Pond Pictures!

I would love to see everyone's pond set ups, indoor or out and of course your favorite pond dwellers

 

My pond (with me for scale!):


Some of my koi and goldfish:

 

My pond (with me for scale!):
View attachment 456704
Some of my koi and goldfish:
View attachment 456705

Wow!!! is that a natural or man made pond? that's huge! How many fish do you have in there?

 

It’s a man-made fishing pond, but after we bought the land it turned into my giant koi pond lol. There’s a lot of bluegills from the original stocking. I added in 12 koi (I’m planning to add more) and a ton of goldfish (I got about 40 free feeder fish from my biology lab when they were done studying them). There’s also newts, frogs and tadpoles. I took that back in March, I should get a new one now that everything is green and pretty!

 

It’s a man-made fishing pond, but after we bought the land it turned into my giant koi pond lol. There’s a lot of bluegills from the original stocking. I added in 12 koi (I’m planning to add more) and a ton of goldfish (I got about 40 free feeder fish from my biology lab when they were done studying them). There’s also newts, frogs and tadpoles. I took that back in March, I should get a new one now that everything is green and pretty!

I was wondering if you would be able to introduce goldfish/koi to a pond that already had preexisting critters in it. That's so neat that you have Bluegills and goldfish. Does the pond freeze over in the winter where you live? I am wanting to start an outdoor pond but wondering about what to do in the winter, I live in Canada and it would for sure freeze over.

 

I’m in Northwest Pennsylvania, pretty close to Canada. It freezes during the winter but it’s deep enough that the fish can safely hibernate. It depends on the depth and how long it freezes for. If it stays totally frozen for a long time, that’ll cause ammonia and whatnot to build up under the ice, so you’d have to go out and put holes in it. But koi and goldfish are pretty cold-hardy, the temperature won’t bother them.

All the fish seem to get along pretty well. I was worried they’d try to eat each other, but they basically just leave each other alone. The bluegills have spines, so if a koi does try to eat one they’ll probably spit it right back out!

 

I was wondering if you would be able to introduce goldfish/koi to a pond that already had preexisting critters in it. That's so neat that you have Bluegills and goldfish. Does the pond freeze over in the winter where you live? I am wanting to start an outdoor pond but wondering about what to do in the winter, I live in Canada and it would for sure freeze over.

I/my grandma have an outdoor pond that is about 6 feet long and about 3-4 feet deep. There are goldfish in there and they do fine! They even have at least two babies grow up every year. It gets cold enough to freeze over but there is a small fountain/bubbler to keep it from freezing.

 

Here is mine. It has 4 Goldie's and a few pest snails. It is a 300 gallon stock tank. Nothing special but I like it! Since I took that pic the plants have over taken it.. water lettuce any one?? Lol

 

Here is mine. It has 4 Goldie's and a few pest snails. It is a 300 gallon stock tank. Nothing special but I like it! Since I took that pic the plants have over taken it.. water lettuce any one?? Lol

Love your pond! the plants look great! what kind of goldfish do you have in there? is there any fountains/ filtration and what do you do in the winter?

 

With ponds, obviously not the big one in the first post, but ponds in general, do they require water changes?

 

Love your pond! the plants look great! what kind of goldfish do you have in there? is there any fountains/ filtration and what do you do in the winter?

Thank you!! I have 4 common Goldie's in there.. some that were won at the fair!! Lol yes I have a fountain, filter all in one kit I picked up at Lowe's! I forget the name though! For winter.. I am hoping to get a pond deicer and just keep the fish out over winter!! I will take the filter and all that inside.. and hopefully will be able to set up a minI pond type of thing for the plants, as I was hoping to save them too!!!

With ponds, obviously not the big one in the first post, but ponds in general, do they require water changes?

Ok so some people will say yes.. I say no because my pond is chocked full of plants.. I do top it off if it does not raining often enough!! But my water quality stays great... And then when it does rain it replenishes the minerals ect... Understand that my pond does only have 4 small.. all under 5 inches goldfish in...!!!

 

I have a 1600 gallon pond with 18 goldfish- commons, comets and shubunkins.

 

And I have a 200 gallon pond that I'm going to put a ranchu and a dental in tommorow. They will be brought inside every winter. This year we have had tadpoles so I've been waiting until they all turned into froglets before adding the goldfish.


