Gudgeon - Gobio gobio - 7-10cm

The gudgeon (Gobio gobio), which is widespread in Central Europe and native to our natural waters, belongs to the carp fish. Gudgeons like to live in shallower water, so the garden pond should have a shallow water area for these beautiful pond fish. Their conspicuous underslung mouth shows that they like to forage in the pond mud. Gudgeons display a silvery to gray-green base color and have a fun dark, sometimes faint dot pattern on the sides.

Growing to 10-15 cm, gudgeons are fast and skillful swimmers. They fit well into the garden pond, if it meets some requirements. It is better to place it in partial shade, so that the water does not get too warm, especially in summer. An oxydator for garden ponds provides an additional security of oxygen supply.

The pond water for gudgeons must be clean and have a slight current. For species-appropriate keeping of these beautiful native fish, we therefore definitely recommend the use of a powerful pond filter. The garden pond must hold at least 3000 liters for a group of six gudgeons. Extensive shallow water zones are very popular with the sociable carp fish. The pond can be planted well for gudgeons, which in turn is very beneficial to the water quality.

Gudgeons are a very suitable by-fish for Koi carp in the garden pond.

Gudgeons are native fish, so they can easily overwinter in the garden pond outdoors. For this purpose, however, the pond must be built deep enough so that it does not freeze through to the bottom of the pond - a depth of approx. 1-1.3 m is required. An ice freezer helps in winter so that the gas exchange does not come to a standstill and there is always enough oxygen in the water.

Gudgeons become sexually mature at about 2 to 3 years of age. The spawning season of gudgeon is in May and June. During courtship, the fish make squeaking sounds that can sometimes be heard even outside the garden pond. The females like to use the shallow water zone for spawning, attaching the eggs to aquatic plants and rocks. The gudgeon is a pond fish that reproduces well in the garden pond.

Gudgeons feed mainly on animals: they eat insect larvae (very convenient: also mosquito larvae), look for worms from the mud at the bottom of the pond, they also eat small crustaceans and snails and other mollusks. You can also accustom the pretty little fish for the garden pond to flake food.