What Can Live In My Pond?

HI all,

I've a 'pond' that I would like some suggestions on please. I say pond, but actually it was meant to be a water feature and is more canal shaped (will try and add a pic). At the moment its a breeding ground to 3 newts and a ton of snails. We did also have a frog but he's since moved on Once the newts breeding season is over and theyve headed off, my husband and I plan to strip it back, tidy it up add some live plants and generally make it more aesthetically pleasing! Once that's done we're happy for nature to have it back.

I would like to add fish. I would love to have a goldfish or 2 in there, but knowing how big they can grow I don't think this is going to be possible...?. The 'pond' is about 9 foot long but only approx a foot deep and a foot wide.... . I don't really like sticklebacks... are there any other pond/shallow water fish that could live in here?

The long brick thing is the pond

 

Florida Flagfish?

 

Thank you littleredridingmech Are these a fish that would be available in UK do you know? I will certainly look them up

 

I have no idea. I think you guys have a restriction on fish that survive cooler water, so they might not be legal to import. I don't live in the UK though so I've never looked into it.

 

endlers guppies for the warm months only. or any easy fish really as long as its hardy and easy to care for

 

It depends on the temp and pH mainly. Also how big is the pond? Doesn't look that deep, but it is sure long.

 

Rosy red minnows would probably do good in there. Anders247

 

Thank you Megg01 , they look ideal and quite attractive as well. Think these may just be the sort of fish we were looking for

 

I agree, rosy red minnows would a good fit for this pond.

 

It depends on the temp and pH mainly. Also how big is the pond? Doesn't look that deep, but it is sure long.

PH is 8.2. It's only about a foot deep and this is the UK, it doesn't get warm for long lol. It's 10dc (50fahrenheit) today and we're in the middle of spring where temps should be double that! We had 3 days of really nice warm weather last week so that was probably our summer aswell :-\ ...But anyway, for the majority of the time it's going to be cold. In winter we don't normally get this low but can reach -10 (14 fahrenheit) so the fish would need to be pretty tough as ive no where to bring them in for the winter.

I agree, rosy red minnows would a good fit for this pond.

Are these the Rosy Red Minnows you mean? Just want to make sure i'm looking at the right fish, These seem to be more for aquariums?
https://www.angelfishaquatics.co.uk/rosy-red-minnows-pack-of-3-2163-p.asp

 

PH is 8.2. It's only about a foot deep and this is the UK, it doesn't get warm for long lol. It's 10dc (50fahrenheit) today and we're in the middle of spring where temps should be double that! We had 3 days of really nice warm weather last week so that was probably our summer aswell :-\ ...But anyway, for the majority of the time it's going to be cold. In winter we don't normally get this low but can reach -10 (14 fahrenheit) so the fish would need to be pretty tough as ive no where to bring them in for the winter.



Are these the Rosy Red Minnows you mean? Just want to make sure i'm looking at the right fish, These seem to be more for aquariums?

I think you need to put a heater in the pond. And you a have a filter for the pond right? Is the pond cycled?

 

I think you need to put a heater in the pond. And you a have a filter for the pond right? Is the pond cycled?

Ive no idea if it's cycled, it wasn't set up with the intention of being a pond. The newts and frogs certainly haven't complained though.

It does have a filter (a big one at that) and a pump. Filter was taken from my neighbours pond when she passed but we didn't put it in ours for a few weeks. The filters been running in ours since March now though.

Don't think i'd be able to put a heater in! Would require quite a heater and ive no further electrics to plug it in.

 

I think the question is does it freeze solid in the winter? Or does it always have some water under the ice. Instead of a heater you could add a fountain spray of some kind to keep the top from freezing , possibly. Alison

 

I think the question is does it freeze solid in the winter? Or does it always have some water under the ice. Instead of a heater you could add a fountain spray of some kind to keep the top from freezing , possibly. Alison

My bad lol The surface would freeze but we do have a pump with a fountain so the water is kept moving. Also have some in pond solution which is fish and bird suitable that prevents water from freezing also,

 

You should find out where the frost line is in your area and make sure the pond goes below that level. Otherwise the fish won't survive unless you have a heater.

We had a 3,000 gallon pond and had to dig out part of the pond to go below the frost line to the fish would "winter" in the deeper part.

Of note: try to get fish when they are smaller. When we added full grown fish, they would jump out of the pond- smaller fish weren't able to jump out and were comfortable by the time they were capable of jumping.

If you want to keep frogs, get them as tadpoles (same premise), so that they will stay with the pond when they get big enough to "escape", they won't want to leave .

 

Not sure if they have dojo loaches in your area but they would probably be ok.

 

So if it doesn't freeze solid , than you should be able to do some cold water small fish. I would look at mailorder, or any garden pond landscaper places that install them. Some of them also stock suitable fish . Or take a net and catch a few small native fish providing that it is legal where you live. Alison