Hello,

We have had a single veiltail, Princess Minima, for 7 years. She (or possibly a He? :rolleyes: ) used to have problems with her swim bladder for quite an extended period but eventually we learned about the frozen peas trick on the Internet, fixed her and since then have been feeding her frozen peas preventively every other day. Unfortunately, after many symptom-free months, today we found her floating one side up again :( . Hopefully we can fix it again with a couple of days of a pea-only diet!

She has been living in a relatively large (but still just a) fishbowl since we got her. Last fall we moved to a house with a garden and a fish pond with one koi, many goldfish and some water-lillies. The pond freezes in the winter but is deep enough for the fish to survive with no problem.

I was wandering whether it could be beneficial for our veiltail to release her to the pond with the other fish and if so when would be the best time to do so. I am asking mainly because I am concerned whether it would not be too much of a shock for a fish who has lived on her own for so long and also how she would cope with the temperature changes.

Thanks in advance for your funded opinion :) !

Fancy type goldfish do not do well in deep ponds with larger, faster, more aggressive fish.
Your koi are a bit more aggressive than the common goldfish or comet gold fish.
Commons and comets do fine with them, but the slower round bellied fancy goldfish don't stand a chance.
It would not be good for her and I hate to say it, but it would be a death sentence.

Also, your veil tail could be carrying a bacteria causing the swim bladder issues
And it could be that the peas are just treating the symptoms.
If you put her in the pond, you might be exposing the pond fish to a disease.

The swim bladder issue could also be just gas caused by gulping air at the surface
Of the water line for oxygen.
Gulping causes gas to build in their systems, feeding the peas would help
Move the gas along, but adding an air stone would give the water the oxygen the fish needs. This may be all it is.