dark colored liner

if I use a dark colored liner on a patio pond (covered patio, so no bright sunlight) will we still be able to see the fish in there??? what options do we have for light colored liners or maybe we cna use a submersible light? I don't know- I want to be able to see the fish LOL

 

Two options.

Old pool liner which is usually blue, or a liquid rubber that is available in different colours or a tinting base.

 

what about using lighter colored rocks on the bottom? I see online there is a big ol' debate about rocks in a pond LOL

 

I don't know which liner will allow fish to be visible but my small pond(tub) is of off white color and after few months it is covered in algae and slime stuff, which is darker colored. I donot remove it as I think it would contain beneficial bactreria and produces food for fish. So my point is, which ever color liner is, it would be covered eventually IMHO.

 

I may just get a white light or something to help illuminate the water? I just feel like we will want to see the fish we are putting in it LOL

 

yeah sure and it is our right so we could enjoy them lol
being what I have said in earlier post, I can see my fish at the bottom of pond because water is crystal clear and darker background contrasts their color. Only problem could be reflection of surrounding.

 

welp, ill get it started and see what we think about it at that point. might be just fine as the goldfish are...well..gold.

just wishing I could have a bigger pond with more fish- but living in the desert kinda makes a pond in the "yard" hard...boiled fish soup doesn't sound like much fun to me

 

good luck with your pond
cann't you keep tropical fish, like livebearers outside? I will try to winter my guppies and platy outside. For now I am getting very beautiful and shiny colors and lots of fry.

 

can, but it gets fairly cold in the desert overnight and keeping the heater on that much may not work out as well as I would like. goldfish need cooler temps, so it should work fairly well for them in the shade of my patio

 

I agree 100%, I have a small start on a pond....but it is too hot to work on it now. I did find this which I think is super cool, not sure how well it would work.



Another option is to build a raised pond with a viewing window. I mean what's the use in having a pond if you are just looking down thru moving water, not a very good view.

 

Lynxster - how would you go about putting in a viewing panel??? this has me pretty intrigued- I have to admit

 

while you are waiting for response from Lynxster, let me tell you what I know about viewing panel

There are many ways to put viewing panel depending on what material oneis using for building pond walls. One of simplest one can be conceret/cement walls, make a slit between all three or four sides(between which you want to put panel), fix your panel and make it seal, maybe using silicone in slits. I haven't done it but it would be my first option if I wanted one(one of my friend has done this but I haven't seen it in person, so don't know how its working out)

Also its said that its good to not make viewing panel to lower end of pond as that is where most of pressure is.

 

I will sketch you something up I've been thinking about...in your location you probably need your pond in the ground where it is cooler, I think above ground may be too hot. But, I'm thinking a glass viewing panel in just one end of the pond...probably a heavy glass. I would look at the viewing angle and have a seating area so that you can actually look at an angle down into the deepest part of the pond where most of the activity will be. I'm planning to put mine in the ground also just to keep them warm in winter. The glass would be enclosed in stainless frame made from U-shaped metal at the appropriate angle and the glass would have round edges...not sharp corners. The glass would be simply installed into the U-channel and then calked with silicon to provide a seal. The rubber liner would be installed first behind the metal channel. The rest of the pond except for the end containing the viewing window would be normal construction. Below is a pic sort of what I'm talking about, but a smaller pond and a larger window. And lots of underwater lights!

 

hmmm, that will have to wait til we are no longer renting.

and as far as in the ground- that's not a horrible feasible option out here. beyond the deathly heat, we have TONS of sand and there is little to nothing you can do to keep it out.

 

Hi, I have a black liner in my patio pond and since its on the north side of the house it is in shade the majority of the day. The water is crystal clear because I use a UV filter and there are no problems ever seeing my fish. Think of a tank with black background and black sand, you still see your fish.
BhattI is right though, no matter what you put in, eventually it will get covered in some sort of algae (which is not a bad thing). I leave mine be also though I wish it was green. I do have submersible lights that you can choose the lighted cover you want on them from clear, to blue, to yellow or red. I have blue on mine and turn them on at night. They are very bright and would light up your pond.