Porch Pond Thread

[MoshJosh]

Wanted to start a thread where us FishLorians could share our porch ponds, share knowledge, and ask questions. . . and the season is upon us!!!

So lets see them, post your porch pond and tell us about them! Tell us what you know/what you've learned about porch ponds! and ask questions!!!!

 

[Kribensis27]

I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread! Thinking of starting a little patio pond for some WCMM or medaka once it warms up, so I'll probably post here a bit once I get working on that.

 

[MoshJosh]

A few snaps of mine:

This is the 180 gallon plywood pond last year:


Here it is a few days ago, things starting to grow back:


Here’s the 20 gallon with a planter idea I’m trying:


And I just got this approximately 20 gallon planter. . . Even came with an under gravel filter (some assembly required)

 

[veggieshark]

Nice ponds. I am not allowed to do tubbing, let alone a pond. That's where my wife draws the line. I have been thinking about sneaking a pair of fish in one of the large planters though. Does the pond attract other wild life? Those trying to hunt your fish, or make a home in your pond?

 

[MoshJosh]

Nice ponds. I am not allowed to do tubbing, let alone a pond. That's where my wife draws the line. I have been thinking about sneaking a pair of fish in one of the large planters though. Does the pond attract other wild life? Those trying to hunt your fish, or make a home in your pond?

I'm sure they would, but I have a screened patio, so that plus my dogs keep most the critters away. . . my one dog does like to drink out of the ponds though haha.

But yeah if the pond is not protected I'm sure birds, cats, snakes, etc could try to prey on fish. plus could end up with dragon fly/damsel fly nymphs.

 

[Kribensis27]

Nice ponds. I am not allowed to do tubbing, let alone a pond. That's where my wife draws the line. I have been thinking about sneaking a pair of fish in one of the large planters though. Does the pond attract other wild life? Those trying to hunt your fish, or make a home in your pond?

I do tubbing every year, I've just never bothered to make it look nice enough to call it a porch pond. I always get a few frogs living there and some birds drinking the water, but nothing big ever comes for my fish.

I do get some dragonfly and damselfly nymphs that go after the fry, though, so that's my biggest predator. My cats have very little interest in the fish, they mostly prefer drinking the water. I always provide some dense plants and floaters though (usually guppy grass+frogbit) incase one of our numerous possums or racoons in the area decides it wants the fish.

 

[Catappa]

I do tubbing every year, I've just never bothered to make it look nice enough to call it a porch pond. I always get a few frogs living there and some birds drinking the water, but nothing big ever comes for my fish.

I do get some dragonfly and damselfly nymphs that go after the fry, though, so that's my biggest predator. My cats have very little interest in the fish, they mostly prefer drinking the water. I always provide some dense plants and floaters though (usually guppy grass+frogbit) incase one of our numerous possums or racoons in the area decides it wants the fish.

EEK! Now I find this thread! Sorry, but I didn't see it before and just posted with questions about nymphs in another pond thread.
Anyone with sticklebacks?

 

[jtjgg]

150g Rubbermaid stock tank w/ 525gph SunSun canister, 5 comet goldfish

Feb 15th


Feb 23


Apr 11 feeding

 

[Brentar]

I'm worried that a patio pond would freeze down to the bottom since it's not in ground.

 

[MoshJosh]

I'm worried that a patio pond would freeze down to the bottom since it's not in ground.

I've been keep stock tank heaters in mine, in the winter they keep the water temps above 40F. I lose water to evaporation, but keeps the water from freezing.

 

[jtjgg]

stock tank heater freeze tests

 

[Brentar]

Cool. So fish are safe to get close to the heating elements? And have they raised your electric bill much?

 

[MoshJosh]

Getting the porch pond ready for a turtle:



And got the “under gravel filter” running:



. . . and I added some goldfish:

 

[Corylover123]

Should I make a ricefish pond?

