So you've heard about fish as an option to help keep your horses water trough clean and you're curious? It's true- fish in your tank won't completely remove the need for you to clean your horses water tank, but it can significantly decrease (up to 75%) how often you need to clean it.
Fish (goldfish, mostly) put in your horse's water tanks can help keep the mosquito, bug and algae populations in the tank down. Fish in a horse water tank to not need to be fed, they can survive and thrive on algae and dropped particles from the horses.
In extremely cold climates fish in the horse water tanks require a heater put in the water to survive, but in most climates fish in the horse water tank can survive the winter by just having the bottom several inches of the trough buried.
The best place to find a fish that will survive and thrive in your horse water tank is a store that sells goldfish for outdoor ponds or landscaping water features. If these are not an option however, hit your closest pet store or big box store and buy several. Generally goldfish from these stores are not healthy enough to survive many days but if you buy several you should have a few survivors. Don't worry about their small size- goldfish grow in proportion to their tank. So while goldfish in a bowl remain small, your stock tank goldfish will soon become large!
