In the process of building a small pond...

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sammbaxter

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
79
Location
Utah
So I'm building a small backyard pond at the moment, and I'm not exactly sure how big it is. I used about 12x11 feet of pond liner and it's an average of 2 1/2 feet in depth. The actual pond is maybe 6 feet by 7 1/2 feet. I tried calculating how many gallons it is and my calculations came to around 760 gallons. If that's correct, I'm planning on putting fish in it, but I'm not really sure what fish would be okay. Koi would be sweet to have, but would my pond be too small? If I were actually to do koi, I'd only be able to do maybe 2, which is okay, but is that a good idea? Or would my best bet be to stick with goldfish? Also, the pond is for my parents, and my mother wants to have it be tropically planted, so any plant suggestions for that? I live in southern utah, so it's over 100 degree desert weather every day in the summer and the winters get to be as low as the 20's on average, although this past winter we actually got a fair snowfall and temps dipped down all the way to 10 degrees. So would tropical plants survive and more importantly would my fish survive the winter? ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1406407899.178664.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1406407940.258005.jpg
Pond in the making...
 
Hi. Given the pond size, I stick with goldfish. Koi might work but they do get large. Rosy red minnows are nice because they are hardy and are colorful (well, they don't blend in as regular minnows would). For a tropical look, check out umbrella palm or umbrella papyrus. Water canna has tall, lancet leaves and colorful flowers. Also, various types of taro (elephant ear) make a nice addition to the pond. The have a tropical jungle look to them. You should be able to fit a media water lily in there. I usually grow the hardy lilies because they easily over winter in ponds that freeze over. Tropical lilies have very striking flowers but they need to be over wintered indoors if the temps drop below 60F.
Hardy lilies, the umbrella palm, and canna should be fine in the winter. Same with the goldfish and rosy reds. A floating heater is a good thing to have in the winter. It will not keep the entire surface from freezing over. Rather, only a small area for gas exchange.
I dug a pond at my parents house years ago. It was 22" deep and 10' x 12'. It was a LOT of work.
Good luck with this.
 
What I would recommend is that since the temperature drops so low, you should overwinter the plants and the goldfish in a stock tank inside. I would stick to goldfish too. Maybe some shubunkins and comets?

You could add gold barbs and WCMM to the mix. Your mom will probably enjoy water lilies. Just remember to overwinter them.

Best of luck, - Raymond
 
Hardy lilies, the umbrella palm, and canna should be fine in the winter. Same with the goldfish and rosy reds. A floating heater is a good thing to have in the winter. It will not keep the entire surface from freezing over. Rather, only a small area for gas exchange.
Good luck with this.

Considering that the winter temperature dips to 10-20 degrees, I would advise against overwintering the goldfish outside. And the plants.. Just a little risky. Once it drops to 50F I would move everything inside as goldfish slow their metabolism and you wont need to feed them in the pond, but better safe than sorry.
 
The pond I built at my parents place housed several koi, goldfish, water lilies, and marginal plants for about 12 years. Located in zone 7 near Washington DC, it had its share of cold winters. The fish and plants were fine over the winter. I stopped feeding them sometime in October and resumed in March/April.
I currently have a very small water feature that is 50-60 gallons at best with a small 10-15 gallon "pool" that spills into it. I had a couple of comets in there for a few years until a raccoon decided to have a meal. Mosquito fish have been living in there the past few seasons with similar temps as the OP described. There is also a hardy lily and lotus present. I even planted some dwarf sag in a pot of soil and gravel and despite living under the ice for a few weeks this past winter, it is doing remarkably well. It has arial oval shaped leaves and blooms daily.
That being said, if the OP's parents have a place to over winter the fish, then that may be the best course of action. I was just providing a counter point. I would contact AA member jlk. She has a lot of experience with goldfish housed outdoors.
 
Haha I stand corrected. :) I just always overwintered mine inside after a freak winter at my grandpas.

I get what you are saying and I agree that they can overwintered outside.

Jlk is pretty cool. She's helped on one of my threads I believe. Quite the member if I do say so myself.
 
