SnookusFish new pond build.

I'm getting a pond!!!! We had a tree, tree got chopped, and ive started digging the hole for the pond. I want a rigid pond liner, one of the preformed type ponds, no flexible pond liner because i will break it and it will be a lot of hassle lol. The first problem i have found is finding a pond deep enough! I believe they should be minimum 2ft deep, i can hardly find any over a foot and a half. Any help appreciated. Planned stock is medaka AKA japanese rice fish. Going to be as heavily planted as possible because i dont want green water, will probably get a little solar powered fountain as well. Plants all around the pond, light coloured pebble substrate. Im very excited! This is a picture of the footprint i have avaliable for the pond from above in centimeters. So 150cm long and 110cm at the widest point.


Follow along and give me advice!

 

So we finished digging, got to about 2ft. We have ordered the pond! The oase 250 preformed pond. It looks awesome and was the deepest pond I could find. Also ordered a solar powered filter/fountain but not one of the cheap floaty ebay ones, this one was pretty expensive. Arrives next week! Exciting! And I get to use the leftover filler sand for my tanks muahaha! I'm trying to make this as natural and self sustaining as possible so I'm filling the planting shelves with gravel and taking the pond plants out of the pots and straight into the gravel so hopefully they grow and spread. Marginal plant will probably be lots of lilles, I have also got some ideas for the rest but suggestions are welcome!

 

Pond arrived, now we can get to work

 

Woohoo pond done! Still needs a lot actually but the basics are done! Can't wait for plants to grow in! Ill get a better pic tomorrow when the sun is out

 

Woohoo pond done! Still needs a lot actually but the basics are done! Can't wait for plants to grow in! Ill get a better pic tomorrow when the sun is out

Looks awesome!

 

I'm getting a pond!!!! We had a tree, tree got chopped, and ive started digging the hole for the pond. I want a rigid pond liner, one of the preformed type ponds, no flexible pond liner because i will break it and it will be a lot of hassle lol. The first problem i have found is finding a pond deep enough! I believe they should be minimum 2ft deep, i can hardly find any over a foot and a half. Any help appreciated. Planned stock is medaka AKA japanese rice fish. Going to be as heavily planted as possible because i dont want green water, will probably get a little solar powered fountain as well. Plants all around the pond, light coloured pebble substrate. Im very excited! This is a picture of the footprint i have avaliable for the pond from above in centimeters. So 150cm long and 110cm at the widest point.

Follow along and give me advice!

Following!!

 

Any recommendation for more pond plants?

 

Any recommendation for more pond plants?View attachment 728933

In the pond or around? I would add a dwarf lily inside the pond to give the fish some cover.

 

In the pond or around? I would add a dwarf lily inside the pond to give the fish some cover.

Oh yea I'm going to be adding a lily come spring. No fish in there yet anyways

 

Oh yea I'm going to be adding a lily come spring. No fish in there yet anyways

Good luck! So excited to see it once it’s done!

 

 

 

Well, we have entered winter. The pond is still far from finished though. I have it covered over with a net to keep leaves out. Plants are starting to grow which is awesome! The irises and the lil are growing now... crazy. The water is crystal clear which i am very happy about. I cannot wait until spring. So much is going to be done. Lots of aquatic plants, I want a ton of guppy grass and also some water lilies, I want some big floaters and also I want some more marginal plants like creeping jenny to spread from the flowerbed into the water. I will be getting the fish around March time. They will be japanese rice fish. I will probably buy them as eggs and hatch,raise and breed them into big numbers before putting them out into the pond... I cant wait.

 

Cool! Isn't water movement bad for water lilies, though?

 

Cool! Isn't water movement bad for water lilies, though?

Probably, fountain is only on for 4 hours a day though and I can change the fitting so it doesn't even spray up.

 

Everytime people mention a pond, i always think like a 2-25 acre body of water full of catfish and bass!! Looks very nice though!

 

What fish do you have in there?

 

Looks great! No fish in there yet. They are getting rice fish next March.

 

Can't wait to see what strain of Medaka you'll get.

 

I’m excited

 

Can't wait to see what strain of Medaka you'll get.

All of them muahahaha
No but seriously I want like a pick and mix of all different multicolours of medaka.
A guy i watch on youtube called ryo watanabe recently uploaded a video all about them and it has made me even more excited to get my hands on them. Only 3 more months now until I buy eggs!
Pond froze over for the first of hopefully many winters to come. Everything looking good currently. Filter not running now. The ice gives it a really cool wrinkled effect in person


Net was on to keep autumn leaves out but as you can see it hasnt worked lol

 

Awe Ryo is wicked such a nice lad! I love medaka! Are you in the U.K. ? How’s the pond coming along now? I breed medaka too as well as bettas as with all the fish I breed I breed them to resemble Japanese koi colours and pattern from above viewing ... great pond by the way! I’d be excited to see what it’s like now if you get a chance

 

Awe Ryo is wicked such a nice lad! I love medaka! Are you in the U.K. ? How’s the pond coming along now? Do you have lots of medaka fry now??? If you are in the U.K. and sell medaka plz let me know what you have and want to sell I breed medaka too as well as bettas as with all the fish I breed I breed them to resemble Japanese koi colours and pattern from above viewing ... great pond by the way! I’d be excited to see what it’s like now if you get a chance

Hasn't really been doing much as its winter time, I plan to get the medaka from a person on fishlore this month to start breeding for spring. Great to have another medaka keeper on here!

