Pond Research Project

Hey fishloreans!

My parents told me that before they got our 2 dogs a few years back, they considered a pond around 500 gallons. This seemed interesting to research so guess what I do! Start a minI research 'project' (as I like to call it)!

This is divided into categories

1 - stocking
I was thinking for a 500 gallon
30x mosquito fish
5x sarasa comets

It wouldn't be really really deep. Probably longer than deeper.

2 - plants
According to live aquaria (check their plant hardiness chart), our zones would be 9-10 in summer, 7-8 in spring and fall, and maybe 5ish in winter. I like the following plants
Colorata lily
Hornwort
Water lettuce
Any other?

3 - I don't have any stores that specialize in ponds. A chain 20 min away has all their goldfish in a tank together as well as a non chain 1 hr away. None have pond plants. Soooo I was thinking live aquaria. I did a pretend order, and this is what it turned out as


I read mostly good reviews so I would say it is worth it. I got free shipping, too, so that is a plus.


I do not want to go into location or sunlight or diseases or algae yet. I would love to hear some general experience / thoughts.

Thanks

LT

 

I would suggest getting plants from elsewhere. LiveAquaria is exetremely overpriced. And I'm not sure about the Gambusia. I heard they were fin nippers but not sure with fish many times their size

I saw your profile and it said SA Georgia. Can't you net some gambusia from nearby bodies of water?

 

I would suggest getting plants from elsewhere. LiveAquaria is exetremely overpriced. And I'm not sure about the Gambusia. I heard they were fin nippers but not sure with fish many times their size

Yep, you're right! Just read up and it says do not keep with slow moving fish or long finned fish, which means goldfish! Thanks. Do you know what other fish control algae in ponds?

I saw your profile and it said SA Georgia. Can't you net some gambusia from nearby bodies of water?

Maybe... don't really know lolllll

 

Do you know what other fish control algae in ponds?

Instead of a fish for algae control I highly recommend barley straw!

 

Instead of a fish for algae control I highly recommend barley straw!

Wow I just googled that! Interesting! Will keep that in mind

If I don't use the mosquito fish how many more goldfish could I put? Or could I do any koi?

 

Yeah the barley straw really cleared up my pond!

As for stocking I have no idea, my pond is only about 150 gallons maybe 200, and I have 2 common goldfish and 3 fan tails that someone couldn't keep anymore.

 

Make sure the pond is 2 feet deep minimum

Wow I just googled that! Interesting! Will keep that in mind

If I don't use the mosquito fish how many more goldfish could I put? Or could I do any koi?

8 Goldies max
No way, no koi

 

If I don't use the mosquito fish how many more goldfish could I put? Or could I do any koi?

I think Dadio would be the best source of info for koi here

 

Make sure the pond is 2 feet deep minimum

8 Goldies max
No way, no koi

Ok. I see mixed opinions on kois with size varieties and such and it was way too overwhelming... I just want the simple facts So thanks !

 

I have heard a mixture of minimum sizes for koi too. Ranging from 300 gallons to 1800 gallons. I have a 1600 gallon pond that I wanted to put koi in so I went and visited a few adult koi, came back home thinking "no way, no koi, they would need a much larger pond than mine!". So yeah I would advise you see some fully grown koi in person.

 

Hello again! So I went to my hardware store to pick up something and saw a container pond. It looks around 60 gallons and is circular. (I googled some pics for size comparison).

In this pond I read I could consider any of these fish, but not all together of course
Fancy goldfish (like these a lot)
Feeder guppies
Danios
White cloud mountain minnows (like these a lot)

What numbers could I do? Would anybody make a stocking or two?

Thanks

 

I would do
10-20 danios
10-20 WCMM
5-10 Guppies

Or
2-3 fancy goldfish

 

I would do
10-20 danios
10-20 WCMM
5-10 Guppies

Or
2-3 fancy goldfish

Thanks! I just did some searching and found I have a lot of aquarium fish in my area, surprisingly. I want to find some banded pygmy sunfish! How would they do in a pond? I know they are timid so it would probably be just them.

 

They would probably be ok but make sure to densely plant it first

 

One last question - what about rain? Do your ponds overflow?

 

No but my ponds are 200 gallons and 1600 gallons, a smaller pond would overflow easier. Just be aware of when it is very rainy and you can keep an eye on it.

 

#Little Pond of Happiness# Are you sure about your sizing of the 500 g pond. The fish you considered in ur opening post would fit comfortably in a 50 G pond ? If its 500 G pond you going to need a lot more inhabitants.
I have a 180 G pond which has 50 mosquito fish, 30 Rosy Barbs, 16 Golden Barbs, 10 Odessa Barbs, 20 danios and 20 white cloud minnows and it still seems to need more fish (visually). I have another 30 Rosy Barbs on order now.
The Rosy Barbs and Golden Barbs are easier to see because of their colouration.

 

#Little Pond of Happiness# Are you sure about your sizing of the 500 g pond. The fish you considered in ur opening post would fit comfortably in a 50 G pond ? If its 500 G pond you going to need a lot more inhabitants.
I have a 180 G pond which has 50 mosquito fish, 30 Rosy Barbs, 16 Golden Barbs, 10 Odessa Barbs, 20 danios and 20 white cloud minnows and it still seems to need more fish (visually). I have another 30 Rosy Barbs on order now.
The Rosy Barbs and Golden Barbs are easier to see because of their colouration.

Comets get to be a foot long, don't they? Also, the mosquito fish will breed. Do you think I could add rosy barbs?

 

I prefer Rosy Barbs , you get the "bright" Rosy Barb which is colour of the "orange" goldfish commonly availabe.
Temp is important though. These fish have over wintered in the pond previously but temp in pond never went below 13 deg C. THe books always tell you 20 - 24 deg C for these fish but they are not correct.
I have permanent digital thermometers in all my ponds and one measuring air tempreture so every feeding time I check temps for interests sake.