OK, i have been wanting a pond for ages, and i havnt been allowed one, but i just found out my grandad is re doing his pond, and he said i could put some fish in it! It wont be too big, only maybe 3 fish, but im still really excited lol, anyone got any tipsor anything for keeping the pond clean and clear?

Keep the bottom clean (NO ROCKS!), do water changes, filter the water, watch your fish load, and you should be alright. Take care of the water and the fish will take care of themselves.

Also, stock some underwater plants like anacharis for them to hide out in, put a water lily or two in there for shade (shaded surface will cut down on algea), and feed sparingly (this is the hardest for me, lol).

How many gallons is the pond and is it filtered? What fish are in there now and what sizes are they?

Congrats on the new pond. Ponding is a blast!

No fish in their at the moment, the pond is just over grown and full of frogs spawn, perfect for fish food lol, i was thinking of having a few or a mixture of the following, a small comet, a chub, my friend breeds mirror carp, so a few babies about 1 inch long, or some small tench, probably only 3 fish, so 3 of them, not sure which yet, and if they some how out grow the pond, my best friend has a bigger pond, so they will go to his house

I would mix goldfish with other varieties of fish

Ok, maybe one small comet, 1 small carp and a tench then

How many gallons is the pond???

Not sure yet, I was quite small, but my grandad has been re-doing his garden letely, with a new garden wall, a new patio and new paving slabs, new plants etc, and he is re-doing the pond, depending on the size, koi may be in their for a while... Ill try and find out gallons as soon as possible

koi need 1000 gallons each, and if u ave any other kind of fish in there, I dont think its a good idea to mix them with goldfish

Koi only need a 1000 gallons if you know their parents are big and you want them to reach their potential size. If they are not for show then the general rule is 200-400 gallons per koi and if this rule is used at 200 then you better have good filtration. Most people think they have good enough filtration and that is where the problems with green water mainly come from. If you can resist yourself, do not stock a pond with koi that is less than 500 gallons. Koi can be put with gold fish as long as they are equally competitive for food....Comets and Wakins do great with other koi were fancys and such are pretty slow.

Well none would be for show, but I dont mean I dont want them to look nice..but..yeah no what i mean

Urm.. does anybody know how i can find out how much space other fish need besides koi and golides?

what kind of fish?

Tench? Roach? Orfe?

At least 100 gallon per Orfe because of their eventual size. At that stocking rate you need good filtration and oxygenation. Can't help with the others I haven't kept them.
Carli

Oh, s'ok .thanks.

wait.. you said in another topic that the pond is 40 english gal, so that's only bout 48 US gal. i would recommend that you keep 2 single tails in there. If you want to keep fancies like you said in the other topic, you might need to bring them inside depending on how cold your winter is Single tails are pretty fish too

yeah, my little Frodo is my first single tailed goldie and they really r pretty !

oh, and make sure that's there is some kind of protection from predators

Yeah probably a net over the top, not sure else yet, i asked and my grandad said it would probably be between 20 and 30 english gallons, sorry for the mistake. So im not sure, what to keep in their, got any ideas? Cuz single tails need 20 gallons each, so i would only be able to have one lol

u could have 2 fancies in the summer and bring them inside in the winter but then u'll also need a tank

Yeah it would just be a hastle because i would have to buy another tank and keep it empty for the winter, might keep a fancy and some minnows in their...

has anyone got any ideas?

humm, maybe you could put YOUR goldie in there for the summer and get him back in the winter. Kind of like goldish going to boarding school pond, lol. His colors will improve so much! that will buy you some time to get him a bigger tank. but it might be too late now cause the water might be too cold

with a pond that small it'll probably freeze through in the wionter anyway so whatever fish u get it'll have to come inside

Yeah it is actually probably going to be bigger now, because instead of using the ready made shape of the pond, that u just dig a hole for and put in we are using pond lining, so ill make it a lot deeper and maybe a big wider.

That's great news! can you give us an estimate of the future dimensions? try to dig it as deep as possible, that way, you might not have to bring in the fish (except if you're planning to keep fancies, they still need to go inside). Good luck!

No, cuz the pond isnt very near finished, but their is a very small pond up some stairs near the pond, that is about 20cm deep and about 40 cm wide in a circle, and that goes through a filter and onto a waterfall feature, which pours down the water fall and into the bigger pond in which the fish will go, so that will proide air for the water, the bigger pond was going to be about 75cm (48 inches) wide in a circle and about 53cm (28 inches) deep, but know hopefulyl it will be about 80cm wide in a circle and about 95cm (40 inches) deep. Sorry if by the end the dimensions are differant, but the pond wont be ready soon, maybe by the end of january i think, but using the ready made pond shape i might be able to purswade my mum to let me dig that in the gaarden, seen as its only small....

I may be able to make it wider, but my grandad might not want the pond any bigger, so i wil have to do it without him notitcing lol so it will just be deeper, not wider.