 

Hasn't really been doing much as its winter time, I plan to get the medaka from a person on fishlore this month to start breeding for spring. Great to have another medaka keeper on here!

Such great fish and I’d like to see more people into them and creating biotopes for them I deffo need to find more bloodlines to further the colours!
Totally understand the winter thing too just wondering if anyone had any new blood to add to mine from indoor colony but really excited to see how yours are in the pond I put mine out in the summer time but Take them In but possibly trying to move them out like my koi this year

 

Sorry if I missed it but what do you plan on stocking?

 

Sorry if I missed it but what do you plan on stocking?

I believe he's going for different strains of medaka.

 

Such great fish and I’d like to see more people into them and creating biotopes for them I deffo need to find more bloodlines to further the colours!
Totally understand the winter thing too just wondering if anyone had any new blood to add to mine from indoor colony but really excited to see how yours are in the pond I put mine out in the summer time but Take them In but possibly trying to move them out like my koi this year

I totally agree, I know there's a few people on here that breed and sell them so get ur message count up to 50 and then you should be able to make some trades! Have you got any photos of you setup? I'd love to see what kind of tank/pond you have them in, would like to see the koi too!!!

 

I totally agree, I know there's a few people on here that breed and sell them so get ur message count up to 50 and then you should be able to make some trades! Have you got any photos of you setup? I'd love to see what kind of tank/pond you have them in, would like to see the koi too!!!

Here’s a few of my medaka biotopes

 

View attachment 763543
Here’s a few of my medaka biotopes

You have some beautiful setups. What are the measurements. Can you create a new thread and share what you have.

 

View attachment 763543
Here’s a few of my medaka biotopes

Those are amazing!

 

You have some beautiful setups. What are the measurements. Can you create a new thread and share what you have.

Yes of course I can do that I’m still working my way around this site as I’m new and I hope I’m not missing anyone’s questions comments out .. I I am it’s not intentional and I apologise! I will make a thread I’m not sure exactly how to do so but I’ll try now thanx

Yes of course I can do that I’m still working my way around this site as I’m new and I hope I’m not missing anyone’s questions comments out .. I I am it’s not intentional and I apologise! I will make a thread I’m not sure exactly how to do so but I’ll try now thanx

here’s the thread I know medaka aren’t necessarily killifish but was only option I could see for them

Japanese Medaka Rice fish Biotopes and medaka lovers U.K. | Killifish Forum | 487429

 

so excited now, just a few weeks until i can get this pond looking great. already organizing the fish and planning plants. made a 60 second summary video of building the pond too

 

Everyone get hyped... spring has sprung and its almost pond season, can't wait to get this thing overflowing with plants and looking so natural.
And a big moment I've been waiting on for half a year is finally here!!!!! Ill be getting my hands on the Japanese ricefish/medaka tomorrow!!!!!! Ill keep you all updated

 

Pond isn't freezing over anymore and pond season is just about to start so I had to finally get in the pond and get it ready for spring. It did meh over winter, not too bad, this is how it was looking this morning:


So obviously quite ugly and the flowerbeds are still very bare as I never managed to finish planting last summer, I should get it all filled in nicely this spring in the coming couple of months. As you can see there was a lot of algae and the water wasn't too clear


So after a couple of hours of draining the pond and cleaning out all the dead leaves and algae


I finally got it clean and filled it back up again, booting up the filter for the first time in 4 months


Obviously its still very bare but ill be going out to get a load of plants very soon, I also found this plant in a natural local pond and took some and its awesome, grows really fast and its bright green so I cant wait for it to start growing


Any ideas what it is? I want it to basically grow all around the rim shelf as it grows well emersed amd submerged, so it should eventually cover the plastic.
The irises should also start to grow now and hopefully flower soon enough. I want them to fill most of the back part. I'll also be getting a lily so I can see some frogs on lily pads and I want creeping jenny too. Any other recommendations? I know there's a couple other marginal plants I've spotted that ill be getting too but I dont rember the names right now.
faland ill be getting another batch this week or the week after. They look so cool and are really easy to raise, I got them as eggs so they're still only about a week old.


