Hey guys!
We bought a house a few months back, and have ALWAYS wanted a Koi/GF pond in out back yard. Our house has a small creek in the back yard, nothing really big, just mainly there for drainage and such. I do know we have raccoons and possums( some snakes). So here is my questions?????
#1) Should we EVEN try to build a pond with a small creek in the back yard, knowing we will have invadors?
#2) What is the best way to keep these little boogers out?

Thanks for all replies!

From what other pond owners have posted here, a "hot wire" works the best. I think it is basically a wire that you run around the pond and it will "shock" the intruders when they run into it. I think they sell them at Home Depot? Also, some people use fences. Personally, If I were to get a pond, I would enclose it completely in a chain link pen. That way, I could keep the door locked and no birds could get in to get my fish, either. LOL! It may not be "beautiful", but it would keep my fish safe from all predators.

well i dont want to HURT the animals. I think a wire might be a little overboard if you ask me. Makes me sad to think about it, after all, its natural instinct for them....

Yeah I can understand you there..Being a pond owner myself I'm going with the Hot-wire..Fencing is just not in our budget right now..We will have netting over but where we live we have goats, cows, you name it in our yard that wonder off from their owners..So a simple Hot wire will have to be placed..1time of touching it should prevent future curiosity..

Dig your pond deep. There are a lot of raccoons and possums around my pond but their not even concern. My pond is around 25 feet deep so there not a threat.

Like in the topic of Jewels, I'm nto so much supporting hit wire either. Maybe you could put a net over your pond, That might keep away the racoon, and if the net have small space in between it might keep the snake away also. And of course building your pond deeper so yoru fish can retreat to the deep area of your pond when there is predator.




25 feet deep?! Are yoU serious?! How big is your pond lol I want to see sound awesoem!

Yep. It's about 25 feet deep with a surface area of around 14,000 square feet.

Oh you just have to post picture sooN! I really want to see it, it must beatiful. but would it be abit hard to see your fish sometime?

Right now the pond is covered with ice. I'll have to get a digital camera so I can post pictures.

I can't see the fish all the time but the pond has a sand bottom so the water is pretty clear.

just a question though, wouldn't sand irritate the gills of those fish?

Nope the sand won't irritate the gills. There are a lot of lakes and rivers that have sand bottoms. Sand is natural and not a problem.

Sand can be a problem in aquariums and small ponds because it can't be cleaned like gravel which will cause the water to get toxic. But the sand alone isn't bad for fish.

I disagree. I think sand can and will irritate a GF gills. Kind of like sandpaper flowing thru their gills.

You know, getting back on topic here, if you build a pond, you can do anything and everything to protect your fish from predators, but the fact of the matter is, you will prolly lose some fish. However, you can do an indoor pond if you have enough sunlight in a room, say like a sunroom. I think Daryl is going to do something like that when she gets her new house built.

Yeah sand seem not the best thing.

Lol oooh that sound like a good idea about sunroom.

Sand is only irritating in a small aquarium or pond as the fish can not swim away from it. Goldfish constantly root around the bottom looking for food. In the wild as Nick said the fish can swim away from the stirred up sand being that Nick's pond is so deep and big the fish can quickly swim away with out the sand irritating them. For his size pond sand is no more of a threat to the fish than gravel.

Lol I'm not so sure about it, but since I dont know alot about pond. but if me I wouldn't risk it. Even if they can swim away, if they eating something at the bottom, there will always be possibilty that it will irritate its gill. Lol I just like being abit extra careful

If goldfish do take sand into their mouths they just spit it out. When the sand gets stirred up the fish don't swim away they swim to it looking for food.

Sand irritating a goldfishes gills isn't even a concern. Fish live in all kinds of water from cystal clear to full of silt to everything inbetween. The gills are designed to handle it.

People worrying about sand irritating there fishes gills is just another case of people worrying to much. Sand can be a problem in aquariums and small ponds because it can't be cleaned like gravel which will cause the water to get toxic. But the sand alone isn't bad for fish.

but if you want to filter out, would the pump pump out alot of sand, wouldn't that be a mess?

That's why sand isn't good for aquariums. Your gravel vac will suck it out.
In a pond you would need a gas or an electric water pump to pump out the water but it won't suck out much sand.