Yes she (jlk) is.
No biggie. I just wanted to offer a different view point. Does not mean I am necessarily right, just observations I made.
I was drawn to this thread because I saw the OP post a pic of a hole in the ground and remembered how difficult it was to move that much earth by hand. Never again.
My current feature is a preformed pool and it was a pita because the receiving hole had to fit the pool exactly. I dug it slightly larger and back filled it with sand. My ideal pool would be 10'x15'x3' with a bath tub sized bio filter. Or a series of terraced pools that cascade into each other.
Sorry OP, did not mean to ramble or stray. Any other Q's, please holler.
 
I hear ya about digging the holes in the ground... That's how my grandpa got his pond. He watched me dig it T_T

That pool idea is pretty smart. Back filling must have sucked though XD You could dig a second one and fill it with bio media LOL

Any other questions OP?
 
Hardy lilies are the best choice for plants that will over winter. Tropicals lilies need to be brought inside. Cannas and water cannas (not true cannas but thalia) will not over winter and need to be brought in around 50f. Same for the elephant ears and papyrus.They do make stunning summer tropical foliage though and I have a variety in my pond on a shelf right now (they can not be submerged past the bottom of a pot or they will rot). Water hyacinth, water lettuce and parrots feather are attractive floating plant options (once again, will not overwinter outside), too.

Although this pond is not suitable size for koi, you can stock it with an attractive variety of goldfish such as shubunkins and sarassas. Select breeders will also carry some oddball colors (such as yellow or black) with varied finnage. You absolutely will need a de-icer in the winter and preferably a circulation pump in order for the fish to survive the winter. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions! :)
 
One other suggestion that will save quite a bit of heartache in the future. Make sure you research the predators in your area and have plans in place for protection prior to stocking. I am not sure what is common in Utah but you can inquire with your local fish and wildlife agency for further help or contact local pond suppliers/clubs. For example, blue herons, raccoons, foxes, opossums, monster bullfrogs, snakes and 30+lb snapping turtles have all found their way into my backyard at one point or another and I live in the suburbs of a large city. :)
 
Thanks for the help and suggestions! As for animals, I have a fenced backyard, but I do live along the riverbed where lots of coons and skunks like to hang about, but the only pesty birds I've seen is a hawk and my neighbors pigeon gang. Frogs like to hop through the fence and chill in my garden all the time! But I see that koi is probably a bad choice so I will probably go with the rubies or the goldfish. A water lily sounds awesome and so does the elephant ear, so I'll have to research those. But as long as I have a circulator pump and a de-icer, my fish should survive the winters, is that right? I have a 55 gal tank inside but it's full of African cichlids and I don't know if the two would make for good tank mates ha.
 
My aunt and her husband put a metal fence over the pond. It will keep the cats and raccoon out. Unfortunately for my aunt... (she lives in San Jose) some guy jumped her fence and jacked her 12 year old prize koi..

But the metal fence will do good to keep out the predators. :)

Best of luck, - Raymond
 
What! That is insane. It amazes me what people will do sometimes! Might have to install a security camera system x)
 
I do have a question about UV Light for the algae growth...is it a necessity or more of a luxury thing?
 
You might as well allow the algae to grow as the goldfish will appreciate the snacks :)

Get some duckweed and chuck it in that fugger and that is a good supplement too! It also will help keep the water clean and provide some cover for the goldfish.
 
The water lily should provide ample shading to reduce light. Fast growing floating plants such as water lettuce and water hyacinth will compete with the algae for nutrients. Same goes for duckweed as previously mentioned. I used to pull out 10-12 water lettuce plants each week during peak summer; they would end up in the compost bin.
Small bales of barley and barley extract have been used to reduce algae.
I still get string/hair algae and sometime floating clumps of algae. However, not pea soup algae.
 
The water hyacinth sounds pretty neat to have. I'm going for a dark red water lily, and if it's tropical, then I'll have to bring it in for the winter. Do I just need to keep it, in say a bucket of water, and change the water often?
 
The water hyacinth sounds pretty neat to have. I'm going for a dark red water lily, and if it's tropical, then I'll have to bring it in for the winter. Do I just need to keep it, in say a bucket of water, and change the water often?


I believe you can bring in the entire plant and leave it somewhere cool but greater than 60F. That's one reason I never got into tropicals.
Or you could stick with hardy lilies. I have a red lily that I purchased from the garden section at Lowes. I googled this and found this site. Lots of varieties when it comes to reds. http://www.hardywaterlilies.net/red-water-lilies.html
 
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