goldfish being social or water too cold?

[fish guru]

Hi all, I have a question. i jave cycled my pond and since the water seemed fine i added one goldfish. It seemed healthy, and i floated the bag and acclimated it properly. I then moved him ( or her) into the pond and he was swimming for a while. I then looked again into the pond finding the fish just laying motionless on a clump of moss. i checked my water again the next day and found nothing. I then did an experiment where i moved it to my 20 fgallon aquarium, to see if it will start to move again since it was much warmer. when I did, it started moving about through the plants with my harlequinn rasboras. could the water be too cold for it? oh and by the way, I live in southern California, and the temp is about in the mid sixties to seventies. I understand that the fish's metabolism rises along with the water temperature b cuz they are cold blooded. but I think goldfishes can withstand a southern California weather even in the winter. could it be that my lfs's water was too warm? or could it be that they are social fish and like to be with another goldfish? please help I really want to start seeing goldfish flourish in my pond and if I dont solve this mystery, I will not be able to. thanx in advance
-fishguru

 

[THE V]

It was probably still acclimatizing to the new surroundings. I've seen them sit still and hide for several days before coming out to play. As long as your water temps are above 60 they will be active but it can take several days for them to acclimatize.

Also, if the pond is big enough you will probably want to add the fish in groups of 3 or more. Goldfish do like company. Be sure to quarantine them before adding them to your pond just like you would an aquarium.

 

[fish guru]

ok kool I will add him a buddy tommorrow

 

[SchizotypalVamp]

I kept goldfish successfully in the san fran valley for a long time.The only time I had to overwinter them was last winter, when the pond froze over (?!)