Can I Put Goldfish In My Outdoor Pond?

If Koi aren’t your thing, then an alternative fish you could choose to keep in your outdoor pond is adorable goldfish! 

Even though goldfish are most commonly kept indoors in smaller, covered aquariums, they can alternatively be kept in outside bodies of water, including your garden pond.

Can I put goldfish in my outdoor pond

In fact, many people regard garden ponds to be ideal living conditions for goldfish, because they’ll be given plenty of more freedom and space that will allow them to swim to their heart’s content. 

What’s more, when kept in larger bodies of water, teeny little goldfish are actually able to grow to around 45cm (which works out to about 18 inches) and can even live for up to 25 years.

Not only that, but your garden pond won’t require too much maintenance, either, although filtration will be absolutely necessary if you are planning to keep your goldfish in it.

Not only will filtration help to ensure that the water is kept free of any dirt and debris, but it will also help to ensure that all harmful and nasty bacteria is gotten rid of (including goldfish waste) so that the water will be fresh and clean for your goldfish to swim in.

Once you have properly installed your filtration system and it’s working properly, you will only find that you need to clean it around 2-3 times a year, which makes the addition of one super low maintenance to care for.

In addition to this, although the frequency of how often your particular water filtration system will need to be cleaned will depend greatly on the size of your ponds, as well as its bio-load. 

If you’re ever unsure of whether or not your filtration system needs maintenance, then we recommend cleaning it just to be safe, as dirty water full of bacteria can be fatal for your goldfish.

However, as a general rule of thumb, you should always be sure to clean your water filtration system whenever you notice a decline in water pressure within the filter’s outlet pipe, as this will strongly indicate that the filter has started to become too clogged with debris. 

Besides that, you should also try and make sure that you have placed the outdoor pond in a position of your garden that receives a great deal of both sunlight and shade, as this will help to provide a healthy balance of both to your goldfish.

Besides that, you should also consider adding submerged plants to help increase oxygenation, as well as plenty of floating plants to aid in the shading of the fish.

By ensuring that you are cultivating plenty of vegetation both across the top of the pond and also within it, the water quality will be much better for your goldfish, and you’ll also find that you won’t need to clean the pond as much, either.

How big should a pond be for goldfish?

Considering the fact that goldfish can be kept in small fish bowls or aquarium tanks, it can be easy to think that any garden pond will be fine for keeping goldfish, right?

Well, not exactly. The main reason for this is because, unlike goldfish that are kept in small tanks, goldfish that are kept in larger bodies of water are able to grow upwards of 19 inches (yes, you read that correctly!).

So, even if they might look small and adorable right now, they’ll likely grow to be quite large, so you need to take into account their adult sizes. 

As a general rule of thumb, you should make sure that you are allocating around 20 gallons of water per inch for goldfish.

However, if you want to keep Koi in addition to your goldfish, you will need to allocate 35 gallons per inch.

After you have worked out those measurements, you should also consider allocating space for underwater pond plants, as these will help to keep your water quality healthy for your fish, while also increasing the amount of oxygen.   

How do you keep goldfish alive in an outdoor pond?

Whether you’ve already got an outdoor pond or you’re planning on installing one in your backyard, an outdoor goldfish pond is a fantastic way to make an eye-catching statement to any garden space.

Now, when it comes to keeping goldfish within a pond, there isn’t a “one size fits all” way to go about doing it.

goldfish in my outdoor pond

Generally speaking, you’re going to want to make sure that you only allow around 20cm of goldfish per 450 liters of water, while also taking into account the fact that goldfish kept within larger bodies of water (such as a garden pond) have the ability to grow to around 45cm. 

You should also make sure that you are correctly feeding your goldfish, too.

All goldfish are omnivorous (which means they only eat food derived from plants/vegetation) so you’ll be able to feed them a variety of different goldfish-friendly foods, including pellets and good old fish flakes.

Although, it’s worth noting that as your goldfish will snack on different vegetation around the pond, you might need to monitor how much you’re feeding your goldfish.

In addition to snacking on different areas of vegetation within the pond, in order to ensure the health of your goldfish, you will also need to ensure you are feeding them correctly throughout each season.

In the warmer, summer months, the temperature of your outdoor pond is naturally going to rise, which means that the metabolism of your goldfish will rise with it.

For this reason, you will need to make sure that you’re feeding them enough food to keep up with their faster metabolic rates. 

On the flip side, during the colder months, you will need to make sure that your goldfish are being fed protein-rich foods that will be able to provide your goldfish with all of the nourishment needed.

Plus, depending on how cold winters get where you live, you might also need to consider introducing a water-temperature regulator to your pond, especially if you live in an area of the world where temperatures commonly drop below 10 degrees celsius during the winter period.