Question
I have a 600-800 gallon pond (constructed with a liner) of about 20" depth.  Filtration is accomplished by cycling the water through a couple of tubs filled with water hyacinth.  This is its first year.  Currently I have only 4 small (2") golden orfe and 4 goldfish (about 3" each) in it.  There are also at least 50 gambusia, supplied by the county Environmental Health Department to eat mosquito larvae. (Unfortunately they also seem to be eating all other larvae, including those of dragonflies and damselflies.)  

I would like to have other species of fish in the pond, but am aware that few can live successfully with goldfish.  I've heard of "red minnows," and "golden tench."  Can you advise me about the possibility of having them in the pond?  If they can co-exist, can you point me to sources to buy them in the U.S.?  Are there other species I could also have in the pond?

How about reptiles and amphibians?  I know turtles will eat my water lilies, and that's not acceptable... but I LOVE turtles!  Are there ANY that won't destroy my lilies?

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We're at 5000' elevation, so the relatively brief winters are indeed cold, and the pond will freeze over.  I know I'll have to use a de-icer to keep open a hole for the two months or so of really cold winter.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

Answer
Well Al, a lot of your questions are answered on my web site!  I'm moving it right now to fishpondinfo.com so the following URL's are the old pages which will be deleted in about a month and moved to the same pages on fishpondinfo.com

Rosy red minnows - http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/rosies.htm

Tench (brief) and miscelleneous fish -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/misc.htm

Native fish -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/misc2.htm

Winterizing -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/winter.htm

Turtle Ponds -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/turpond.htm

Turtle Index -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/turtle.htm

Mosquito Fish -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/mosq.htm

Now to answer your questions quickly as most are on my site:

Since orfe and goldfish eat mosquito larvae, you didn't need those mosquito fish after all and they will eat insects as well as frog and toad eggs and perhaps rip some fins off the goldfish.  The orfe when they get bigger will eat small fish and perhaps keep them and the goldfish in check as they do in my pond (I don't have mosquito fish anymore though, mine didn't survive a bad winter we had).

Rosy reds and tench would do fine in your pond if the mosquito fish don't pester them.  My rosy red page has sources for those but most pet stores sell them as feeders or "tuffies."  I've never found a US source for tench and have never had any.  The site links I gave you list some other fish you might try.

Most turtles eat some fish and plants.  The best one would be the species of painted turtle native to your area.  See my turtle pages for info on turtle ponds and more.  If you just have one or two and lots of plants, they won't destroy all your lilies but you may lose some here or there.  It's a compromise.  I also have pages on frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, snakes, and well almost any animal that might come to a pond or be put in it.

Hope this help!

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com