I am trying to convince my mom to build a goldfish/koi pond. She doesnt want to. She always tells me that she's stressed and I told her that the pond would make her feel better and relaxed lol. Now help me convince her! Share ur wonderful pond experiences and explain how wonderful and relaxing they are! Please show pics! Thanks!!

You could start small. How about digging a hole and putting in a stock tank. You could start with a oval shaped horse trough. The 100 gallon ones start at about $100 -- add a pond filter and it would be nice.

I started out with three big fiberglass pots sunk in the ground and went on to install a 2000 gallon pond later. The big pond was a man's job to put in though. I had a bulldozer and several strong men to dig that hole. It took my husband several months to build it, and it wasn't "relaxing" for about a year, LOL. Think on the smaller side for now, then maybe your mom will get into it.....

What are you planning on putting in a pond?

Hi Shamu, I read this earlier but I wanted to think about it before I answered and I think for me it would be better just to tell you how the pond came to be.. so here it is... My husband wanted a pond, except he wanted the pond to be 3 acres, and knowing NOTHING about ponds and their upkeep, even I knew that this plan was unrealistic, he wanted natural, I wanted filtration for fish.
In May he was called out of town for a week and since it was near his birthday, I decided to dig a pond.. on MY scale.. so I did, the pond is 10x6x3.
He loved the surprise when he got home, but it has become my pond.. because at the end of the day there is NOTHING more relaxing than just watching the fish do what they do, and they know who I am too.. I am the one with the goodies and they all gather round when they see me, but it is not just the fish.. it is when mother nature notices your pond that things get interesting, creatures that you dont get to see alot start moving in .


Today I got to watch a dragonfly lay eggs on a lily pad.. of course Bubba the bullfrog thought she was dinner and went hunting! He missed, but you get to watch nature up close and personal.

I am making plans next year to build an even bigger pond in the backyard... but I guess it all boils down to the fact that I didnt miss it when I didnt have a pond... but now.. I cannot imagine EVER being without one.

I think your mom will feel the same.. pics in next post.

Shamu I know you love fish but how does your mom feel about them? For some people a pond really isn't a great idea because they are a lot of work and money to maintain. If your mom doesn't feel the same about fish as you do she may not find a pond to be as stress relieving and relaxing as you do. That's how my husband is. He likes fish ok but he doesn't get the same kind of joy and relaxation that I do from them.

I know a small pond is a great idea for you because I know you'd get alot of enjoyment out of it and there are corners you can cut to keep the costs down. Just remember before your dig that first shovel of dirt to do TONS of research on ponds in general and for the care and maintaining of ponds in your area. Because there's different requirements and precautionary things for each area to keep in mind.

I had the same problem before I got a pond. My parents did not really want one. But guess what, I kept asking them and showing them pond pictures from this forum. They started to like goldfish and started wanting a pond from seeing all the beautiful ponds in this forum. Then the right time came and we built our very own pond. Also, think about the space and your budget for a pond. If you really want a pond, you will get it.

She does like fish, and I would be the one cleaning it and feeding the fish, no work for her. If we start out with a small cheap pond I could pay for part of it . I wanna put comets, commons and shubunkins in it. I saw some at wallmart and I wanted to rescue them, they were suffering. I bet my mom doesnt even know what a good feeling it is to rescue one of those fishies and then watch how the pay u back. She always sais that u cant rescue every suffering fish u see, and thats true, but some CAN be rescued, they could have a chance to have a life and enjoy it too. I think many people would agree that its very rewarding to buy that sick little fishie at wallmart then watch it grow huge and healthy in ur care. I would love to have a pond, i'd put rescued fish from wallmart in it. I think its great how u rescue fish Olivia (and ur pond is gorgeous). I wanna do that too. Theres not many people here who actually care about fish, they think its just a cheap pet that can easily be replaced, they're much more to me, they're my best friends and I dont know what I would do without them. If we had a pond maybe my mother would realize that too.

Shamu, What's the winter weather like in Manitoba? If it gets really cold there in the winter, you'd have to come up with a plan for winterizing the pond. I use a stock tank de-icer here in Virginia. It keeps a hole open in the ice and the fish get plenty of oxygen.

What's your soil like there? Is it sandy and shifty? Or hard and clay-like? I ask because if it shifts easily, you'll want to go with a rigid liner like fiberglass. If it's clay-like and holds it's shape well, you can get away with digging a hold and using a rubber liner. The rubber liner will be cheaper. Look around the internet to see how to install it properly. Check out this site for pond construction questions and answers:

www.springdalewatergardens.com/articles/pcfaqs.html

A 300-600 gallon pond wouldn't be too hard for a teenager to keep up. You'd have to filter it somehow, and keep the filter material clean. That means rinsing filter media during the summer. And you'd vacuum the bottom every so often. I do a big spring clean-up on the pond, then do regular water changes, clean my filter throughout the summer, check to make sure air stones are running properly, groom the plants and vacuum the bottom as well. I spend two to four hours out there on the weekends doing maintenance, but I have a 2000 gallon pond. If yours was smaller, it wouldn't take that long -- probably an hour or so. It's really not that bad -- the fish keep me company and I know that I'm doing stuff to improve their quality of life. It's like doing water changes on your aquariums, but on a larger scale. :-)

You'd want a few plants -- probably a water lily or two, some submerged anacharis, and a couple of marginals like water iris and a couple of water hyacinth. The fish love to hide out in the plants. Water plants grow vigorously, so you'd want to divide them every couple of years. That's not hard either. You just slice through them with a sharp shovel and replant. If you're lucky, the fish will spawn in the spring and you'll get babies in the plants. That's the best part! :-)

It's not a HUGE expensive proposition if you start out small.

