here is a bizaare question for you lovely lot

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Pixxie

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basically we went out on our new grazing about 3 weeks ago and our new water troughs have started going green already

so what do we recon to putting some goldfish in the trough?
will ponios eat them or drink them by accident?
will ponios be scared of them?
will it work?

any other thoughts would be good
thankoooo xx
 
Gold fish to not eat algae. You could consider putting some rams horn snails in.

I do not like the idea of putting fish in a water trough.
 
lmao, goldfish in the ponios water, tbh wouldnt have a clue if it would work or not, but i couldnt put them in with squeak the shettie coz he has to play with everything and i dont know how the fishies would take to that...
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(i can just imagine now, squeak with a fishie dangling from his mouth, swinging it from side to side then leaving it in my lap lol) and dibble being the wuss would probably freak and run away!
 
Snails will clear the algae better it's true, but they also die better... a good regular scrub out is better!
BTB we have had goldfish in one trough for years - eat all the larval midges etc. ponies never care either way, cat/small children are entertained and water actually stay clearer and cleaner in there than the other troughs.
 
I think people who put fish in their water troughs use things like cat fish that stick to the sides and bottom and clean the sides.

Can't see that a bog standard goldfish would help, but I may be wrong - I often am
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clean the trough out then put fish in. they do well in troughs and keep them clean, dont think ponies will catch them even if they wanted to!
 
Goldfish will produce more waste and ammonia, fuelling the algae growth - plus they don't really eat algae, only the insects and things that live within it. Most troughs are too small as a permanent home regardless (don't say 'goldfish bowl' to me, please!).

And just imagine if it ever dried up or got knocked over!
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Anything living you put in there will just produce waste and be a nuisance. Get the scrubbing brush out, it's a nice day for a bit of hard work!
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When you say green, do you mean just a green film on the metal of your trough or the actual water? because the water can still me clean enough for them to drink, do they fill automatically, if so there is less chance of the water going stale as there would be if you were filling it up twice week etc.

So long as the water is clean I wouldn't worry too much, with the warmer days, it often turns the water quicker, in which case you could just empty your trough once a week, give it a good old scrub and a refill, making sure there are no leaves dropping in it etc

Gold fish, as lovely as they are wouldn't really help, after all you need to clean ponds out unless they have a filter and fish that clean the bottom of pond, eat all the rubbish up, plus pond plants to oxygenate the water etc so no....gold fish not a good idea lol
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All I can say is that in our case, they've been no trouble and a pleasant addition to the yard.
You do have to remember to catch them when you want to do a full-on clean-out though!! Otherwise, sadly flapping fishies on the floor...
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As the trough is pretty deep, they're fine when the top freezes over. I am sure I heard a story a few years ago about someone defrosting one out of a lump of frozen garden pond??? (Am not convinced of the details!)
 
Its also worth remembering that with fish in the water, your horses will be drinking fish poo and that the fish will need to be taken out of the troughs in the winter due to frosts which, if severe enough, can freeze all the water, thus killing the fish.

You cant be regular elbow grease and a good scrub.
 
my plan sounds like it may not work
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looks like im bailing out the trough soonish (its attatched to the water as its automatic) but isnt raised with a plug so looks like im getting a bucket
 
Buy some plain calcium flour, empty trough and clean and rinse thoroughly then rub the calcium over the concrete. Refill trough. Water stays clean for ages.

A stud I worked at did this to all the troughs ans they stayed clean for a long time.

Goldfish are great at keeping mosquito larvae down. A friend has them in all her troughs but youo do have to remember to catch them all before you drain the trough to clean.
 
Well at our yard there are goldfish in the tanks we use for spare water if the hose is frozen or being used. The water is clean so I suppose it works. Not sure about actually in the trough though.
 
in automatic troughs goldfish do work really well, many people use them in cattle troughs to keep them clean, we have 2 in a trough on the farm which have grown huge, been in there for years and kept the trough lovely and clean. I see what other people mean- it wouldnt work in a trough that didnt top up with clean water automatically but trust me it really works in automatic troughs.
 
As others have said, goldfish don't eat algae. The green bloom on stagnant water in the summer will happen anywhere and everywhere unless you have a filtering system to remove it. An ordinary (sponge) filter will remove detritus of a certain size and the bacteria that build up in it also help to break down the fishes' waste products. To clear the naturally occuring spring/summer bloom, you need a snazzier UV fulter that passes the entire contents of the container/pond past a UV light tube 100 times a day.

Horses won't be frightened of goldfish - but the goldfish will be frightened of the horses! Goldfish are little living things too and would need weed in the container to hide under and to protect them against soaring summer temperatures. On a hot summer's day, the water temperature in an old bath can rise high enough to make a cup of tea (almost). And in winter, the container needs to be deep enough for the fish to sink to the lower water levels to escape being frozen to death.

In my opinion, the idea of putting goldfish into a water trough is nothing about the fish or the horses and everything about short cuts. Roll up your sleeves and scrub the trough out regularly. Please, leave goldfish to be cared for appropriately in properly maintained pond/tank systems.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Please, leave goldfish to be cared for appropriately in properly maintained pond/tank systems.

[/ QUOTE ]

-applauds-
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I would like to add to this that a properly maintained system does not include bowls or small tanks. Common or comet goldfish are suitable for ponds only, and fancy goldfish require a minimum water volume of 40 litres per fish.

-goldfish geek out-
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lol ok point taken, just wondered if it would help as liek i said the only way to empty my trough is to bail it out which ist very effective as something always gets left.

but i will leave the fishies alone and put some in my pond instead

x
 
Not too keen on the fish idea! I keep a kitchen sieve by the trough (auto filling type) and just sweep out any floating debris every day............seems to work ok
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Well i have just put goldfish in are troughs .. and they are fine ! also when you do clean out your troughs you do get little insect things in the bottom and fishy things .. and they all poo. but i clean the troughs out 2 twice a year and use alot of water doing this and filling the troughs up again. so this is why i thought i would try using goldfish .. and if it doesnt work then they can go and live in a pond
 
Er...I think horses PREFER green water?! Mine will always head towards a murky green trough rather than drink out of their clean, chloriney buckets!
 
I used to work on a dairy farm that had small brown fish in the troughs to keep them clean and it worked really well. Dunno what kind they were though. We're talking big massive troughs here, bigger than a bath, not poxy little horse ones mind! Fishies had somewhere to hide under where the ball cock was.
 
Twice a year??? We used to do ours once a week. The easiest way to empty it is to siphon it with a short length of hose. The we would swill it out with another bucket or two of clean water, then drain that out with a bucket, then scrub the sides, rinse it out again, then let it refill. Yes, you use a fair bit of water, but this is what the horses drink - it deserves to be clean!
 
QR

Forget the fish. Get some barley straw put it a hessian bag and place in trough. Viola!
 
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