Areation?

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morgansrgr8
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Areation?

Post by morgansrgr8 »

I just put in a small pond my sister gave me this spring.
Mom and sister insisted I take it and really needed to get koi. Its been running for over a month now and I added a few goldfish last week. Does the pond have to have a fountian or just have the pump working and moving the water good enough for the fish. I was also wondering, I cant see the fish very well. (a little dirt fell into the pond putting it in) So I emptied part of the water and put some fresh in and the fish seem to be eating off the sides of the pond so I can see them a little better. Is there something I need to be doing. I know goldfish can be hard on plants so didnt know what to do about it. Any helpful suggestions at this point would be greatly appreciated. :oops:
Linda
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Chris_W
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Post by Chris_W »

Hi Linda,

I've had small goldfish ponds for years. The first one was about 150 gallons (one of the preformed ones) and I put in some feeder goldfish, fed them a few times a week, had a waterfall and some water lilies. In time the water lilies took over the pond, the waterfall and pond filled with algae, and I could never see the goldfish again, so eventually just shut off the pump that ran the waterfall and planted plants there instead. But every fall when I would clean the pond those goldfish would get "fished out" with the leaves and I would put them back into the muddy water.

Eventually I built a much larger lily pond, closer to 700 gallons, and introduced a lot more fish to this one... Started with about 10 fish, fed them a couple times a day, and soon there were hundreds if not thousands of new babies. Wasn't long before the lily pond was a filthy mess of mucky fish poop, and we had hundreds of floating fish. So we did a water change, got a biological filter, added some floating water lettuce and hyacinths, and the water cleared up and the pond was great again. I realized that we were feeding those fish way too much, so we cut way back.

When we moved here we built an even larger lily pond. But this time we didn't have an easy way to get electricity to it, so we put in 6 goldfish and decided to just not feed them in order to keep the water cleaner. As it turns out they have still bred and multiplied, but in 3 years we haven't fed them at all yet they keep the numbers down and the water is crystal clear. These goldfish have never bothered our water lettuce or water hyacinths and never bother the water lilies. I've heard that koi will bother these, but the goldfish don't touch them.

For now the only thing we do to help these fish out is to run a pump in the winter to keep a small open patch in the ice so they get good aeration. We have a submersible pump on the bottom that simply pushes water upwards, creating a good swirling at the surface. With this we rarely find any dead ones in the spring.

Goldfish are really easy and amazingly resilient. Koi are a lot more work I think.

Hope that helps!

Chris
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morgansrgr8
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Post by morgansrgr8 »

It did thankyou. And I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. I am glad I didn't take any of my moms Koi she wanted to give me. The goldfish are kinda cute. The pond is beside the porch and I can sit there have coffee and enjoy the pond. Just wish it was clearer. The only time I can see them is when I throw a piece of food in there and they push it all over the pond trying to eat it. LOL I have no idea how big it is. All I know its big enough to take a bath in. LOL I did buy a kit for a 300 gallon pond and used the filter in the premade pond. I hope its not to strong. Should be good for the winter tho. I was wondering what to do about it for the winter. Glad to hear that keeping the water moving will help it not to freeze. Will be interesting to see what happens in the spring. OH and BF threw about 6 baby bass about an inch long in it just for fun. Guess that will keep the goldfish population down. LOL
I planted the hosta around the pond and they look happy as can be. :cool:
Linda
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Post by JoshS »

Even leaving a pump run may not be enough to keep fish over winter in a preformed pond. They are usually pretty shallow. If it is in a sheltered location, though, you might get by.

Like Chris mentioned, too many fish leads to big problems! You definitely saved yourself some trouble by skipping the koi. They need a big pond with good filtration.

The filter you got will help, but the trick to clear water is plants. Water hyacinths, water lettuce, and some submerged plants like anacharis or hornwort will help balance the ecosystem and clear the water. If they grow too big, just prune them.

Goldfish, unlike koi, usually are pretty easy on plants...especially if they are small.
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angelily
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Post by angelily »

I know that to overwinter fish in an area that winters are harsh a pond should be atleast 18" deep. My pond is over 2000 gallons and my pond goes from 24" deep to 28" deep. I have goldfish in my pond that have been there for about 4 years, they have never bothered any of the pond plants. They are fed once a day, except in the winter when the water gets 54 degrees and below, then all feeding stops. We have a homemade filter that we use, and right now the only filter media it has in it is lava rock and our pond is crystal clear. The eco system is a very important part of the pond naturally balancing out. We just replaced the liner this year and the water was very dark for about 2 weeks, then it started clearing as the plants grew and the temps warmed up. We use no chemicals in our pond. The only thing I will use is Barley bales to kill off string algea. I have also heard that the liquid barley extract works very well.
morgansrgr8
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Post by morgansrgr8 »

Thanks for all the info. It helps also. The barley is a neat idea. Will tell my sister that for her pond. Would that help for a large 1 acre pond? Will have to go measure how deep it is. I think its the 150 gallon pond. would you believe my sister called yesterday and gave me heck for not taking the koi. (they have it bad for the koi) Would the plants make it ok if I bring them in for the winter? Would they take alot of light?
Linda
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govgirl75
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Post by govgirl75 »

I have a small pond and I live in NE Ohio. My pond has been in for 5 years now. It is about 100 gal and is the preformed kind. It has a waterfall with a small reservoir at the top. I have 10 goldfish (feeder, shubunkin and comet) and 2 koi. They get along well and have not damaged the plants. The koi do get big. The one we bought had quadrupled his size in one year and is nearly 10". (If your koi get too big, some pond stores will take them in trade) We get the occasional baby snapping turtle and have had all kinds of frogs over the years, leopard frogs being this year's amphibian contribution. I have a hardy water lily, anacharis in the bottom, water lettuce on the surface and a papyrus for height. The water stays pretty clear but if the water temp gets too high, we get string algae. Yuk! There is a water treatment for it and it disappears nearly overnight.
One of the problems we have had is blue herons and green herons. I do not know how those devils found my tiny pond, but they dined on my fish 2 years ago. Being it is illegal to dispatch them to a better place, you have to take steps to protect your pond from them. My method is to use berry netting (fine filament with 1" squares). I cut it roughly to the dimension of the pond and pin it to the edge of the pond with weedcloth pins. I leave the corners uncovered so my tall waterplants can just grow. I is very unobtrusive done that way. I also put a black, PVC drainpipe elbow in the bottom of the pond to give the fish a place to hide if necessary. They really use it all the time. I feed the fish once a day as long as the water temp is over 55 degrees F.
Hope you enjoy your pond. I love working on mine and resting near it. There is nothing like the sound of water to relax you. :-)
If I can figure how to do it, I will post some pix of the pond.
Gloria
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