Getting rid of a pond - what to do with the fish?

[nosuchuser]

House we are buying has a pond and we have 2 small boys so am intending to fill in the pond to make space for their trampoline..

What should I do with the fish? Don't think they are Koi or anything fancy.

Will try a post on Freecycle and see how that's received but any other suggestions would be good

Thanks

[bexVN]

Garden Centres?

Don't forget to check for frogs/ newts etc. An established pond will have wild creatures that will have become dependant on it aswell.

Find out if any neighbours have ponds.

[V8 Disco]

Anywhere near Hampshire? I have a pond that has no fish........

[nosuchuser]

V8 Disco said:

Anywhere near Hampshire? I have a pond that has no fish........

SE London mate.. probably a bit of a trek.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Don't do it.

Make the pond ultra safe by overlaying a decent metal grate. A trampoline is good exercise but a pond is a life enhancing experience for kids. I had a pond when my 2 lads were growing up, watching tadpoles turn to frogs and toads, dragonflies, newts, pondskaters, and no end of weird and wonderful things.

All life and death is there, just brilliant for kids.

[V8 Disco]

nosuchuser said:

SE London mate.. probably a bit of a trek.

Yep, not really keen on taking fish that sort of distance... might be a laugh on the train though

Cheers anyway.

[205alive]

A few minutes in the pan...

[Papa Hotel]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Don't do it.

Make the pond ultra safe by overlaying a decent metal grate. A trampoline is good exercise but a pond is a life enhancing experience for kids. I had a pond when my 2 lads were growing up, watching tadpoles turn to frogs and toads, dragonflies, newts, pondskaters, and no end of weird and wonderful things.

All life and death is there, just brilliant for kids.

He's right.

[bexVN]

Papa Hotel said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Don't do it.

Make the pond ultra safe by overlaying a decent metal grate. A trampoline is good exercise but a pond is a life enhancing experience for kids. I had a pond when my 2 lads were growing up, watching tadpoles turn to frogs and toads, dragonflies, newts, pondskaters, and no end of weird and wonderful things.

All life and death is there, just brilliant for kids.

He's right.

I wanted to say this but was worried that I may seem irresponsible to suggest it. Glad someone else did.

[456mgt]

I rehomed mine by advertising them on preloved as free to a good home. Had loads of calls and they were gone in a couple of days. Just make sure you have plenty of decent plastic bags and a net in case the person collecting hasn't come sufficiently well 'armed'

[mrsimmers]

I took all mine to the local pet shop that sells fish. He was quite happy to take them as some of them were quite large goldfish and he will have sold them for a good price.

[magpie215]

A lot let them go in the local parks lake.....many a fishing match been won by large goldfish :-)

[Japveesix]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Don't do it.

Make the pond ultra safe by overlaying a decent metal grate. A trampoline is good exercise but a pond is a life enhancing experience for kids. I had a pond when my 2 lads were growing up, watching tadpoles turn to frogs and toads, dragonflies, newts, pondskaters, and no end of weird and wonderful things.

All life and death is there, just brilliant for kids.

This is what I'd suggest but up to you OP.

I loved having a pond when I was younger (always had them in every house I've lived in infact). All three of us kids were fascinated by the fish, kept frogspawn in the house, watched for newts, enjoyed the lilly flowers etc. Definitely a nice thing for kids to have so long as it's made safe (easy to do)

[Davel]

Sushi?

[minky monkey]

What's wrong with doing it the old fashioned way? Down the toilet..

[bexVN]

minky monkey said:

What's wrong with doing it the old fashioned way? Down the toilet..

Because they're not dead fish!!

[Ossiantoad]

Don't dump them in the local pond/river/dock as that is illegal without permission from the Environment Agency. Some shops may be reluctant to take them as they don't know how old they are and whether they are carrying any diseases.

I'd suggest eBay, no reserve should work but you would be best off trying to get some good photos first which may be easier said than done.

If all else fails PM me and I'll chat to you about options. I'm in SE London myself and fish are my main hobby.

[rosie11]

eBay won't work as no livestock is allowed to be sold,
Make the pond safe,I love ponds and as a child spent hours watching and dipping for beasties, very garden should have a pond.

[456mgt]

I would agree on keeping the pond if you can. When I first bought it, my house had two ponds; one was a smallish one with a babbling brook feature (ie pumps the water up so that it flows down a race), the other was massive, about 5ft deep, and had two industrial size pumps feeding a Niagara Falls-like waterfall feature. This had to go, along with most of the fish, but I kept the other. It's amazing how much of a magnet a pond, even a small one, is for wildlife. You get frogs, toads, newts, leeches, dragonflies etc, and the birds drink from it too. At the moment it's full of tadpoles. Never mind the kids, even adults are fascinated by it.

[Ossiantoad]

rosie11 said:

eBay won't work as no livestock is allowed to be sold,
Make the pond safe,I love ponds and as a child spent hours watching and dipping for beasties, very garden should have a pond.

eBay do allow fish to be sold, as long as nothing over a certain size is posted, so larger fish have to be collect in person.

I agree with the idea of keeping the pond though, very educational for small children if you can make them safe.