Yes, given a pond- I think its a great gift. Its already set up though however- and I don't know how well.

Its got a running filter with changed cartridges, one of those baily things for algae and some stress-coat for ponds stuff. Also, I have about 12 very tiny goldfish that came with it- I don't have them in the pond, I am keeping them seperate in a large plastic tuperwear thing with air-pumps and frequent water changes. I can take pictures too of all this if it'd help- because I'm not great with any of this. Its my first time, and I want to do it correctly.

What sort of info should I post or gather to further help with...well getting help?

Try to circulate around the amount of water in the pond...more the better. Also you might want to slim down your population of goldfish as they tend to breed really fast in ponds . And remember you can never have to much filtration. Dont forget to dechlorify the pond though if use hose water.

I fill from a hose but have well water. If you have well water you don't need to dechlorify.

Not all of the goldfish have survived. They were wal mart fish after all, feeders.
I took some pictures of the pond as it is now and how it was given to me. I cleaned it, and i still change out water once a week and I did get some dechlorinator too for the water and have been using that. I'm just nervous to put the fish in yet- I don't know if its ready. So, maybe from pictures somebody can tell me how good or awful this pond is when it comes to being ready to hold fish. I don't want to kill them, or do something wrong.

I would get your hands on a test kit. This way you know when the water is good for the fish.

Wal Mart fish aren't always bad fish. All of my fish came from there and they're all happy as clams.

In fact, my favorite "feeder" started out at an inch and a half, and is now up to somewhere between 6 to 7 inches.

I can't help with your questions, but wanted to say what a great gift, the pond looks awesome!

When we put in our pond we were told no fish for 3-4 weeks. We have Koi, and our pond is bigger. The best suggestion you already got, get a test kit to know for sure how your water is doing.

Good Luck, can't wait to see pics when the fish move in!

Our wal mart buy's goldfish from a place that doesn't feed them for weeks before shipping hundreds in a bag at a time, to cut down on ammonia levels. So when they arrive, their stomachs have collapsed and most do die. =\ So I try not to buy and support their fish section so much. This doesn't mean that I don't want to 'save' fish though- I deal with that all the time and I've had a lot of heartache because of it too.
Regardless, I'll try and get a test kit- is it the same one as the ones you can use on an aquarium or are they different? I have some for my aquariums after all, PH and ammonia.
Thanks for the kind comments too. I can't wait to put the little guys in there, I'm sure they will be much happier with more room and shade.


Anybody know anything about butterfly koi? I'm intrested in those too...they are just gorgeous- I'm not planning on getting one though if I can't keep it properly.

I have a few butterfly Koi and they do take your breath away with those tails. My Shubumkins have great tails too. I don't know of any difference between them and reg. Koi other than thier look. They eat the same and grow the same, big!

what type of fish are you going to get?

for any type of koi you need a minimum of 250gallons as koi can grow to be very big. so your little pond is not big enough for anything but goldfish.

if you no the basic rule for stocking a goldfish tank you can work off that if not it is 20gals per single tailed goldies and 10gals per fancy tailed goldies.

but since it is a pond you should give them more room so something like 40gals per single tailed goldie and 20gals per fancy tailed goldie. i saw the pics it is very pretty pond very lucky fish. are you going to have any plants in there maybe some waterlillies or duckweed

The Alamo in TX has some amazing koi. I swear one was about 3ft long. Absolutely gorgeous fish.

The pond needs a little while to settle in, and 3-4 weeks sounds pretty good.
Testing for pH readings is a good idea, so you'll know if it is stable all the time, or if it fluctuates. Especially with a lot of plants in there, pH might go up and down every so often. I do see one water lily - is there more in there, or is that it plantwise?
You won't have any ammonia/nitrites in the pond without the fish. Since you changed the filter cartridges, and a good time has passed, I doubt that there will be any good bacteria left from the previous fish occupants. Whenever you put the fish in, remember that the pond cycling starts from there on out, just like a tank would need to cycle. The good beneficial bacteria will only develop when fish are in it, so be prepared to test the water daily for ammonia and such, and do water changes accordingly.

The good thing about a pond is that its in general much bigger than tanks, and tends to have less fish than a tank would have. If the fish population is rather small, you might never get any major ammonia readings.