 

[MoshJosh]

Yep. . . Well if you can get them, apparently they are a bit hard to come by these days. . . At least at a lot of online retailers.

 

[Corylover123]

Dude 12 redcap medka costs 200$ at aquatic arts

 

[MoshJosh]

YUPPPPPPP

Ebay and aquabid a bit cheaper. . .

I mean no ones ever accused me of being fiscally responsible. . . but that’s a bit much even for me. . .

 

[Catappa]

YUPPPPPPP

Ebay and aquabid a bit cheaper. . .

I mean no ones ever accused me of being fiscally responsible. . . but that’s a bit much even for me. . .

You need to connect with other hobbyists who keep Medakas. They can sell you fish or eggs. Check out The Medaka Project online and also the Medaka groups on Facebook for contacts. We also have Medaka threads on the forum, but no resources for obtaining them, which is why I'm recommending these online sites.
Of course, just like with dwarf shrimps, there are strains that are insanely expensive. But for the rest of us... I'm in the Netherlands and Medaka fish sell for between 5 - 10 Euro, and the eggs are 3-4 Euro each. It may all cost a bit more in the US because they're harder to obtain, but it shouldn't cost much more.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Just off the porch pond. 100 or 110 gal stock tank. Been going 6 years now. Just redid the bog filter this year. Has 8 goldfish in it. All but one were feeder fish.

Acclimating Endlers from my warm and very brackish may as well just call it saltwater tank into a 30gal tub pond that I use to grow out Elodea and Hornwort. Going to try stocking the filter of the goldfish pond with some as well.

 

[Basil]

Wow! What a cool setup!

 

[SamMe]

Lovely! Even looking at the pictures are relaxing, I can't even imagine how much more so the real thing would be. Job well done.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Thanks,

It’s part of my son and I ongoing Mothers Day present. Each year we add on to the garden in some way, and it’s not a garden without water. This current setup should last a few years, but I’m never happy so I’m building a drip wall to allow moss to grow

I actually play with the acoustics of it by moving wood, rocks and fall height if the water. Trying to keep it similar to the small streams and falls on our hikes.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Pouring rain and hail today. Ran out to cover the small pond with endlers to find several appearing stunned at the surface. I assume they got hammered by hail

 

[Catappa]

View attachment 792201
Pouring rain and hail today. Ran out to cover the small pond with endlers to find several appearing stunned at the surface. I assume they got hammered by hail

I'm thinking of putting Endlers as well as (eventually) Medakas in my very small ponds. There are newts in one of the ponds and maybe occasionally in the second pond. Now the second pond is teeming with black mosquito larvae, daphnia and other little water critters. Do you (or anyone reading this) know if Endlers and Medakas can eat the black mosquito larvae, or is that too large for them? What about Guppies?

 

[Kribensis27]

I'm thinking of putting Endlers as well as (eventually) Medakas in my very small ponds. There are newts in one of the ponds and maybe occasionally in the second pond. Now the second pond is teeming with black mosquito larvae, daphnia and other little water critters. Do you (or anyone reading this) know if Endlers and Medakas can eat the black mosquito larvae, or is that too large for them? What about Guppies?

Not sure about medakas, but I know endlers love mosquito larvae. They might not get the bigger ones, but they like to eat the young ones before they grow up.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Not sure about mosquito larvae as we barely have any here (compared to the MidWest) But my Endlers do take on adult brine shrimp. It’s like watching a sperm whale take on a giant squid on small scale.

 

[wrs2]

This is mine. It’s such a flop lol.
And it’s not level after a storm so I tried to level it out with an extra rock, but now it has a bulge. But it's been like this since March so I think it's fine haha. I have some other plants I still need to put in, but it's pouring today...

This was last years. The bin I used cracked when I was setting it up this year and the price doubled since 2020, so I went for something else. It got taken over by green frogs last year which I was not happy about!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Pic from today.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Goldfish have been getting freaky lately. Yesterday on top of the pump, today I appear to have eggs in the filter. Maybe?

