New Pond

[bex1]

hey, me and my dad are building a pond, we have built the brickwork and are going to cut and fit the liner one day this week.
it is fairly small, approx -
length - (minus the bricks) = 130cm
width - (minus the bricks) = 82cm
height (m,inus the brick work) = 45cm

how many gallons/ litres will that be approx?
What fish/amphibians/plants etc would you suggest for this pond?
what would you put in it and how many?

we also want to put some underwater lights in it, how would we do this?

i'll take some pics soon to show you what it looks like.
thanks for all your help and sorry for all the questions!

Cheers x x

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

If you want to have fish you will need to make it a lot deeper (3ft+ is what most people advise depending on what fish you want), but if you don't want fish then it should be fine . Where abouts do you live in the world/what sort of climate do you have throughout the year?
Frogs will move into the pond on their own accord once its settled down, as will insects like dragonflys, mayflyes or damsilflys etc depending on the time of year .

 

[bex1]

hey thanks for the reply.
me and my dad are going to make it deeper as you have suggested probably to 3ft.
i live in the UK, so any fish would have to be used to cold water especially in the winter!
what fish does anyone suggest?
also how do you fit underwater lights and were do you get them from?
also what plants etc should i buy?
will i need a filter? if so which one etc would you suggest?
thanks x x

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I don't know about the lights, or what filtration to advise, but the first thing you need to do is work out the gallons of the pond;

http/www.garf.org/calculators/TankVolumeCalculator.asp


Goldfish are the only real option for that sort of size pond, koi carp need a minimum of a thousand gallons+. Comet, common and shubunkin (there are actually two types of shubunkin goldfish, the bristol shubunkin and london shubunkin) goldfish would make fine inhabitants for your average UK pond, but even so, climates do vary a bit in the UK so you should find out how cold it can get on average in the winters.
Fancy goldfish are a no-no as they find great difficulty in over-wintering frozen ponds or very cold temps. Goldfish, particually ones that have been kept indoors, should be acclimatised to the pond on hot/warm days (like during summer time) so they can adjust well to the temps as they later cool down for winter over the months.
Info on goldfish varieties with pics (click on the names for more info);

http/www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/goldfish.htm

.

 

[bex1]

hi thanks for alll the info,
from the calculator you gave as a link i worked out that my pond will hold around 150 gallons.
thanks

Also if anyone can answer any of my other questions i would greatly appreciate it!

thanks again,
x x x

 

[bex1]

Anyone ?

 

[bribones]

start off with a couple of commons and see how it goes youl need to let the stats adjust to the fish and vice versa
150 gallons will allow for 7 fish maximum but not koi or orfs,fancies wont do well over the winter so keep it simple ,comets or shubumkins will add some colour

 

[bex1]

Hey thanks for the reply.

the pond is full of water now and the waterfall is working perfectly, i dont have anything in there yet though.
do i need a filter in this pond? i have a small pump running that powers the water fall this has a tiny filter sponge in it, will this be enough or can anyone suggest a good filter for this pond?

also anyone suggest some nice plants to add and should i put some rocks etc in there?

how long should i leave it before adding a few fish?

thanks again