Yippppeeeeeee I'm getting a pond

[sylvia]

I suppose you'll want some of the not-so-fancy goldfish... The very fancy types aren't as hardy so may not survive through a cold UK winter. Sarasa comets, comets, commons, shubunkins, bristol shubunkins and possibly fan-tails and veiltails should work.

 

[sunflower]

Thanks alot everyone.

Anything else I need to know?

 

[Cat]

I'd love this on our pond as a fountain...

 

[bribones]

all the fish sylvia mentioned will be fine at the size pond you quoted you could keep a couple of koi in there as well,golden orfs would do well but youd need netting as they like to jump,comets and shubumkins will add a flash of colour if you dont want all goldies,minnows look good if kept in numbers as they shoal together,up to you really but its a good size pond so a wide variety is possible

 

[sunflower]

OK, next question, how do I keep cats out of the pond? Would strong netting surfice?

 

[GSD]

use netting to keep them off

 

[ryan]

In fish terms I would rule out the likes of fan-tails and veiltails or any species of Fancy Goldfish as they will find it hard to compete with other fish for food in a pond environment, the english winter will also cause them problems. Some other fish ideas are, Tench (gold variety available), Goldfish species, Ghost Koi, Rudd (gold variety available), Orfes which come in several colour forms, Minnows (gold variety available) and Sticklebacks etc. Orfe will only jump in the evenings of summer to catch small insects and will never jump out of the pon unless it is to small or there is insufficent oxygen.

As for Cats, with most pond fish species you don't have to worry about cats catching them IME their to fast and wary for Cats. But if you are worried netting should prevent that, you could always have a net attached to sticks laying across the pond which could be removed when you were looking at the pond so it was more asthetically pleasing.

Good Luck

 

[sunflower]

Thanks for that Ryan.

I've been looking at some pond fish today and I must admit I'm not much for the fancy varieties anyway and those ones with googling eyes just look freaky

 

[ryan]

They do have an individual look.

 

[sunflower]

They do have an individual look.

I think each eye has an individual "look"

We're now thinking we might try and find a preformed pond that we can just build our wall around.

Would that be OK?

 

[bribones]

fiberglass with timber surround

 

[sunflower]

OK, just wanted to throw a few more questions in:

1) Can coldwater fish varieties be mixed together or do I need to keep certain ones apart?

2) Would I be able to keep koi in a 3 metre long, 2 metre wide, 1 metre deep pond?

3) How do you do the corners with the liner to make sure there are no leaks and that fish don't get stuck?

Thanks
Sam

 

[bribones]

the size is fine for koi but try and go a little deeper if you can
you can keep mixed fish no problem although id stay away from the slower swimming fancy types
fit the liner as your filling it and fold any extra liner under itself like a hospital corner the weight of the water will hold down any folds

 

[ryan]

1) Most coldwater fish species will co-exist quite happily with each other. However, there are a few exceptions like Bullhead Catfish and species of Sunfish, but its unlikely you will be able to find these or even choose them for you pond.

2) According to your measurements your pond will hold roughly 1320 UK gallons which is fine for keeping Koi, the general rule is 1000 gallons, but remeber they produce alot of waste so stocking levels will need to be slightly lighter if Koi are included. But remember the water quality and filtration will have to be of a higher grade for Koi keeping.

3) From you diagram the pond will be a rectangular shape? If so all the corners will be of at least 90 degress so there will be no problem with the fish getting trapped. If you are using a liner I have always found it best to place the pond liner in the hole and fill it with water, it will then fill out the shape itself. Personally I prefer a more natural looking pond with shallow areas and un-uniformed edges, this also benefits fish in spawning and pond plantsing, especailly for marginal plants. If you want to attract wildlife the shallow areas will be a great help aswell.

 

[sunflower]

OK thanks again for that.

Sorry to ask more questions but I keep thinking of different things...

Do we wash the substrate just the same as I would for a tank?

Also how do I work out how many inches of fish (or whatever the coldwater term is) that we can keep?