This is my pond:




My Filter in a 100 gallon Horse Trough. This is called a Skippy Filter




This was my first pond in a 36 inch diameter fiberglass pot. I had no filter, just a water lily, a couple of bunches of submerged anacharis and two comets. I used a de-icer in the winter and they did great. I think the pot held about 70 gallons of water.

I always wanted a pond full of fish, i begged my mom since i saw fish in the fish store! she said " when i get oooooolllldddder" GOSH thats annoying! now i REALLY want one but my dogs would get into it and eat them!

We have a 15 gallon pond, if your mom wants something easy to maintain, you could get one that small to start out with.

theres things u can get to keep animals away

thanks gardengirl, that info was useful. I dont care how long it takes to clean, I have nothing else to do in life anyway . It does get very cold here, i would use that stuff that u suggested if not possible we might be able to bring them inside in a tub just for the winter) , the soil is more clay like I think. Ur ponds look awesome and thanks for the link!

I like you shamu. You remind me of myself when I was your age. I was 14 when I got my first pond and it's still running at my parents house. I go every weekend to do the maintaince. My dad helped me build it because he thought it would get some of those fish out of his house lol.

Thanks for the compliment on my little pond I'll pass it along to my sister since she planted all the flowers. If you want when you finally do get your pond I'll show you how to make your own filters. It's much cheaper and works just as well.

I was just thinking last night how much I was like that too when I was Shamu's age. I wanted a dolphin tank and an animal shelter! LOL. We moved a lot so I had small tanks of assorted things -- sometimes fish, sometimes terarriums, sometimes little furry critters. I was a magnet for anything with a broken wing or sad story, and later became a wildlife rehabilitator when I grew up and got married. Homeless animals always seem to make their way here.

Shamu, you will eventually have the pond you dream of. I didn't get a dolphin tank, but my pond is just as satisfying. Besides, I think I would have gone broke feeding a dolphin, LOL.

My favourite place is to sit by the pond and watch the fish. I do that at feeding time and I don't leave
until I have seen all of them. Brownie is very difficult to find. I love everything about the pond, the sound
of water, the sight (pouring water, swimming beautiful fish, sun reflecting the surface and so on)and the
smell of the water! I get so happy when I see the swimming fish, the life, there is something magical.
So I recommend everyone who has the possibility, to build a pond.
I have showed tons of pics of our little pond, but here are 2 new.
Feeding time!

lol, thanks. I might not even need a filter though! We do have 1 pond, its really big about 1 million gallons, now the problem is that there are native species of fish in there, putting goldfish or koi in it might disturb the natural ecosystem, just like u said with those wormy things. But my mother said that maybe we could somehow cut off a corner of the pond with a wall or something and use that as a goldfish/koi pond! I just need to ask my dad, I hope he says yes! The reason I dont need a filter is because its naturally balanced, water quality is perfect, if there is some way for water to exchange from the little area to the big part of the pond I wouldt even need to do waterchanges. What do u think of that idea? If it works out i'll be able to rescue fish just like u! But if I do ever need a filter i'll be sure to ask u!




I once wanted a whale tank lol. I really hope my mom does let me do what I said above, then I would finally have a goldfish pond, I'd be so happy!

Anette, ur pond is gorgeous!

Your wild pond is naturally balanced but it also naturally contains pests, parasites, and predators like hydras, leaches, diving beetles, turtles, snakes, and other stuff. I personally wouldn't chance it. Water changes from a wild pond would introduce more little nasties to your goldfish than you could ever dream of.

Also being as you haven't kept a pond before it would be a good idea to start small and grow in your experience before trying to tackle something huge.

hhhmmmm, so its not a good idea? Ok, i'll see if I can convince them to get me a little one. They have these cool 150 gallon ponds here, they come with powerheads, a fountain thingie, plastic plants, and lights. Its not really that expensive either. My dad didnt really seem to care about building a pond, I did ask him about my first idea and he said I could do it as long as I find a way to do it by myself, maybe if I buy it myself and set it up and take care of it, maybe they'll let me get it eventually. My grandparents back in germany have a beatiful goldfish pond, they dont really clean it either I dont think, but the water is clear to the bottom and perfect for the fishies, its really pretty too, when I was little I sometimes helped them feed the fish. One of the fishies was mine, I dont remeber its name though, I wonder if its still alive

I agree with Ryukinluver. A natural pond would be cool if it JUST had goldfish/koi, but native fish LOVE to eat goldfish and koi, and what they don't kill, they harass until they die anyway. Native fish and goldfish/koi DO NOT go together. The idea to section off a portion of the pond is interesting, but it would be impossible to medicate if you needed to or catch fish if they needed out-of-the-pond treatment. (Like the two I had to catch to have scraped and scoped for a parasite recentely -- it was hard enough catching them in my 2000 gallon pond, much less a natural earth bottom pond).... Which brings me to another point -- Koi and goldfish LOVE to root around in earth bottom pond and muck up the water. You'd never see them. In Japan they use HUGE earth bottom ponds to grow out koi, but there are no other fish in these ponds and they don't care if they don't see the koi. They use big nets to haul them in when they want to take them to market.

