# Platies/bettas, general pond questions



## Coreyzilla (Sep 18, 2009)

Semi-novice fish owner here, with a lot of paranoid induced questions to be answered. Much appreciation to anyone who takes the time to reply :3

I had made plans to go to the pet store for the past week to restock my pond some after a sad accident. one of my mothers employee's said that the fan tails and regular goldfish I already have in the pond would attack the moor I had planned to get until it died, so I decided to hold off on that for now.
When I got to the pet store I asked the person in the fish department about it, and they didn't know. I also asked them about putting some platys in, to which they said the fantails would end up eating them. But I'm unsure, as the person didn't seem to confident in their statements.

What I'm wanting to do is add 2-4 platys, and possibly a few bettas in a 350 gallon pond which already has two fantails (1 two year old, 1 eight month old), 21 goldfish (Two year olds eight months olds, and three month olds) 2 apple snails, 2 plecos and 1 butterfly koi we got today (three months old).
Is the pond too over packed as it is, or can I afford to add a bit more variety? I'm wondering if adding any bettas to the pond would result in my fantails being ripped to bits, or if they'd be okay with the large amount of space they have, despite the lack of cover by plants.

I was also told that the fantails and goldfish should be kept at/above 65 degrees, but we've gone through two winters of the pond being covered with ice (Only got down to 20 F at the lowest) and them being just fine, so I'm wondering if that's actually true.

As for the pond setup, we have an old pool filter that doesn't seem to do a very good job regardless of the materials we attempt to use within the actual filter to get the algae and muck out, my father was thinking of using sand as a secondary means of filtering. 
I usually do a complete water change once every three months, when the water starts getting really bad with algae. But should I be doing smaller water changes once a month or so to keep the water cleaner? And if so how would I go about doing that when our city has jacked up the amount of chlorine in the water (A lot).


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Your pond has plenty of fish in it right now, you should not add platy's or bettas
First off bettas and platy's will die over the winter for sure
Second, a goldfish will eat anything it can fit in its mouth so there is a possibility they would eat a small platy
and last your betta would probably get beaten up by your goldfish
Goldfish are a cold water fish so they can live in temperatures well below 65, if your pond is freezing over all you need to do is make sure you have a hole through the ice so air can get into the water
You need a real filter with a UV sterilizer if you want to make sure your pond stays clean and clear, your pool filter isn't getting it done. I don't think sand will be all that helpful either.


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## jchutch (Sep 8, 2009)

I have to agree with Tallon and isnt Platy's and Betta's Tropical fish? The cold will kill them if the goldies dont.


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## Coreyzilla (Sep 18, 2009)

I guess I should have added in my original post that we bring the betta's we already have outside, along with the plecos and snails inside during the winter. So we wouldn't have a problem with that.

And I'm not so sure about that bit about goldfish, we've added fry size babies a couple times now that have all survived. They've never seemed all that interested in them other then swimming up and saying hi to each other.

As for the filter, can you list any brands that would be better to look in to, rather than me just going out and believing everything they have to say at the pet stores?


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

I still wouldn't add bettas or platy's for the other reasons I added besides the cold.
The only reason your goldfish don't eat smaller fish my be because you keep them well fed
Laguna Filters work well


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You need pond Prime to deal with the chlorine http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/PondPrime.html.
You don't say how big the pond is, so these may be overkill. http://www.ponddoc.com/Store/Filters/ProBead/ProBead.html 
I understand you can use a tub full of sand, instead of a jug of beads. The trick is to set it up so you can "backflush" or clean the media by running water through it. There is some good info on the ponddoc.com site.


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