 

[jtjgg]

looks like eggs

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Guess I’ll find out in a few days. Last year we had spawning behavior, but no eggs (that I saw). In the 5 years or so this has been up, this is the first year of eggs. Going to construct some “breeding boxes” for next year. Just going to have a planter partly submerged with some bullrush since they seem to want very shallow water for spawning.
As always seems to be the case, that picture is a few hours old and already out of date lol Filter has been rearranged a bit to keep any fry that hatch up there and safe.

 

[jtjgg]

i've had my 150g stock tank setup for a couple years, 1st time i had baby goldfish. i think they usually eat all the eggs. but this spring i had an explosion of string algae. and i found a bunch of eggs on them.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

View attachment 793695
Goldfish have been getting freaky lately. Yesterday on top of the pump, today I appear to have eggs in the filter. Maybe?

Been about a week, no little swimmers yet. Eggs mostly got covered in green algae, so minimal hope. Since this was their first spawn, I didn’t expect much.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

 

[Basil]

View attachment 795245

They are gorgeous!

 

[Catappa]

I'm so excited about my Medaka eggs (package just arrived) and my Endlers (arriving either tomorrow or Tuesday).

I am planning to prepare a number of outdoor container gardens (they are all starting off indoors). Rather than MTS, I have PPS (porch pond syndrome)!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Started a spawning box for next season. Pond is a little low, should leave a 2-3 in shallow area for them to spawn in. I’ll fill it with lava rock and some bullrush at the back. Plant suggestions for the area underwater to spawn in? This is in the Seattle area and I prefer to keep em outside.

 

[Catappa]

A pleasant and relaxing video of creating a tiny container pond for Medaka fish.

 

[ChrissFishes01]

stock tank heater freeze tests

I don't have an outdoor pond, but this man makes me feel like a man. The voice, the cowboy hat, the jacket, the way he casually mentions that he owns a ranch... My testosterone levels have never been higher!

 

[Nessaf]

When I lived in Arizona I had a porch pond. Still miss it, but worry that here in Colorado it just wouldn’t be practical. I used retaining wall blocks and a pool liner.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

When I lived in Arizona I had a porch pond. Still miss it, but worry that here in Colorado it just wouldn’t be practical. I used retaining wall blocks and a pool liner.View attachment 795784View attachment 795785

Nice!
I may have to try that style in the future.

So anyway, caught the goldfish getting fishy again. Have not gotten stones to plant the box yet, so I tossed in a clump of Hornwort in case they get fishy in the morning.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Moved a few things around in the garden today. Endler tub is off to the right to catch more morning sun and the fig should block a bit of that morning sun on the goldfish

 

[Lucy]

That looks so relaxing. Nice job!!

 

[DreamWolf]

I have a 300 gal Rubbermaid stock tank with fancy goldfish, been fighting first algae bloom of the season, but got it cleared up. Don't have any current photos

 

[BPSabelhaus]

That looks so relaxing. Nice job!!

Very much so. Nice place to sit with a cup of coffee, read a book or have a smoke. Just wish the porch was a bit larger so I could sit across the bench

 

[MySquishy]

Wanted to start a thread where us FishLorians could share our porch ponds, share knowledge, and ask questions. . . and the season is upon us!!!

So lets see them, post your porch pond and tell us about them! Tell us what you know/what you've learned about porch ponds! and ask questions!!!!

I don’t have a pond, but I love the term fishlorians!
It sounds like a people from middle earth.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

 

[emeraldking]

I had a porch pond once in my livingroom. I was planning to put it in the backyard. But I've assembled it in the livingroom. Once I was done, I've noticed that it was too big to get it through the door. So, I've put it in the corner of the livingroom. Started to keep baby koi in there but later on, guppies were swimming in there and the baby koi moved to the smaller pond in the backyard.

 

[DreamWolf]

We have a frog!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Not too bad for leftovers from making dinner last year lol. Just some grocery store taro.