What do people use for rings?

[Sawyer]

After my goldfish are moved into a pond I want to teach them some tricks, like going through a ring, pushing a ball through a hoop, soccer, fetch, little things like that. I was wondering what I could use for a ring that wouldn't be dangerous. Like would a plastic bracelet (they're small enough right now that that would work) be ok? Or could the plastic potentially have something in it that could leech into the water? Are ping pong balls safe?

 

[Kashta]

We actually did something like this with our fish when I was little. Regular plastic without any strange coating would be just fine.

With smallish fish, we used some kind of plastic bangle bracelet. Since it floated in the water, they dangled a small fishing sinker from it... which flipped the "hoop" from horizontal to vertical. Not so sure now about lead content in that case, but it might give you an idea. If you're using something that sinks on it's own, tie that to anything that floats... a small bobber, ping pong ball, etc.

Do be careful about fish size and hoop diameter as they grow. Goldfish are so playful anyway, they might invent a few tricks of their own.

Fun idea...... let us know how this works out!!

 

[Flaringshutter]

Sawyer, you might find this website interesting:

http://www.freshwaterpearlspuppetry.com/bubbleblog/

This person is a professional goldfish trainer. Her blog is really fascinating.