203 Gallon Fountain Converted Into Pond- A Little Guidance?

HI there! We bought our house about a year and a half ago with a modern fountain included. Since we have small children in the house, we had a strong plastic covering on top of it to prevent them from falling or playing in it up until yesterday. When we got home, my mom suggested that we go and get some fish for it, just for fun and to see if it would work out. So now we have eight goldfish of four different species, and I would really love some advice on how to keep them healthy and happy!


The bottom part of the fountain is a rectangle that is 97.9x48x10 inches (lengthxwidthxdepth) for a total of 203 gallons. This is what the fish are in now, and they seem happy! We got them and two floating "algae balls" from Petco, so they have the entire space to themselves right now. There aren't any plants though, and I think the bottom is a steel grate that covers a filtration and pump system, but it's completely covered in smooth stones.

The top half of the fountain is elevated by a step and is 51.9x16.5x39.9 inches, so 147 gallons, plus a long elongated rectangle (94.5x5.5x12 inches - 26.9 gallons) that's very shallow and ends in a waterfall into the bottom pool. I didn't put the fish in here because I was concerned that they might find themselves in the elongated rectangle and fall over into the bottom. See it here
So my questions are:

1. What kind of fish have the possibility of surviving in a fountain like this? I live in Texas, so the weather is warm and doesn't get excessively cold in the winter. Will the fish I have now do okay?

2. What kind of plants could I put in the water that are best for goldfish, and are there any that grow well on stones or float? My mom is the one in control with what we get, so ideally I need something that won't spawn like crazy and that won't completely obstruct the surface. I know those are hard expectations to meet! :helpsmilie:

3. Would it be okay to put fish in the top portion of the fountain? It's smaller than the bottom one, but deeper and has more shade. My concern is for the fountain...

Anything basic I need to know? Any help and advice would be really appreciated!

 

What goldfish types did you get? I have 2 lionchu/ranchu goldfish (I love them!). Your pond is 10" deep right?

 

I have two fantails, two common, and maybe two shubunkins? I'm not really sure, we just picked out the pretty ones, aha. The next time I go back to Petco I'll take note of which kind. Yes, the bottom half is 10".

 

I wouldn't worry if you live in Texas they will be fine
also, I would put a school of 30 minnows in the top portion if the fall down the waterfall, which they shouldn't, they will just be in the bottom, they should be fine

 

Thanks! That's a great suggestion, I'll definitely consider it

 

Careful with the commons and shubunkins, they grow quick and may out compete the fan tails. Make sure the fantails get their food and if they start to get bullied by the other quicker goldfish, you might want to get a 30 gallon for them inside (or get another pond!). Goldfish are awesome!

Depending on where you are/what zone in Texas (I live in Texas also) you may or may not need to heat the pond in winter. My water feature hasn't been out in the winter (I don't plan on letting it though), so I'm not sure how cold it gets in the water, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. They can survive pretty cold temperatures, but the fantails being more for the luxury life indoors may have a harder time than the commons and shubunkins that are probably hardier towards weather (plus they're a bigger species, they may not cool down as fast as the smaller fantails).

If I where you, I'd try some guppies! Depending on how high the upper portion is, you'd get quite a show with all the beautiful "dancing" colors of the guppy's bright tail. They won't be cold hardy, but if you have a breeding colony you could "harvest" them in fall and pick out the ones that stand the most and keep them for next spring. I would just pick out males and buy more females from the pet store/online in spring, so that they don't get inbred.

 

Careful with the commons and shubunkins, they grow quick and may out compete the fan tails. Make sure the fantails get their food and if they start to get bullied by the other quicker goldfish, you might want to get a 30 gallon for them inside (or get another pond!). Goldfish are awesome!

Depending on where you are/what zone in Texas (I live in Texas also) you may or may not need to heat the pond in winter. My water feature hasn't been out in the winter (I don't plan on letting it though), so I'm not sure how cold it gets in the water, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. They can survive pretty cold temperatures, but the fantails being more for the luxury life indoors may have a harder time than the commons and shubunkins that are probably hardier towards weather (plus they're a bigger species, they may not cool down as fast as the smaller fantails).

If I where you, I'd try some guppies! Depending on how high the upper portion is, you'd get quite a show with all the beautiful "dancing" colors of the guppy's bright tail. They won't be cold hardy, but if you have a breeding colony you could "harvest" them in fall and pick out the ones that stand the most and keep them for next spring. I would just pick out males and buy more females from the pet store/online in spring, so that they don't get inbred.

Guppies and Mosquito Fish also eat mosquito larvae so your pond won't be a swamp

 

I was thinking about either some neon tetras or White Cloud minnows in the top pond along with several Golden Dojos in both to add some more color and personality. I've also read that minnows and dojos do well with bettas since they're small and non aggressive, so I may try to add one male and see if he does alright in the water.

I'm down in Houston, so during the winter the temperature drops below 35 once in a full moon. I'm keeping an eye on the fantails, but as of right now they're the biggest and they're the ones doing the bossing around! I will definitely think about all of your suggestions the next time we get some fish.

Also, how do I subscribe to a thread? The only way I can see if someone has replied is if I check it manually, which can get inconvenient.

