Building A Pond

[3ndl3r]

hey all

i am in the process of building a small pond to house a couple of goldfish, they are currently in a 4 foot tank and need to make way for Discus
By small i mean 3ft cube. Comes to around 168G so plenty of room for the fish.

I wasn't planning on filtration due to the little stocking, but i will do weekly water changes.

I'm almost finished digging, just another foot down to go.

Once it's done, and the liner is in. I'll leave the water to dechlorinate naturally etc. And i won't be adding the fish until it warms up abit.

I'll put plenty of plants in the pond.

Thats about it.

It'll work wont it?

James

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its not so much the amount of gallons thats important, its the length, width and height of the pond that matters most when it comes to goldfish . If the goldfish are just standard common or comet goldfish, then i would advise digging a pond thats 6ft long by 2-3ft wide and 3ft deep- such goldfish can grow to well over 1ft in length (i've seen common goldfish 16inches in length) and are very active so a pond which is only 3ft long is not going to give them enough space to swim about in i'm afraid. Make it twice as long and it will be great for them .

 

[3ndl3r]

Don't really have enough room to make it any bigger

The goldfish are all just regular commons. All except one are around 3 inches in length. The other is around 6 or 7.

Surely it will be big enough for the time being? I know of many ponds of which they could be rehommed to when they get too big.

 

[Truck]

go big from the start!! everybody says they can rehome, but when it comes to it...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Don't really have enough room to make it any bigger

The goldfish are all just regular commons. All except one are around 3 inches in length. The other is around 6 or 7.

Surely it will be big enough for the time being? I know of many ponds of which they could be rehommed to when they get too big.

It'll be big enough for the time being, but it can only serve them as a temporary home. If you know people with large enough ponds (which also have the space for more goldfish) and who you can rely on to take your goldfish off you when they get too large, then you might be ok.
But really if you can do it, a longer pond would be by far the best option .

 

[3ndl3r]

Well i could probably stretch to 5 foot. would that be ok?

Cheers

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Well i could probably stretch to 5 foot. would that be ok?

Cheers

That might work, it depends on how large the goldfish grow- how many goldfish do you have?

 

[3ndl3r]

Just 4 Tokis

i dug another 2 feet in length, may just be able to do another foot. But is there any need?

James

 

[chr15_8]

Just 4 Tokis

i dug another 2 feet in length, may just be able to do another foot. But is there any need?

James

bigger the pond the better.

its like saying would you prefer a 4ft wide bed or a 5ft wide bed (thats just an example btw)

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Just 4 Tokis

i dug another 2 feet in length, may just be able to do another foot. But is there any need?

James

5ft length pond= goldfish should have enough space, but no guarantee
5.5ft length pond= goldfish will have enough space
6ft length pond= goldfish will definitely have more than enough space

If you are keeping the width & depth of the pond the same (3ft), then assuming the pond is perfectly rectangular then this is how many gallons the pond will have with each length;

5x3x3ft pond= 335 US gal
5.5x3x3 pond= 369 US gal
6x3x3 pond= 400 US gal

In your average filtered pond, usually people recommend no more than 1 goldfish per 100gallons, but in the above ponds with strong filtration i would say you could get away with 4 goldfish in the 335gal, 5goldfish in the 569gal and 5-6goldfish in the 400gal .

 

[3ndl3r]

hmmm i wasn't planning on filtration due to the little stocking. I will however be able to stretch to 6 foot. Turns out the drainpipe i thought was there isn't Plenty of room now

 

[3ndl3r]

quick update

finished digging. (just about).

Managed to get another foot-foot and a half in length. But i haven't dug this part quite so deep. as i am planning to use this area for some pond plants. I will be starting a diary/update thread as i progress.

Will also be including accurate dimensions.

Quic question. Can i use a pool pump for a filter? I would change the pool cartridge for aquarium/pond media. It's a fairly big pump. Came with a 12ft swimming pool.

 

[chr15_8]

personally i wouldnt use the pool filter/pump
as it will prbably be to big for this size of pond and you dont know what metals/nasties it contains.

also i would advice to dig the shelf out to full depth.

1) the shelf will act as a heron step
2)if something scared the fish eg t he heron they would probably hide in the plants (again they will be in bigger danger)
3)you will get more creases in the liner. (more places for bad bacteria to gather)

 

[3ndl3r]

If i did this, where would i put plants?

Cheers

 

[Truck]

If i did this, where would i put plants?

Cheers

put bricks in there with the plants on top