How big a trough do you all use? I am a bit lost as to why some people are saying a trough is too small for a goldfish. I have a 400 litre trough with some rocks in it for the fish to hide under. I have two goldfish and don't give them any extra food. I think they are much happier than when they were in 40 litre fish tank in the kitchen. Please do tell me if this is too small as I;m pretty sure some fish ponds in gardens aren;t much bigger. And I would like to bet that enough people use tap water from a hose in their fish ponds as well.
 
How big a trough do you all use? I am a bit lost as to why some people are saying a trough is too small for a goldfish. I have a 400 litre trough with some rocks in it for the fish to hide under. I have two goldfish and don't give them any extra food. I think they are much happier than when they were in 40 litre fish tank in the kitchen. Please do tell me if this is too small as I;m pretty sure some fish ponds in gardens aren;t much bigger. And I would like to bet that enough people use tap water from a hose in their fish ponds as well.
 
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