 

Neon tetras can be on the sensitive side, so I would go for white clouds! I have never had a dojo loach and I have no idea how they would fail outside. I would think the betta would do fine in the water, just depending on the betta you may end up with a very feisty one or the complete opposite. I would worry for the betta's tail as the minnows may decide they don't like the betta that much...

Right below the number of likes on this thread (near the top) there's a button that says thread tools, click that and it'll give you the option to subscribe.

 

(Well, first time I've been banned for a website, I guess my username got flagged so I'll be using this account now)

Okay! I wouldn't be able to install a blacklight to bring out a tetra's colors anyway, so I think White Clouds will be the way to go. I've had Dojo loaches before. Albeit they were in an indoor aquarium, they survived the longest as opposed to my other fish that died off after Hurricane Ike. From what I've read on them, they should be pretty hardy, and they're more active than other loaches I've looked into. I'll do my selecting carefully of the betta. From articles I've found it seems like bettas get along well with smaller fish that aren't too flashy, so as long as I choose a betta that isn't fancy and capable of protecting itself, it should be fine. The minnows should be small enough to outrun the grump and if I get a larger school, he'll be less inclined to attack. We'll see how it works out!

Thank you!

 

I have never heard of a betta outside. Will you be bringing in the betta in winter? 76-86 degrees is what they need and it won't survive over the winter outside

 

Well, I wouldn't do anything that is too tropical in your tank because goldfish don't go with tropicals well. If you want a loach of some sort get weather loach they are known to live with goldfish and would probably be interesting to keep... I wouldn't suggest CPD/White Clouds just because I would be constantly worried about their health in a place be, but you could do that... I would get like 6-12 weather loaches and maybe 20 minnows/mosquito fish gambusia sp.

 

Nickdrummer did someone mention CPD's or are you just not reccomending them haha? Also, I agree with Nick's above post on weather loaches and mosquitofish

 

I'll look into bettas in ponds, but I don't think it will be an issue until it gets colder. What would you recommend the minimum size of a tank for a betta be if I'm only going to use it for the one and only a couple of months? It would be a bit overkill to buy a twenty gallon tank that I'll only use once a year.

I wasn't aware that CPD's existed, and you're right, Nickdrummer, they do seem like they would be much too high maintence for an outdoor pond. As far as I've read, the White Clouds are relatively resilient, but I'll look more into them. The betta will be in the top pond, so separate from the goldfish. Golden dojos are a hypo-melanistic genetic mutuation of the weather loach, so they're the same species but a different color. I was planning on getting six, three for the bottom and three for the top.

I looked at mosquito fish, but with the combination of the local frogs, the fish, and the current my fountains create, I'm not concerned with mosquito eggs. They need relatively stagnant water, correct? And I think mosquito fish can be fin nippers, which would not mix well with an aggressive betta or my goldfish.

 

a 5 gallon filtered and heated tank will suffice for the betta

White cloud mountain minnows will work in the pond but I am unsure if the betta would attack them

 

- read the first response
And yeah CPD are similar to whites so I just wanted to advise against it

 

So far, this article reflects what I've seen in others. Delicate is not something I think applies very well to White Clouds.

I haven't been able to get new fish yet, but when I do I'll update!

 

I think white clouds are easily one of the hardiest species around

 

I think white clouds are easily one of the hardiest species around

I definitely agree with this! White clouds are also put into ponds and from what I've read they do quite well. They are very common feeders, but are known to be very hardy beginner species.

Bettas have also been put into ponds before and I would think would be even more hardier, stronger and healthier in the right pond setup. I plan on making a betta raising pond, like the TaI breeders use. Bettas and white clouds are often put together, since they tend to do well together. I have a female veil tail betta with female guppies, I would think that the females are more docile, but I haven't tried with a male. She used to live in a harem with two other veil females (along with the guppies, plus then I had male guppies also with them), but sadly I lost a lot of my fish due to old age... Note to new fish keepers, try to space out the times you get new fish, don't get lots of fish at the same time (you'll loose most of them around the same time)... The guppy females are actually 3 years old now and I would think might have another year in them. My male plakat I don't think would fair well with the other fish like my harem of girls did. Good luck!

 

I was reading around some more, and I think a bristlenose pleco or two would do well to keep the algae under control. Has anyone had experience with them before?

 

Only if you can maintain the temperature that they require

 

Bristlenose plecos don't really clean the algae up as much as you might think. I currently have an albino girl and she's definitely not good at cleaning up the algae on the sides of the tank. I would go for nerite snails, but I'm unsure of how they will do in a pond... Zebra nerites are the best at cleaning up algae, but I also have some olive nerites, who don't do too bad of a job either. I would look into an algae eating snail that does well in ponds. Try to stay away from apple/mystery snail or any that lay eggs out of the water, you may end up with escapees.

 

I finally got my fish! Yaaaaay!!! My mom and I went to Petco today with only thirty minutes to use (which was DEFINITELY not enough time!) and to my horror, they had neither dojos nor White Clouds! I panicked and had to improvise on the spot. I found some golden white clouds (despite an employee telling me they didn't even stock whites) and after scouring the tanks for anything that didn't say barb, shark, or molly, I finally decided that I would have to test my luck with guppies. In the guppy tanks were some albino cory cats and the plaque said they only grew to be a few inches, so I got two of those, one for each level of my pond.

