1st timer looking for advice

[Josh Mauer]

Me and my Daughter decided to put a small fish pond in out backyard. She has always been obsessed with fish and animals in general and she is all in and loving the process. I did some research and bought a small pond kit. We are ready to start putting on the finishing touches. I will post some pics. If anyone sees an issue or has any suggestions on how to make it look natural please share.

all in and loving the process. I did some research and bought a small pond kit. We are ready to start putting on the finishing touches. I will post some pics. If anyone sees an issue or has any suggestions on how to make it look natural please share.

 

[j.w]

@Josh Mauer
Nice looking pond. You are really gonna enjoy it!
I would wait to put fish in there for several weeks to let your pond cycle for the health of the fish.
I love that big slab rock in front and how natural you made the sides look w/all that rock. So how long did it take you to get that waterfall just perfect like that?
I know I must have tweaked mine a thousand times

 

[poconojoe]

It looks really awesome!
You both should be proud of the excellent work you have done.

Add plants and more plants! There are so many to choose from. They are an intricate part of your pond's ecology. They thrive on the excess nutrients that are created by your fish waste. If you don't have plants, then algae, which are also plants, will thrive.

Another suggestion might be to choose the correct fish for the volume of your pond.

A lot of new pond builders introduce koi into ponds, but their ponds are too small to support them. They don't realize how fast and large koi can grow. And with too much of a fish load, your pond gets dirty fast. It can put a strain on your filtration and result in an unbalanced ecosystem.

Without knowing how many gallons of water you have there, I would guess from the pictures that it would be too small for koi.

That being said, there are other beautiful fish you can use. The obvious many different varieties of goldfish come to mind. There are so many fancy or plain ones you can choose.

I personally would add shubunkins. They are so beautiful. They have large beautiful flowing fins and come in a variety of colors. Some solid colors and some shiny opaque colors.
Again, great work you have done.
Enjoy your project and don't hesitate in asking any questions.

 

[Josh Mauer]

View attachment 126024@Josh Mauer
Nice looking pond. You are really gonna enjoy it!
I would wait to put fish in there for several weeks to let your pond cycle for the health of the fish.
I love that big slab rock in front and how natural you made the sides look w/all that rock. So how long did it take you to get that waterfall just perfect like that?
I know I must have tweaked mine a thousand times

Thank you very much. I stacked the at least 10 times and I still am not in love with very top where I'm hiding the waterfall basin, so i will probably change that a few more times.

 

[Josh Mauer]

It looks really awesome!
You both should be proud of the excellent work you have done.

Add plants and more plants! There are so many to choose from. They are an intricate part of your pond's ecology. They thrive on the excess nutrients that are created by your fish waste. If you don't have plants, then algae, which are also plants, will thrive.

Another suggestion might be to choose the correct fish for the volume of your pond.

A lot of new pond builders introduce koi into ponds, but their ponds are too small to support them. They don't realize how fast and large koi can grow. And with too much of a fish load, your pond gets dirty fast. It can put a strain on your filtration and result in an unbalanced ecosystem.

Without knowing how many gallons of water you have there, I would guess from the pictures that it would be too small for koi.

That being said, there are other beautiful fish you can use. The obvious many different varieties of goldfish come to mind. There are so many fancy or plain ones you can choose.

I personally would add shubunkins. They are so beautiful. They have large beautiful flowing fins and come in a variety of colors. Some solid colors and some shiny opaque colors.
Again, great work you have done.
Enjoy your project and don't hesitate in asking any questions.

Thank you very much. We are very proud of how it's turning out. It's visible from our Living Room, Kitchen and the back patio. It has made that view soooo much more than it was.

The pond is 475 gallons and is 3' deep. We are not dead set on Koi. I understand if we did they may grow too big for the pond. We want the pond and fish to be healthy above anything else. I will definitely look at Shubunkins when we are ready for fish.

 

[addy1]

Beautiful job! Welcome to our forum.

Stick with shubunkins, the common statement is for one koi you need 1000 gallons of water and they love great filtration.

I love my shubbies, They love my pond, which is around 9000 gallons plus minus. And they are so darn pretty.

 

[poconojoe]

From what I recall, you need at least 1,000 gallons for each koi.
My pond is over 1500 gallons and I know I'm overstocked at 5 koi, two shubunkin and quite a few goldfish. They keep multiplying!

It's funny, I have a couple koi that have gotten huge and some that seem to have stopped growing.

Oh, concerning your waterfall...I don't remember how many times I rebuilt mine until I got it just right. So, don't feel bad about that, it normal to fuss around until you get it where you want it.

As long as the base of your falls is built correctly, you shouldn't have any problems. What I do is create a base so that if any water runs around, between or under any rocks, it is pitched so it can only return to the pond and not spill out, creating a leak.

 

[poconojoe]

Look at addy's beautiful shubunkin! That's what I'm talking about! If I were to do it over, that's what I'd go with. I've lost a few koi and goldfish over the years and if it gets to the point where I'm able to fit more fish in there, I will add shubunkins. Again, the problem is that the fish I have keep multiplying!

 

[Josh Mauer]

Beautiful job! Welcome to our forum.

Stick with shubunkins, the common statement is for one koi you need 1000 gallons of water and they love great filtration.

I love my shubbies, They love my pond, which is around 9000 gallons plus minus. And they are so darn pretty. View attachment 126033

Wow they are beautiful. is there a gal/fish recommendation on them?

 

[j.w]

I'd say to allow 50 gals for each fish. So maybe 9 or 10 pretty Shubukins as they can get 10 to 12" long eventually. Feed them less and they will take longer to grow which also means less poop in your pond. They can actually survive forever in a pond w/o food from us as they eat bugs, worms, algae, plants anything they find, but we enjoy feeding them as then they happily come to us begging. I just feed mine every few days or so one serving per day and not much.

 

[Tula]

Welcome

 

[poconojoe]

Shubunkin have really nice colors, have beautiful flowing fins and don't grow too big. The fins on a shubunkin are even nicer than you would see on a butterfly koi. The problem with koi is they get huge. I've had some koi that were over 2 feet long with tremendous girth.

 

[Lisak1]

What an awesome pond! Welcome to the GPF!

Any type of goldfish you add (and you definitely want goldfish, not koi) will multiply which is always fun to watch the process from spawning to baby fish to full grown adults!

Add some plants to your waterfall basin and you won't have to worry about the rock work - plants hide a world of sins!

 

[sissy]

I built my first pond with my dad and it is my best memory ever .Glad you and your daughter are bonding over this memory also .This made me think of all the good times doing it so thank you and congrats on your pond .I was 9 years old and I am now 66 years old so every memory is cherished

 

[addy1]

Most of the ones in that picture are home bred. I don't feed most of the summer, might drop food in once in awhile, usually very seldom. That way with all the spawning going on they inhale the eggs. I have over 100 fish, never have tried to count them. Still have water room for more.