startin up a pond

[sniper]

75 gallon it looks like... its been in my girls backyard tryna make a project
dont kno wat to doo ..wat fish do you recommend??? filtration??and how to cycle a pond??? also would cats go in it she has a cat how would i keep him away??will have pictures of it soon....

 

[Crepe]

75 gallons is only enough for a few gold fish. You can use chicken wire over it to keep the cat out. You could also try Deer Off spray. 75 gallons is tiny, you would probably be good with a pond canister filter available at a hardware store or garden supply store. You want a pump that can turn your water over at least twice in an hour for a pond. You would cycle a pond like you would a fish tank. After the winter, you will need to recycle the pond and I would look into some bacterial supplements.

Owner of a 480gallon pond, and one 14" pine cone scale Koi and 24" mottled, large scale koi. (don't know the japanese names anymore) I think one is a taisho sanke and the pine cone is a orenji ogon.

 

[sniper]

75 gallons is only enough for a few gold fish. You can use chicken wire over it to keep the cat out. You could also try Deer Off spray. 75 gallons is tiny, you would probably be good with a pond canister filter available at a hardware store or garden supply store. You want a pump that can turn your water over at least twice in an hour for a pond. You would cycle a pond like you would a fish tank. After the winter, you will need to recycle the pond and I would look into some bacterial supplements.

Owner of a 480gallon pond, and one 14" pine cone scale Koi and 24" mottled, large scale koi. (don't know the japanese names anymore) I think one is a taisho sanke and the pine cone is a orenji ogon.

how high should i put the chicken wire????

 

[Crepe]

Most people just lay it across the pond so animals (and small children) can't get in.

 

[HN1]

If you have the tank space to bring them in for the winter, you can do a lot more than goldies. We have a ~300G pond with white clouds, albino cories, koi swordtails and a couple rescue ryukins. Sort of an experiment to see about breeding in a more natural situation....

Filtration- you can go with a pond filter or make your own if you're a DIYer.

Cycling- Is just like a tank. Same cycle involved.


Just a couple random thoughts. Congrats on the new pond! Where are the pics?

 

[sniper]

do i use the same water conditioner as i use for my freshwater fish ??? im thinkin about some koi whent to the aquarium today they had some huge ones..ima take piktures of it today when i go back to her house...

 

[Crepe]

That's crazy expensive, using the same water conditioner indoors as outdoors. Get pond dechlor, you can get a gallon jug for 20 that will last you years. Pond dechlor is just cheaper, more concentrated dechlorinator. For my pond dechlor, every 10ml treats 50gallons. That's a lot of gallons coming from a 38,000mL jug.

 

[sniper]

wat other chemicls do you use???

 

[Crepe]

Well some things you should always have on hand for a pond:
Pond Pimafix, Pond Melafix, A Big old bag of epsom salt, pond dechlor, American Pond Brand Hydro-Topia super strength powdered bacteria(optional actually), and a chemical Algaecide.

My filter is a 960gph Pond, pressurized canister with a UV green water treater.

 

[sniper]

 

[glassbird]

Do not do koi! I love the way they look, but face it...they will get BIG, fast. And messy. You will need a bigger pond and MUCH bigger filtration, real quick. I would suggest looking into simple comets and/or shubunkins, instead. Pick the ones with colors and patterns you like. Not all are orange.

My first pond was exactly like the one in your pic. Seven years later, I have had to up grade to two 250 gallon ponds, with just comets. Koi would have forced the upgrades far faster and bigger, probably beyond my budget!

 

[HN1]

Do not do koi! I love the way they look, but face it...they will get BIG, fast. And messy. You will need a bigger pond and MUCH bigger filtration, real quick. I would suggest looking into simple comets and/or shubunkins, instead. Pick the ones with colors and patterns you like. Not all are orange.

My first pond was exactly like the one in your pic. Seven years later, I have had to up grade to two 250 gallon ponds, with just comets. Koi would have forced the upgrades far faster and bigger, probably beyond my budget!

No. Comets and shubunkins both grow far too big for that size pond. Ryukins, oranda, etc should work, but I'm not a goldfish guy.

 

[Crepe]

yep. My comets are about 6"-12" long after bout 6 years. My koi are all 15"+

 

[glassbird]

You guys are right! I did not finish my thoughts in that post...I meant to conclude by saying that the OP might "get by" with comets in that pond for a while but needed to prepare for the need to up-size in the near future. I started with that exact pond, and now have the two larger ponds mentioned.

Additional, the OP needs to think about where his/her fish will live in the winter. I do not know where "SAC" is, but if the winters there are cold VERY few fish will survive in a small hard-side pond like that. My fish spend the winter months in a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank in my basement. The water temp gets below 50 degrees down there, but at least it's not frozen.

Back to the question about cats and ponds...my neighbors all have outdoor cats, and I occasionally see them around my ponds. I have never lost a fish to any of them, but my fish are fast comets. I imagine a ryukin, or other slower fish, would be at much more risk. If animals in your yard are a problem, get a "Scarecrow". It's a motion activated sprinkler that sprays unwanted animals with a 3 second burst of water and makes a horrendous ratcheting sound as well. (I have one set up for raccoons.) Scared the heck out of my mailman (that was an accident). He still kids me about how he is very careful not to go anywhere near my ponds as he walks thru my yard to deliver the mail...

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

"SAC" is Sacramento, Ca our winters can freeze but its really nothing to be worried about as they really will on frost the top layer and not fully freeze over. If there's a waterfall or fountain you'll have nothing to worry about. I have to agree that the comets and kois will get way to big for that pond.