This is my half-moon betta who I have yet to name (suggestions are definitely welcome!)



The albino bristle nose plecos (four)



The golden White Clouds (Seven, all on top with the betta)



One of the albino Cory cats



The male guppies (four). I was panicking and hadn't read about guppies because I hadn't planned on getting them, so I guessed at what the male to female ratio has to be and I actually surpassed it! For every one male there should be two females, and I got ten female, so I have two extra! Hopefully the goldfish eat all of those fry!



Now the girls:



I didn't know that Cory cats are schooling fish, so at some point in the future I'll go back to the store and get some more and some dojos! But I think it will be fine with the two bristle noses in each pond.

I put my male betta in the top pond, and I know that going from such a tiny cup to a 147 gallon tank is shocking, but after I released him I couldn't find him! I lifted the large piece of wood I put in there as a hiding spot, but he wasn't there and I haven't seen him under the fountain. He's not in the bottom pond and there's a very tiny possibility that he managed to get pushed down the waterfall, so I'm just perplexed. Where could he have gone? The ground is concrete so I would have seen him if he had jumped out. Hopefully he's just a very good hider and I'll see him in the morning...

 

All of my pictures posted sideways for some reason, sorry about that!

 

The golden white clouds you have look more like rosy red minnows to me, and also betta don't do too well with lots of water flow, nevertheless he probably is still alive

 

Rosy reds don't have red fins or tails like the Gold Whites and the Red have more of a hypo-melanistic look to them than a proper gold or yellow.

 

Yeah it was hard to tell in the picture but what you are saying is correct so you are prolly good!

 

Good luck! Careful with the BN plecos, keep the males in separate places, because they fight like bettas. They also breed a lot! You may want to set down a few caves and check on them every once and a while, so you can catch the babies, before they roam free. The goldfish may try to eat the cory cats and the BN fry, so watch out for any goldfish with a catfish in their mouth (they can get stuck in their mouth). I hope they all do well in your pond/fountain!

 

Thank you! I'll definitely keep an eye on all of them. I'm definitely anxious to see how this all plays out! The Gold Whites keep falling over the water fall into the bottom pond with the goldfish and guppies, which is annoying since I really wanted to keep them on top with the betta. I'm not sure how to keep them from doing this; if I put a small grate there, I'm worried that they would just get stuck there because of the current and end up dying. Blegh.

 

No sign of the betta this morning. I'm so perplexed; I don't know what could have happened to it.

 

Did he fall into the bottom?

 

I haven't seen him in either section. I ran a net along the darker side of the top pond and under the fountain, but if he was there it didn't do anything to upset him, and I don't think he would be able to stay in the bottom tank peacefully since there are so many flashy fish, including all of my goldfish and guppies. I honestly have no idea what to do or what could have happened.

 

Hm... That's really strange... Do you think a bird could have gotten him?

 

A bird that opted for the more covered and deeper section of the pond? No, I seriously doubt it. Unless my dogs inadvertently lapped it up, which they've never done before...

 

That's really, really weird! I don't know any other explanations other than he's hiding or he jumped out. I hope you find him!

 

My sister found him! He's been hiding in the bottom pond in the larger of the wood that I put in there. I know I can't keep him in there with so many goldfish, guppies, and Whites (all seven of them fell down the waterfall... ugh.) but I'm worried about that current hurting his fins and I won't be home again until Monday. Do you think he'll be okay until then? Every opportunity I've had I've been watching them, and no one saw him until he came out from the wood to get food. No attacks or aggressiveness, he just seems timid.

 

I'm not really sure about the current with a long finned male, but my female lives in a high current area. I have jungle Val that grows along the top in a tangled mess, so I have no current up there, but as long as there are some calm areas in there I would think he would do fine until you're back. The wood may also be shielding him from the current too. Glad you guys found him!!

 

Goldfish and Bettas require extremely different environments. How are you planning on keeping them together for an extended period? I don't fancy your Bettas chances at all.

The same goes for Plecos, the temperature differences are pretty big. Please remember that Goldfish are coldwater fish, and most other freshwater aquarium species are Tropical.

 

I'm aware of that, that's why I'm worried. Like I said, I'm powerless to do anything right now. They're in the pond and when the temperature drops, the betta will come inside. But for right now the goldfish are thriving despite the heat and the betta is in water suitable to its needs, just in a less than preferable environment. The placid are the ones I'm the least worried about, since their temperature requirement sits between the 65°F and 80°, and it won't get down below 70 here until well into November.

 

Honestly people put bettas in ponds and goldfish in ponds, so the goldfish being cold water fish do pretty well in them... I would think, since they are outside, it wouldn't matter since they both can live in a pond environment. Of course your going to have to put the betta in a indoor tank during the colder months, but the rest of the time a betta would love the space (as long as it's not being pestered). Plecos have also been put in ponds before too. From what I've heard they do relatively well.