Some of the froglets




We also have a very grumpy toad

 

I have a 1600 gallon pond with 18 goldfish- commons, comets and shubunkins.View attachment 456915
View attachment 456916 View attachment 456917 View attachment 456918

The covering you have on the pond, is that to keep the fish in if it rains? How do you all keep fish from pouring out the side if it rains hard. I assume it also keeps junk out of the pond.

 

And I have a 200 gallon pond that I'm going to put a ranchu and a dental in tommorow. They will be brought inside every winter. This year we have had tadpoles so I've been waiting until they all turned into froglets before adding the goldfish.
View attachment 456919
Some of the froglets
View attachment 456920 View attachment 456921 View attachment 456922
We also have a very grumpy toad
View attachment 456923

Oh my goodness!!! So so cute

 

The covering you have on the pond, is that to keep the fish in if it rains? How do you all keep fish from pouring out the side if it rains hard. I assume it also keeps junk out of the pond.

The cover is there for 2 main reasons. 1. To keep birds, cats etc. Out of the pond and the fish safe from predators. 2. To keep very small children and our stupid cat from falling in the pond.

The small pond also has a cover but I took it off for photos.

I've never had it rain enough for the pond level to rise much but if it rained a lot we have an overflow installed into the filter of the larger pond that takes away any extra water so the water level would never rise to the top. (The filter is the weird looking wooden half buried house in the last photo) The smaller pond does not have this but as I say it never rains enough to be an issue.

 

Thank you!! I have 4 common Goldie's in there.. some that were won at the fair!! Lol yes I have a fountain, filter all in one kit I picked up at Lowe's! I forget the name though! For winter.. I am hoping to get a pond deicer and just keep the fish out over winter!! I will take the filter and all that inside.. and hopefully will be able to set up a minI pond type of thing for the plants, as I was hoping to save them too!!!


Ok so some people will say yes.. I say no because my pond is chocked full of plants.. I do top it off if it does not raining often enough!! But my water quality stays great... And then when it does rain it replenishes the minerals ect... Understand that my pond does only have 4 small.. all under 5 inches goldfish in...!!!

I was wondering about the water changes myself, thank you! its probably more natural for the fish as well.

I have a 1600 gallon pond with 18 goldfish- commons, comets and shubunkins.View attachment 456915
View attachment 456916 View attachment 456917 View attachment 456918

I love that the pond is in the garden! what a beautiful set up!

T

And I have a 200 gallon pond that I'm going to put a ranchu and a dental in tommorow. They will be brought inside every winter. This year we have had tadpoles so I've been waiting until they all turned into froglets before adding the goldfish.
View attachment 456919
Some of the froglets
View attachment 456920 View attachment 456921 View attachment 456922
We also have a very grumpy toad
View attachment 456923

hose frogs are just to cute!!! and the grumpy toad made me LOL hahaha! would the goldies eat the little frogs?

 

The ranchu and fantail that are going in are just 2-3 inches long including tails so I don't think so. The froglets are now also spending more time out of the water than in it so I don't think they're in danger. Since we will be bringing the fish in each winter I will wait until any tadpoles have grown up before putting them out again in summer.

 

hose frogs are just to cute!!! and the grumpy toad made me LOL hahaha! would the goldies eat the little frogs?

We have BIG goldfish in our pond. Every year there are tadpoles, some manage to make it out as frogs. I'm sure some get eaten but some always make it. And we have at least 10 goldfish

 

We have BIG goldfish in our pond. Every year there are tadpoles, some manage to make it out as frogs. I'm sure some get eaten but some always make it. And we have at least 10 goldfish

Its the circle of life, we used to have a small pond in my grandparents back yard maybe 100 gallon or so and the racoons would eat the tadpools at night.

Edit: it was an ill designed pond, it was way to shallow and it was easy for animals to wade though and get to any sort of frog/ tadpole

 

I hope I have a pond to show too but my place is not suited for a man-made pond. I hope I can make one someday when I already own a bigger place. Right not, I'm enjoying to see pictures of ponds.

 

This is a picture of my clay-bottom crayfish "pond". A few years ago some wild crayfish came and began to reproduce, so now there are a bunch. It also has annual swarms of tadpoles, Mexican burrowing toads, gray elm frogs, and water beetles, and once I found a big, spiny, red fish that must have washed in as an egg! Right now it's in the dry season so it's quite shallow.

