Question
My backyard pond is about 8'x 4' and  3.5' feet deep. I live in Ontario. I have about 12  gold fish about 4 to 5 "long. In this size of pond how many gold fish can i put in and how big can or will they grow to.  Is it ok  to use house hold table salt for the pond.   5 of the gold fish are black  with a bit of orange under ther belly  i got them from a friend that said there black from comming from a large pond witch is most mud and covered with lily pads and said they will turn orange with time in the sun  is this true.  there the same size as the rest and had them for about a year now and there still 80% black   

Is there some way of posting pic's  on this fabulous forum site  thanks matthew  

Answer
Your pond is about 800 gallons.  In aquariums, they say one goldfish per 10 gallons but in ponds it can be up to one goldfish per 100 gallons.  I think something in between is good, up to maybe 20 goldfish, half that is better.  Do the goldfish overwinter ok there?
I've had comet goldfish grow to 14" long but most regularly-finned goldfish grow to about a foot long.

You want to use salt without additives or iodine, both of which are usually in table salt.  Pond salt is not expensive but you can also get plain salt (sodium chloride) in bulk from stores that sell things for the home.

Goldfish do change color over time.  Regular goldfish often start brown/gray/blah and then get some orange and black and finally orange and white in most cases.  The color change has absolutely nothing to do with the size or type of pond.  The mud pond would be darker.  Some fish can alter their appearance and darker up to suit darker backgrounds but goldfish cannot due that to much extent.  The sun doesn't make them change color any differently either.  In brighter sun, fish look more intensely colored but their actual color is due to genetics and diet not lighting.

This All Experts is not really a forum but I have a forum.  The link is http://s2.invisionfree.com/Fishpondinfo/index.php

Good luck!
Robyn
fishpondinfo.com