Thinking Of A Pond...

[J4MES]

Hi all,

well i am thinking of purchasing a pre formed pond.
I am unsure of the exact one I will be buying but I am going to the garden centre tomorrow so I will see what they have.
I have a few questions:
What fish could i have? (planning on a few goldies)
Are pre formed ponds good?
Does it need to be filtered?
I don't plan on a filter but w/c will be regular.

Opinions??

J4MES

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What fish could i have? (planning on a few goldies)
Koi, goldfish, tench, orfe etc are all popular pond fish choices. The type of fish you can have in your pond depends mostly on the size and depth and what the climate is like where you live in the world. I would strongly advise against stergeon though, as they grow massive (the smallest types available still grow to 1.5-2metre's long) and they are really not suited to pond life at all, needing near freezing water temps all year round and very highly oxygenated and filtered water.

Koi need a pond of at least 4ft depth, while goldfish need at least a 3ft deep pond. Ponds of less than 3ft depth are not really good for anything other than to serve the purpose of a non-fish wildlife only pond- having a deep enough pond is very important for the fish involved, the deep depth keeps the temp in the pond more stable and allows the fish a peaceful hibernation during the winter and also helps give the fish protection from predators. If the pond is too shallow for the fish and the pond freezes over during teh winter, the fish can die from freezing.
I would only advise a pond of less than 3ft depth for various pond fish if you can afford a heater for the pond to prevent it from freezing over during the winter or temps falling below 10degrees.

Are pre formed ponds good?
There aren't any benefets that i can think of about pre-formed ponds over ones made of liner and stuff etc. Pre-formed ponds can be quite difficult to fit into the ground as the hole dug for them needs to be quite exact to their shape. Pre-formed ponds are quite sturdy, but if you build the pond properly then one made out of liner and underlay can be just as sturdy.

Does it need to be filtered?
If you are going for fish then i would say "yes". Goldfish can live in unfiltered ponds if the pond is very lightly stocked with fish i.e. quite understocked (i would say about 1 third stocked), but adding filtration still offers the fish a much better quality of health/life in the long run and will also help keep the pond mcuh cleaner, which is very important for fish like koi, tench, orfe, goldfish etc.

 

[J4MES]

Thanks for the reply tokis. so would it be okay to not filter it if i have elodea in it and just a few goldfish? Or orfes?
Which would be best orfes or goldies?
Also i was wondering if the above fish will survive through the winter?
I really dont want to spend a heap of cash on filters so will it be okay if i do water changes every week or so?

Cheers
J4MES

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hm if you are not going to filter the pond i would just go for some goldfish- they should be fine through the winter as long as the pond is at least 3ft deep. Comet or common goldfish are the best types of goldfish for ponds in the UK as they do pretty well in the cold temps, on the other hand most fancy goldfish cannot tolerate freezing temps and would die so i would just stick to a few commons and/or comet goldfish.
How wide/long are you planning on having the pond?

 

[J4MES]

I don't know for sure, im obviously gonna go as big as possible. Im going to the garden centre tomoz so i will see what they have.

J4MES

 

[J4MES]

Also does it matter if the goldfish are small or big?
Will small ones be okay?
J4MES

 

[for_my_fish]

HOws about making a pond with backing and liner. The money saved could be used for a pump and DIY filter (think black water tank, some plumping fittings and gravel, hair rollers etc for media). I dug out for a few preformed ponds and don't think they are worth the hassle. Pond liner lets you choose the shape and depth, and ae easier to dig out for. You need a good inch and a half of sand to protect a preformed pond also.

Regular water changes in a pond are pretty hard to do without a pump also. At least with a filter you can fit a drain tap.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with for_my_fish with the pond liner thing, it'll be cheaper and easier to do- all you need is some underlay (to help insulate the pond), some sand (to help prevent things like rocks puncturing the liner) and the liner.

With goldfish, it doesn't really matter what size one's you get, but personally i would go for some small ones as that way they'll be easier to quarentine (which i strongly advise you do, since a fair amount of goldfish bought at shops are riddled with internal deseases or parasites or have other issues). Its much easier to keep an eye on their health if they are quarentined in a fish tank as it'll be easier to watch out for any health problems that arise with them.


I would still strongly advise a filter. To be honest, there's no really any way you can do a proper fish pond on the cheap- doing water changes once a week will be extremely wasteful water wise and will be difficult and tiresome during the colder months when you really want to be staying indoors- with a filter you can just drain the water out of the filter if you need to do a water change (most pond filters now days come with a drain tap which you can drain the water out of).

 

[GoldLenny]

If you decide to go with a small pump and fountain, which will aid in airation, you can also make a DIY pre-filter which will also double as mechanical/biological filtration. Here is one of my blog articles that also has my general plans and links to other DIY pre-filters. You can often find used fountain kits at garage sales or from other pond owners. http/goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/03/pond...lgae-bloom.html

 

[J4MES]

Darnit, didn't get round to going today, this gives me more time to plan.

J4MES

 

[Yazan]

Darnit, didn't get round to going today, this gives me more time to plan.

J4MES

I think that ponds need to have cover when it rains, rain is poluted my smoke from factorys, cars etc.


Good Luck with planing your pond.

 

[J4MES]

Thanks for the info yazan.
Can i add black ramshorns and sweetwater mussels to it?

J4MES

 

[GoldLenny]

Darnit, didn't get round to going today, this gives me more time to plan.

J4MES

I think that ponds need to have cover when it rains, rain is poluted my smoke from factorys, cars etc.

Good Luck with planing your pond.

Ummm. I think ponds being topped off by rainwater is much better than topping them off with tap water.

Rainwater and runoff caused by it is also used in your drinking water. Pure rainwater is much, much, much cleaner, as far as less chemicals, than nearly anything that comes from a public utility. My local drinking water comes from the Mississippi River which is polluted by the factories, chemical plants, shipping industry, farm runoff and other cities waste from half of America. How can rain water be worse than that?

Rain is basically evaporated water (distilled) which then forms clouds, condenses in the colder upper atmospheric levels and comes "raining" down. I'm not expert, but that has got to be cleaner than tap water... as far as possible chemical content.

 

[Yazan]

Well , thats what I heard.

 

[GoldLenny]

I guess if you live in a city like Los Angeles or other severely smog affected city, your tap water could be better (if it comes from an underground aquifer) but without knowing the source of the tap water compared to the air quality of the area, I would lean towards rain water being a better choice. Rain and melting snow runoff is what feeds most freshwater streams, rivers and lakes.