Question
We have built a small pond and have had goldfish in it for about 2 weeks.  We have a fountain that shoots the water up through an old lower half of a bird bath and then hits the sides of the bird bath.  It hits the water with a bit of force.
  The goldfish were swimming quite actively but now seem to hang out toward the top of the bird bath.  The water seems to hit them quite hard, yet they still stay there until we feed them.
  Is this strange?  If so, what could we be doing wrong?

Answer
They could by hanging there for a few reasons.  First, goldfish like moving water although they usually avoid water so fast that it hurts or moves them.  Second, the most oxygen will be right there, perhaps they need more oxygen.  Third, the turbulence created by the fast moving water makes the water harder to see into.  That means the fish can hide there from predators if they feel scared.  Do they have other places to hide?  How big is the pond?  You may want to put something under the moving water to break the force so it doesn't slam into the fish.  You could try to float say a piece of styrofoam there.

Good luck with the fish!

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com