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RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:15:18 GMT

Thanks Mindnova!:)

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

Mindnova — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:33:45 GMT

jfish13 (1/10/2008)

Oh, and by the way my yard back's up to the open space. So, raccoons may eat the goldfish! How can I prevent them?

Keep the sides of the pond sheer for about 12 inches. Most animals dislike stepping into a pond when they can't feel the bottom. Keeps from getting themselves traped and drowning. Give the fish places to hide, I built a small cave in mine with a rear escape opening. I have raccoons swinging from my bird feeders but in two years no fish losses.

I would reccommend creating shade since your pond is so exposed and building the pond the same depth as reccommended for freezing temps, would help some the keep the water a stable temp.(also 500 gallons or more would help since I have found the bigger the eaiser the eco-system is to establish) and cool depths for your fish to shelter in the heat of the day.

Good luck and happy ponding.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:31:18 GMT

Thanks!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jsmith11618 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:42:24 GMT

Unless you have a really big pond, I think you will find that the ducks waste will make it hard to keep the water in good shape.

I had ducks back when I lived in California, and they can make clean water a mess. Now my duck ponds were not filtered but were 100 gallons and that 100 gallons was dirty in a day, had to clean it 4-5 times a week.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

princessotfu — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:16:00 GMT

I actually have no idea. I've never talked to someone who kept domestic ducks by their pond. There would be no problem with the duck attacking the fish, as they eat bugs and things, but there may or may not be an issue with the duck's waste in the pond. I really have no idea.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:28:34 GMT

anyone, at all??

EDIT: Guess I have to ask elsewhere Too bad Princess Sotfu isn't on

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:12:30 GMT

Now, I have another question. Can domestic ducks (e.i. cayuga, buff orpington, ect) live peacfully with goldfish? I love ducks. There so hardy!!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

johnny chimpo — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:27:41 GMT

if you're looking for a gallons per inch approximation, i seem to recall 10G per inch. since koi get pretty large, what princess said about 100G minimum per fish would be right on.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

princessotfu — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:20:21 GMT

if it's full koi, about 200-300 gallons per koi, ideally. 100g per fish bare minimum. Kinda like the 10g per goldie rule though, more is always better.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:11:33 GMT

Okay, now I figured out that one of my "common goldies" is koi! how many gallons of water per koi? :D

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

princessotfu — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:50:54 GMT

they'll probably go after your fish at some point if they can catch them.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:37:56 GMT

princessotfu (1/24/2008)

probably, but your goldfish won't appreciate it. Turtles and goldfish don't usually go well together.

Why is that?

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:32:02 GMT

johnny chimpo (1/11/2008)

i think your climate supports hummingbirds.

Oh yes, we have hummingbirds yearound! :D

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

princessotfu — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:31:15 GMT

probably, but your goldfish won't appreciate it. Turtles and goldfish don't usually go well together.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:09:29 GMT

Could I keep a red-eared slider in a 500 gallon pond??

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:20:15 GMT

Oh! that would be AWSOME to breed goldfish! thanks for the advice! I'll certainly change the amount of fish!

Here's the new plan of fish:

3 common goldies, and 2 shubunkins!

Thanks!!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

princessotfu — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:02:33 GMT

just one addition. You may want to scale back your stocking scheme. Since you don't have to worry about the pond freezing over, you'll just be keeping the fish in there permanently. They'll start spawning within a year or two, and you have no way of regulating how many fish will grow up. I have seen ponds that ended up with a small population explosion. If you put, say, only 5-6 goldfish in the pond, not only will they be happier with the swimming room, but you've got a bit more leeway if/when you get babies. It's not a big problem, I haven't seen it happen too often, usually there aren't many babies that survive to adulthood. Just throwing it out there for thinking about.

This sounds like pretty cool project.:)

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:51:27 GMT

thanks! I think I'll build the pond in spring!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

johnny chimpo — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:23:52 GMT

kingfishers would be the biggest small bird pest (did that make sense)....but you said you don't have to worry about them. actually attracting typical seed birds to drink from your pond is a nice thing.....get a nice little ecosystem working. what i would recommend, put in plants surrounding the pond that attract butterflies & humming birds (most plants that attract one also attract the other).....or put in a hummingbird feeder. that would be some pretty cool sites! i think your climate supports hummingbirds.

check this website out. i've gotten equipment there and find most of their prices unbeatable. they often do sales and free shipping offers on equipment/supplies as well.

www.azponds.com

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:57:16 GMT

thanks anyway!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:54:57 GMT

To be honest, I haven't really looked for them. It's been more than a year since I worked on a pond system. I'm not sure where they'd be.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:51:39 GMT

Do you know of any good on-line pond stores?

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:50:20 GMT

Just trying to help.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:41:15 GMT

I'll keep that in mind!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:36:55 GMT

Try to pick a place that will get shade midday but upwind of any deciduous trees.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:33:34 GMT

Tommorow I'm picking out the location and am going to ask my parents if they would mind a pon. I've spoke about it before. So they should be thrilled to have a pond!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:33:02 GMT

Yeah, that would be a problem :).

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:30:57 GMT

Thank goodness I don't have kingfishers!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:16:49 GMT

Typically, seed birds won't harm a pond in any way, by drinking or otherwise. But be careful as some birds can learn to pick off small goldfish (less than 2"). Also, make sure the feeders are well away from the pond so that falling seed doesn't foul the water.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:46:40 GMT

I have birdfeeders. So naturally would the cute birds (goldfinchs, house finchs ect.) harm the pond in some way like would them drinking a tad of the water harm the fish??

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:57:44 GMT

Thanks so much MOA! If I have a ? I'll just post! thanks! (Hey! "tanks" :)"

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:53:54 GMT

The filter isn't bad, but, from what I saw, you'll still need a pump. I would recommend something in the 1,500 GPH range if you can afford it.

However, I like to actually build the filter rather than buy a pre-made one. No less, the commercial filters do work well and have decent performance numbers (not to mention a lot less headache!).

Oh yeah, tetra is ok if you want to go with commercial pumps. Also, if your pond doesn't have good shade, you might want to consider a couple UV sterilizers--they don't work very well at killing pathogens, but they can kill suspended algae rather well. The better option is good shade though.

Also, if you can afford a "raised" (by about 1.5 ft.) pond it will make water changes a lot easier as all you have to do is set up a siphon in your yard to drain the upper water level.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:34:20 GMT

I think I picked out the filter: http://www.petco.com/product/14730/TetraPond-Clear-Choice-PF-3-Easy-Maintenance-Advanced-Pond-Filter.aspx

Would you recomend this one?

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:32:13 GMT

Well, maybe minus the mosquito fish! :)

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

johnny chimpo — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:31:06 GMT

i think that's a nice plan.

(i know this was directed towards moa) why the mosquito fish? if you're worried about mosquitos the goldfish will eat the larvae. unless of course you just like them, then yeah.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:29:56 GMT

And, also what pump do you all recommend for a pond? tetra?

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:29:08 GMT

Oh MOA, could I put in some mosquito fish in it?

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

math-only aquarium — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:27:38 GMT

Sounds like a plan! Just do your research as there are a ton of options when it comes to construction--cement, brick, plastic, molded plastic, supported geo-textile, etc.

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:24:53 GMT

Here's the fish that will go in it:

3 common goldfish, 4 shubunkins, and 3 comets!

RE: Pond Hopefully!!!

jfish13 — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:24:12 GMT

Thats the one I want! I'm guessing 10 goldfish could fit in there (50 gal. divided by 500 gal.)