Ill grow them to adults indoors and breed them a lot before releasing them out into the pond at the start of the summer, really happy with the pond and my plants for it, I hope ur all as excited as I am

 

Garden centre trip next weekend, very exciting

 

Any recommendation for more pond plants?View attachment 728933

It's too late now but you should have dug your tub down much deeper. Then covered the whole area, all the way up to the wood barriers. Then you could have built up several “steps” of elevation into the water. Water plants like different depths of water. Some like 12“ to 18“ over top. While others like to have just a few inches of water over their crown. And then there's the ones that just want their toes touching the water. Yet others like to be next to or beside the waterline. So you see the planning portion is so very important. That way you can build up all these layers and steps as well as plan for a camouflaged filter and hidden powerlines wrapped in conduit under the soil. You should design a 3D view from various angles as well as an overhead view. I hope this has given you some ideas how to design your next pond. Just remember - go as big as you can afford, without overtaking your entire yard.

 

It's too late now but you should have dug your tub down much deeper. Then covered the whole area, all the way up to the wood barriers. Then you could have built up several “steps” of elevation into the water. Water plants like different depths of water. Some like 12“ to 18“ over top. While others like to have just a few inches of water over their crown. And then there's the ones that just want their toes touching the water. Yet others like to be next to or beside the waterline. So you see the planning portion is so very important. That way you can build up all these layers and steps as well as plan for a camouflaged filter and hidden powerlines wrapped in conduit under the soil. You should design a 3D view from various angles as well as an overhead view. I hope this has given you some ideas how to design your next pond. Just remember - go as big as you can afford, without overtaking your entire yard.

It was a preformed pond so I couldn't add more shelves to it if that's what you mean...
Anyway, this reminds me to post an update. Pind is completely full of tadpoles now and yesterday I added a nice big lily in the water as well as caltha palustris and a load of anarchis.



The caltha^




Not sure what this plant is but its starting to grow really fast^





Gotta let the lily pads reach the surface and then ill drop it down into the deeper part
Adding fish soon! Just want to fill it with plants first

 

Nice! That's such an improvement. Your plants are beautiful. My water plants are just starting to come back from last year. Amazingly one or two perennial water lilies that survived all the ice cover and the couple weeks of frigid -40's. I went out to try to buy some more water lilies and such last week but no one around here are selling them yet. They say it's way too early in the season. I can't wait to get my water falls hooked up and running again. It takes up most the backyard but all the landscaping around it is so beautiful. It's the main reason why I bought this property last year. Your water plants are absolutely beautiful and yet it's still so early in the season.

As for adding fish you already have a stressed bioload if you have as many tadpoles as you say. Maybe after they become frogs and leave. But first you should figure out how much it's going to cost to get all the equipment, chemicals and mechanics to have a fish pond. Plus for that size 2 or 3 small goldfish max. They are really messy and poop a lot (as do any carp species) so be prepared to clean the filters and skimmer once/twice weekly. Goldfish keepers insist on a minimum 50% water change weekly. Personally I don't since I have pumps running pushing the water onto a brook and series of waterfalls and over the filters and skimmers, plus I have an aerator running constantly too and keep the water on the cold side (some insist there's less chance of disease that way). Converting your pond to a fish pond can get really expensive and can take up a lot of your free time for the maintenance. But if you really love fish and have read up all you can and have priced out the type of equipment/supplies you need then I say go for it. Either way you decide to go I'm sure it will be great. Keep posting pictures of your water plants as I'd love to see more of them as they mature.

 

Nice! That's such an improvement. Your plants are beautiful. My water plants are just starting to come back from last year. Amazingly one or two perennial water lilies that survived all the ice cover and the couple weeks of frigid -40's. I went out to try to buy some more water lilies and such last week but no one around here are selling them yet. They say it's way too early in the season. I can't wait to get my water falls hooked up and running again. It takes up most the backyard but all the landscaping around it is so beautiful. It's the main reason why I bought this property last year. Your water plants are absolutely beautiful and yet it's still so early in the season.

As for adding fish you already have a stressed bioload if you have as many tadpoles as you say. Maybe after they become frogs and leave. But first you should figure out how much it's going to cost to get all the equipment, chemicals and mechanics to have a fish pond. Plus for that size 2 or 3 small goldfish max. They are really messy and poop a lot (as do any carp species) so be prepared to clean the filters and skimmer once/twice weekly. Goldfish keepers insist on a minimum 50% water change weekly. Personally I don't since I have pumps running pushing the water onto a brook and series of waterfalls and over the filters and skimmers, plus I have an aerator running constantly too and keep the water on the cold side (some insist there's less chance of disease that way). Converting your pond to a fish pond can get really expensive and can take up a lot of your free time for the maintenance. But if you really love fish and have read up all you can and have priced out the type of equipment/supplies you need then I say go for it. Either way you decide to go I'm sure it will be great. Keep posting pictures of your water plants as I'd love to see more of them as they mature.

Thanks! I already have all I need to add fish though, but yes I will be waiting until the tadpoles leave. I'm not going to be keeping goldfish.
Your pond sounds great, I would love to have a big koi pond with water falls when I'm older

 

Huge updates all in this video! Cool to see how much the pond has changed in a few months