Fish appeared in wildlife pond!

[Madelinew]

I've been clearing out my very overgrown wildlife pond in the last couple of weeks. Having been a bit unwell this summer, I haven't been able to give it much attention. The inlet from the nearby stream became blocked and the pond level dropped. Having now sorted this out and cleared most of the weed, I suddenly noticed some fish this morning. When I was pulling out weed the other week, I thought they were newts but now I've sneaked up on them before they bury themselves in the silt, I now realise they are fish. There are 4 of them. They are about 3 inches long, sleek, grey and have reddish pink fins, the dorsal going along most of the length of the body. Do you think they were perhaps washed in as eggs from another pond upstream and the fact that my own pond became very overgrown, the eggs and then young had plenty of safe cover in which to develop? And can anyone help with identification please?

If I can catch them, I may well transfer them to my other pond where there is more cover and space.

[naturelover]

hi they sound like sticleback,they must have come up the stream.years ago i had two ponds one running into the other like a header pond,the header pond was slightly higher than the main pond that ran down a home made streem over a waterfall into the main pond,i tryed loads of times to get small fish to stay in the small pond,no luck they must have gone over the waterfall to get into the main pond,so i garatee your fish swam to your pond,what gets me how do they know there is water at the other end ?

[GuyF]

Could perhaps be a Roach or similar species? It's likely that they arrived in from the stream. Although they might have some effect on the creatures living in your pond, they are native and have arrived naturally so shouldn't cause as much harm as some of the fish you can buy from garden centres.
Guy

[tom00_uk]

they could also have come in on the feet of birds, but if your connected to a stocked system its quite likely this was their route to a new home, if the pool is still connected to the stream i would not worry about movingthem, if they become unhappy with the pool they can then go out and find a new home patch

[aeshna5]

I'd agree they sound like young Roach or Rudd.

[Madelinew]

Originally Posted by naturelover

hi they sound like sticleback,

I don't think they are stickleback. I used to catch these as a child and I seem to remember them being browner - but that may just have been the pollution in the River Lee! Also they don't have the characteristic spines.

The largest fish has a big white/silver spot on top just at the back of the head section. Does that help?

And the pond inlet has been blocked for at least 3 months which is why I wondered if they were the result of eggs washed in before then.

[Madelinew]

Yup I'm going for Rudd or Roach having had a close look at pictures of same. No idea which they are although one website I looked at suggested that Roach in fast moving water tend to be more streamlined than in slower water. Having said that, I wouldn't call my stream 'fast'.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I would suggest Roach or Rudd....you can tell by the mouth, Rudd's mouth's curve upwards and Roach downwards, You can also tell by eye colour in adults - Red = Roach, Yellow/Orange = Rudd, However I have a couple of small roach in my tank and they have silver eyes.

The final way of telling whether Roach or Rudd is the position of the dorsal fin however it is quite hard to do unless you have the two fish in hand! The Rudd's is generally set further back!

Hope this helps a little!
Cheers Jacob

[Madelinew]

Thanks for your help everyone!

[m1.carson]

Hi,

One other possibility is perch, niether roach nor rudd have a dorsal fin as long as described, don't like the sound of the white spot though.

Max.