Sorry kiddo, the natural pond idea seems great on the surface, but it's probably not the best choice for your fish. And you want what's best for them don't you? I like the idea of starting somewhat small -- even with a rubbermaid horse trough that you sink in the ground. You can get them in 100, 150, and 300 gallons, so they aren't tiny. You'll learn with that and dig a monster pond later, when you get your mom hooked, LOL.

Put it close to your patio where you can enjoy it.

ofcourse I want whats best for the fish, thats why Im gonna scratch that idea, maybe i'll look on ebay for a cheap pond. If my parents are gonna let my bro buy a dirtbike with his own money, they should let me buy a little pond with my OWN money. They wouldnt have to spend a penny, and I'd take care of it by myself, Im good at taking care of fish, shouldnt be that hard.

good luck on getting a pond....i tried but no luck getting one

I think my mom might let me buy a pond!!!!!!!!!!! I dont have enough money, and my little brother has about 7 times as much money as me so he said that once he bought his dirtbike and another normal bike he'd help me buy it, I have been his servant the past hour or so as part of the deal.

Good Luck on getting your pond!
We started out with one small one and it all just keeps growing! We find it a relaxing hobby to have. I guess that's why we keep adding on and relanscaping all the time. I enjoy watching the fish quite a bit and so far have not had any trouble with other animals bothering the fish.
Here are my ponds:

We've had a ton of frogs move in here! The waterfall provides such a soothing sound while we are out working in our yard.


This is where my "babies" live. You can't see it in this picture but we made a little rock shelter on the bottom and this is where they live over the winter. We used a tank deicer at first but after 2 of them burned up we now just unhook our filter and let the pump run all winter. It keeps a hole in the ice and it takes alot of cold to freeze running water!

ur ponds are gorgeous! And actually, running water can freeze here, it gets really cold, we have an airpump in our big natural pond and there is a large fast flowing river nearby, they both completely freeze up over the winter, then theres always a huge bubble under the ice lol

May I ask what that is around your pond? Not the netting but the other.
Looks like carpet?

looks like stone, but then it got all the creases in, so idk

^^^I'm trying to puraswade my mum to let me put one of those tub things in our garden, because the reason she said we couldnt have a pond was because it is purmanent, so we would have to have it all the time

I wish I could get a pond, had them convinced for awhile, but they like the 110 gallon tank alot better than a pond

Your lucky, your parents let u hav tanks that big lol

I also have a really big pond of about a million gallons it's (it's hard to estimate gallons) about 14,000 square feet surface area and 25 feet deep. The pond was dug and has a sand bottem. Because of the size of the pond it also has a natural ecosystem and is maintanance free. You don't have to worry about disturbing the natural ecosystem I've had goldfish in my pond for over 10 years.




You can use a seining net. That would be the cheapest way.
Is your pond landlocked? Keep in mind that if your pond has any streams coming into it or flowing out of it that it will be illegal to put goldfish or koi in it.




Sure a wild pond will have this stuff in it but it's not much of a problem in a large pond. Turtles are cool too.




Native fish will eat goldfish and koi until the goldfish and koi grow to big to eat. In large ponds you don't have to worry about your fish being harassed until they die because your fish will just swim away. Goldfish and native fish go together just fine as long as the goldfish are too big to eat. In my pond the goldfish and bass swim around together. The goldfish are too big for the bass to eat so the bass don't bother them.

In large ponds you don't have disease problems like you do in small ponds and aquariums.




A large natural pond is the best place for your fish. Much better than any aquaruim or small pond. They always have fresh water and lots of good healthy live food. When keeping goldfish in a large pond there are few things you have to consider: It is illegal to put goldfish and koi in a pond that is not landlocked, If the pond has native fish in it you will want to keep your goldfish separated until their too big to eat or just buy big goldfish, Seeing that your in Canada your going to have to get singletail goldfish, wakins, or koi if you want them to survive the cold of winter.





If your natural pond is landlocked ask your dad if you can put goldfish in it. Buy some goldfish that are too big for the native fish to eat and they will start breeding in your pond. Some babies will get eaten but some will survive just like every other fish in nature. You could then buy some small goldfish that you like and put them in your 110 gallon tank. Then when they out grow your 110 gallon tank or get too big for the native fish to eat you could put them in your big pond. The fish to consider for your big pond is any singletail goldfish (common, comet, subunkin), wakin and koi.