Goldfish in water troughs?

[kenny thomas]

I have several tire troughs from 350 to 900 gallon. I have problems with algae and aquatic weeds. I was going to buy some goldfish to help but have heard it can cause respiratory problems in cattle. Virginia requires a permit for grass carp and i would have to lie and say it was a pond to get those.
What are your thoughts?

 

[SBMF 2015]

I don't know if they'll help with the algae but they are fun to have in a water tank. I've done this several times over the years. Never noticed any difference in cattle health. The gold fish will warn you when the electric tank heater shorts out. Just like a canary in the coal mine.

They can get pretty big and live a long time.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We had some in a few tanks for a couple years. They clean up the algae really well but a thick layer of fish $hit accumulates on the bottom of the tank. Tossed them into the pond when we quit heating thanks in the winter.

 

[TCRanch]

I think it was Dun that said he put goldfish in the tanks and the dang racoons fished them out & ate 'em.

 

[wbvs58]

They have become a major vermin problem in our inland river system where they thrive competing with our native fish the Murray Cod and Golden Perch.

Ken

 

[kenny thomas]

We had some in a few tanks for a couple years. They clean up the algae really well but a thick layer of fish $hit accumulates on the bottom of the tank. Tossed them into the pond when we quit heating thanks in the winter.

I dont heat tanks and only busted ice a few days last winter. Can they survive cold winters?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

They can survive pretty cold, they slow way down in the cold. Here an unheated take would typically be frozen solid and I don't think they would survive that.

We started with like 30 of them between a few tanks, after 2 years we were down to just a handful or two. The birds got real good at catching them.

 

[jltrent]

I never had an algae problem, or it was very little until I pitched a couple fish I caught in the river in one. Algae took the trough as it was very thick. I pumped the tank out and shut the water off and left it a few days for the sun to dry. That got rid of it.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I dont heat tanks and only busted ice a few days last winter. Can they survive cold winters?

They'll go to the bottom of the tank and slow down, but they'll survive.

 

[kenny thomas]

They'll go to the bottom of the tank and slow down, but they'll survive.

Ok, it is on a float so doesnt freeze often.

 

[Brute 23]

I think it was Dun that said he put goldfish in the tanks and the dang racoons fished them out & ate 'em.

Yep. Coons, birds, every thing will clean them out.

I just put a little bleach in them every so often. I'll buy a couple jugs at the dollar store and just give them a shot as I check cattle. I've also thrown the beach tablets in the concrete and plastic troughs.

 

[kenny thomas]

Yep. Coons, birds, every thing will clean them out.

I just put a little bleach in them every so often. I'll buy a couple jugs at the dollar store and just give them a shot as I check cattle. I've also thrown the beach tablets in the concrete and plastic troughs.

I would probably have to start the bleach in the spring wouldn't I? The grass/weeds in them are pretty big.

 

[Travlr]

I have several tire troughs from 350 to 900 gallon. I have problems with algae and aquatic weeds. I was going to buy some goldfish to help but have heard it can cause respiratory problems in cattle. Virginia requires a permit for grass carp and i would have to lie and say it was a pond to get those.
What are your thoughts?

I started to throw goldfish into the troughs to eliminate the mosquitos. Side benefit was the algae control. Been doing it for years. They will survive as long as the tanks don't freeze completely. I make sure they don't get released into the wild.

 

[Brute 23]

I would probably have to start the bleach in the spring wouldn't I? The grass/weeds in them are pretty big.

Yes sir. It's easier like that just to keep them clean coming out of winter.

 

[CowboyRam]

I had several in my tank until the pump quit working and the cows drank out all of the water; I was to late to save them. As long as the tank does not freeze solid they will be fine. Tossing in a bag of barley works fairly good as well.

 

[SDgrampa]

Copper sulfate. Takes very little like maybe three or four crystles

 

[kenny thomas]

Copper sulfate. Takes very little like maybe three or four crystles

That wont hurt the cows?

 

[Logan52]

I have some large cast concrete tanks, fed by a pond, I kept goldfish in for years. They survived all kinds of weather and freezes while keeping the tanks free of weeds and algae. They only reproduced once and I seined them out the following couple of years by the hundreds. The last finally died of old age I think. I kept back only the reddest ones that had large flowing fins and sort of had my own goldfish breed.
The downside was they kept the water roiled and muddy looking due to bottom sediments they stirred up. Never seemed to harm the cattle but I have not had any the last few years because the water looks cleaner and fresher without goldfish in it.
Might work great if you had a way to flush the bottom sediments out on a more regular basis.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

You mean barley straw, right? I've heard a pillowcase sized bag of then that controls algae.= but have not tried it.

I've had several common golfish in each of my cow tanks for years to eat the mosquitos larvae. There are zero mosquitos around here since I did that. I buy little 25 cent feeder goldfish at the pet store. People feed them to carnivorous Oscar fish. In a year they are 6 or 8 inches long with a bright orange color living on their natural food. What I do is separate the slender males from the fatter females in the tanks. Otherwise they will reproduce like mad mostly brown fish and a population explosion. If you have too many fish the fish poop makes the cattle not want to drink it. Several times a year I dump out my tanks and save the goldfish in a bucket to put them back. The goldfishfish survive the winter with thin ice sheets just fine. I also have some in my little ornimental fish pond.

 

[farmerjan]

We keep gold fish in all the cattle water troughs. If the water gets down too much they do become a favorite of raccoons, and the blue herons... but if the water flows in and you have a float to keep it full, they will stay low enough during the daylight hours to not get caught by the herons. I have a half a concrete block in each trough for them to be able to scoot into if they are being "checked out to catch" by the herons.
They have got all the algae and weeds eaten in a couple of them... and they will breed sometimes... but the small ones will spend alot of time near the top and they are prime for any birds/herons to catch... so kind of a natural"population control".

Once every couple of years we will let the water go down if there are no cattle in there... and scoop out any sediment on the bottom... or on years when the one spring gets real slow and it does not keep it filled up....
No mosquitos is a great side benefit...

I go buy the cheap feeder goldfish... try to pick out the "pretty ones" so that it is easier to see them in there and check on them...
Have never had any trouble with the cows drinking from them.... and have some that have been in there for over 5 years now....