 

Here’s one

 

This is a picture of my clay-bottom crayfish "pond". A few years ago some wild crayfish came and began to reproduce, so now there are a bunch. It also has annual swarms of tadpoles, Mexican burrowing toads, gray elm frogs, and water beetles, and once I found a big, spiny, red fish that must have washed in as an egg! Right now it's in the dry season so it's quite shallow.

that red fish sounds really interesting! any idea what it might have been?

 

Mine I made this year. Stocked with goldfish and some snails, 12 fish in total. It's about 240-250 gal. Passive syphon in the back left corner to keep the water level the same when it rains or I decide to add water. Plants are all fruit and veg besides the water lily. Next spring I'm going to add an auto water topup and maybe a uv sterilizer.
The small planter at the front used to look nice but the flowers all went to seed. They are starting to bloom again.

 

The pond

 

Wow!!! is that a natural or man made pond? that's huge! How many fish do you have in there?

Hello...

I don't have a pond exactly. Maybe you could call it an above ground pond. It's a 300 gallon watering trough. I have around 100 feeder fish in it and use Dwarf Water Lettuce to filter the water. I do a pretty substantial water change about once a month, weather permitting. The trough is heated and aerated. The water stays at around 55 degrees in the winter and around 65 to 70 otherwise. The fish seem to like the room.

Old

 

Hello...

I don't have a pond exactly. Maybe you could call it an above ground pond. It's a 300 gallon watering trough. I have around 100 feeder fish in it and use Dwarf Water Lettuce to filter the water. I do a pretty substantial water change about once a month, weather permitting. The trough is heated and aerated. The water stays at around 55 degrees in the winter and around 65 to 70 otherwise. The fish seem to like the room.

Old

How are you heating it and what’s average winter temp?

 

Hello...

I don't have a pond exactly. Maybe you could call it an above ground pond. It's a 300 gallon watering trough. I have around 100 feeder fish in it and use Dwarf Water Lettuce to filter the water. I do a pretty substantial water change about once a month, weather permitting. The trough is heated and aerated. The water stays at around 55 degrees in the winter and around 65 to 70 otherwise. The fish seem to like the room.

How are you heating it and what’s average winter temp?

Hello Back...

Good questions. I use a standard floating water heater for watering troughs. Our average winter temps are around 40 degrees during the day and can get down into the teens at night.

Old

 

I pulled my pond indoors late September. I have a 200 gallon stock tank for my nine comets. I’m trying out having a minI bog ahead of the tank with hyacinth from the outdoor pond. Water is a bit cool for them but there holding. The lettuce didn’t last 2 weeks. So far happy with the results. Doing a good job keeping nitrates in check. The tank sits on the floor of the fish room which is drastically cooler than the air temp. Figured I was going to need a heater eventually. Holding mid 50s and I’d like to see low 60’s. Good thing I’m made out of $.

Here’s my outdoor tank right before closing it down.

 

My backyard pond, hand-dug by me in 2015. Hint: DO NOT DIG A POND BY HAND!!!!

This pond measures approximately 10 x 14 feet, with a maximum depth in the center just under 3 feet. Shelves on both back corners hold plants in pots and trays, and the "observation deck" held a cast aluminum dinette set...until a typically crazy Manitoba windstorm blew all 3 pieces into the pond! Next year bench will be built onto the deck. Mostly native plants, and mostly native animal inhabitants; frogs, fairy shrimp, many aquatic insects, Daphnia, leeches, as well as a dozen Gold Medakas introduced last spring (who are now spending the winter in my basement tank). No filters, pumps, lights, or anything else; a completely still-water, natural environment. These photos were taken early this summer; I should have taken more shots later in the season when it was more grown-in. Each year the plants grow more luxurious, and the number of animal species growing and reproducing increases. It experiences periods of green water each summer, but they are shorter and less intense each year as competing plants increase. The water was crystal clear for the latter part of this past summer and I hope for continued improvement. I just like it better and better.

 

Hello jj...

Beautiful! Must be nice to have some acreage. We're in the city, so room is minimal. How does the pond do in the winter? Does it freeze over? Do you continue to feed your fish?

Old

 

Love everyone's pictures!

 

My backyard pond, hand-dug by me in 2015. Hint: DO NOT DIG A POND BY HAND!!!!

This pond measures approximately 10 x 14 feet, with a maximum depth in the center just under 3 feet. Shelves on both back corners hold plants in pots and trays, and the "observation deck" held a cast aluminum dinette set...until a typically crazy Manitoba windstorm blew all 3 pieces into the pond! Next year bench will be built onto the deck. Mostly native plants, and mostly native animal inhabitants; frogs, fairy shrimp, many aquatic insects, Daphnia, leeches, as well as a dozen Gold Medakas introduced last spring (who are now spending the winter in my basement tank). No filters, pumps, lights, or anything else; a completely still-water, natural environment. These photos were taken early this summer; I should have taken more shots later in the season when it was more grown-in. Each year the plants grow more luxurious, and the number of animal species growing and reproducing increases. It experiences periods of green water each summer, but they are shorter and less intense each year as competing plants increase. The water was crystal clear for the latter part of this past summer and I hope for continued improvement. I just like it better and better.

Do you have any kind of filtration going for this pond? or is it completely natural?... iv always wondered if you had a large enough pond if you would need to have some sort of external filtration or if you can let nature take its course

 

Hello jj...Beautiful! Must be nice to have some acreage. We're in the city, so room is minimal. How does the pond do in the winter? Does it freeze over? Do you continue to feed your fish?Old

Lol, that made me chuckle..."freeze over"???!!! I am an hour north of Winnipeg (Winterpeg). It doesn't freeze over...it invariably freezes solid!!!! For the first couple of years we introduced a small number of bait minnows each spring, which bred into many hundreds by fall. We removed what we could come fall, but a fair number eluded capture and sadly froze along with all the water. One winter, a combination of mild (for Manitoba...) weather and lots of early snow insulated the ice enough that apparently some tiny pocket at the bottom remained liquid, and we had a small school of tiny fry alive in the spring. It was a miracle!

So, no, I don't feed the fish in winter...but I don't feed them in summer either. The minnows of a few years ago, and also the Medakas with which I experimented this past summer, are able to find abundant natural food with no help from me. On some early mornings, when the sun hits the water, large hordes of Daphnia are visible in there. I've actually harvested them many times to feed my indoor fish. There are also many aquatic insects (Water Boatmen, Backswimmers, Water Striders, Diving Beetles, Caddis Fly larvae and many others) along with numerous Gammarus and other invertebrates. No shortage of food for the fish. In fact, my main concern is not what they are finding to eat, but rather what is eating them; there are lots of Dragonfly larvae, Water Tigers and other predatory critters in there all working to make a living. Many thousands of frog tadpoles of at least three species (Wood, Gray Tree and Boreal Chorus frogs) provide the bulk of the food for the carnivores, but I know a lot of fish are eaten as well.

Do you have any kind of filtration going for this pond? or is it completely natural?... iv always wondered if you had a large enough pond if you would need to have some sort of external filtration or if you can let nature take its course

Nope, no electricity at all. I had envisioned a completely still-water pond, and it has worked out better than I dared hope. I can sit on that little deck and watch a miniature ecosystem working right in front my eyes. The only maintenance I do is periodically top up the water in case we have a dry spell, but normally the rain keeps the pond full. I am toying with the idea of adding a stock tank de-icer so that fish can survive but I doubt I will take that step. The pond is very obviously healthier and healthier each year, with no help from me. If it ain't broke...

 

I took these a while back, but I thought I may as well post some updates on my koi!:






Now everything is getting frozen over, and I won’t be able to go see them until spring... I always miss them in the winter. Oh well, I guess that’s the problem with having a pond in the north.

 

I took these a while back, but I thought I may as well post some updates on my koi!:
View attachment 504477
View attachment 504478
View attachment 504479
Now everything is getting frozen over, and I won’t be able to go see them until spring... I always miss them in the winter. Oh well, I guess that’s the problem with having a pond in the north.

Cool. Makes me want to go fishing. I'm kidding. But seriously, I'd love to have koi someday. Chagoi is my favorite. They seem bland, but when you see one up close, their size and beauty is amazing.

 

I don’t think they’re bland! I like them. They don’t have the flashy colors of some of the other varieties but they’re still beautiful. I think my favorites are the butterfly koi. They’re just so cool with their long fins!