Hello garden pond folks!

[Leah]

Hi all,

My name is Leah, nice to meet you! I am relatively new to patio/container pond keeping but not new to fish keeping as I used to keep fancy goldfish for years indoors. I am a middle school science teacher in Northern California so my fishies lived conveniently in my classroom. Last April, I relocated my fish to my home because my classroom shut down. Rather than keep my fish in a tank in my home, which I always found difficult, I thought maybe it was time to try outdoor fish keeping, and that became my new Covid hobby back when everyone was still figuring out what to do with themselves.

So I've had my 50 gallon container pond for over a year but I wouldn't say I'm finished or even all that happy with it. I've been just doing OK in terms of upkeep and although my fish still seem healthy (maybe even healthier than indoors I think?), I could be doing more to upgrade their quality of life.

At first glance of the forums, seems many people on this site have much larger set ups, even in ground. Mine is very small but I'm looking to upgrade! Hope to become inspired by what some of you all are doing and get some advice on how to best keep up my patio pond!

See you around

-Leah

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum! Nice clear water and healthy looking fish!

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[Leah]

Welcome to our forum! Nice clear water and healthy looking fish!

Thank you! I still have a lot to learn about outdoor water quality but so far I think the plants are a definite advantage!

 

[j.w]

@Leah
We shall be very happy to start you in this addiction we all have here of the bigger the better the pond

 

[combatwombat]

I can't help much with patio ponds, unfortunately, but I do know that a lot of folks here have very cool patio ponds with happy little fish in them. Hopefully you'll get some ideas soon.

Main ideas for small bodies of water like that, I believe are:

1. A lot more bio filtration than you think you need.
2. Keep it shaded.
3. Deeper is better.

 

[Leah]

I can't help much with patio ponds, unfortunately, but I do know that a lot of folks here have very cool patio ponds with happy little fish in them. Hopefully you'll get some ideas soon.

Main ideas for small bodies of water like that, I believe are:

1. A lot more bio filtration than you think you need.
2. Keep it shaded.
3. Deeper is better.

View attachment 139358@Leah
We shall be very happy to start you in this addiction we all have here of the bigger the better the pond

Thanks j.w! Oh boy we will see! I already have ideas...

 

[Leah]

I can't help much with patio ponds, unfortunately, but I do know that a lot of folks here have very cool patio ponds with happy little fish in them. Hopefully you'll get some ideas soon.

Main ideas for small bodies of water like that, I believe are:

1. A lot more bio filtration than you think you need.
2. Keep it shaded.
3. Deeper is better.

Thanks for the input! Even with the shade I still get so much algae. Water is a little green but pretty clear so I'm hoping my bio filter is doing okay. I'm overdue for water quality tests so I'll do that asap.

 

[combatwombat]

Thanks for the input! Even with the shade I still get so much algae. Water is a little green but pretty clear so I'm hoping my bio filter is doing okay. I'm overdue for water quality tests so I'll do that asap.

Any plants drawing nitrates from the water? Algae = nature's way of eating nitrates. If you have enough plant life eating it, then the algae starves.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Leah]

Any plants drawing nitrates from the water? Algae = nature's way of eating nitrates. If you have enough plant life eating it, then the algae starves.

Yes! I currently have hornwort, water lettuce, water hyacinth. Are these good plants to have? There are very limited options at my local nursery and there also aren't that many options on Amazon but if you have any plant suggestions to eat up Nitrates I'm all ears.

I heard slightly green water can actually be good for fish, is this true? But there is dark green, almost blue green long stringy algae, literally like hair, that keeps gunking up my pump so that's the type I'm most concerned about. I'll do a water quality test soon and see what the nitrites/ates actually are, I'm sure that would help to know!

BTW, just curious how often garden pond folks do their water quality? When I kept tanks I tested weekly (or tried to) because it was really hard to keep ammo/nitrite/nitrate levels at zero so I was more careful. But for some reason I feel like the outdoor situation doesn't have the crazy Ammo/Nitrite spikes so much? I could just be imagining things, or making excuses for being lazy and not testing as much as I should. But I'm getting back on track that's why I'm here!

 

[combatwombat]

I currently have hornwort, water lettuce, water hyacinth. Are these good plants to have? There are very limited options at my local nursery and there also aren't that many options on Amazon but if you have any plant suggestions to eat up Nitrates I'm all ears.

Unfortunately, I am not much of a green thumb at this point in my journey. I would have suggested the same ones you have already. There are some plant geniuses around here, so hopefully they'll make some other suggestions.

BTW, just curious how often garden pond folks do their water quality?

I would guess most folks here are in the "rarely to never" camp. I know some do. I might do it a bit once I get my new pond up and running. If you want to go miles deep on water quality, koiphen.com is the place to really geek out about that stuff as they're mostly dedicated koi keepers. This community feels a bit more relaxed. Water quality is "how clear does it look today?"

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Leah !

I have a small patio pond as well and just love it! Mine is similar in size to yours, but I break it down every fall and put the fish into the big pond. Either I catch a few of the babies from the previous year or I buy a couple to add to the current herd.

Mine is planted with a variety of things, and different almost every year. I've got a planting bag that I use for at least one large plant - usually a taro, papyrus or a canna lily. I like the height it adds and the root systems on all three get really big. In the same planter I'll add a few sprigs of other plants from my big pond - water celery, bog bean, some obedient plant, dwarf cattails. When I'm thinning in the spring, I just pull a few things that I can add to the patio pond.

I have a second smaller planter that I will put something that flowers - I've used impatiens a few times but my favorite is a plant who's name currently escapes me... I'll find it and post it later! It flowers all summer and tumbles over the side of the pond - very pretty!

I also put a few floaters in the patio pond - water hyacinths do great for me and sometimes even flower. I've had a water lily in there almost every year, but honesty it's too small for a lily to do what it wants to do and I rarely get blooms so I'll probably skip it this year.

I did want to say - sunlight gets a bad rap when it comes to algae. While it no doubt makes it nice and green, it's not the root cause. That's coming from - as you already noted - too many nutrients in the water. It's doing the work of removing those, so until you get things balanced out, I'd not worry too much about getting rid of it. Remove what you can by hand so you don't have clogging issues, but otherwise bless it and thank it for keeping your fish safe for the time being!

As for water testing - I never do anymore. Once we got our pond established, nothing ever changed and it got rather dull.

Here's a picture of my patio pond from last July:

 

[Leah]

Unfortunately, I am not much of a green thumb at this point in my journey. I would have suggested the same ones you have already. There are some plant geniuses around here, so hopefully they'll make some other suggestions.




I would guess most folks here are in the "rarely to never" camp. I know some do. I might do it a bit once I get my new pond up and running. If you want to go miles deep on water quality, koiphen.com is the place to really geek out about that stuff as they're mostly dedicated koi keepers. This community feels a bit more relaxed. Water quality is "how clear does it look today?"

Thanks for the info, I've kept fish long enough that I can kind of tell based on the color/clarity of the water, even the smell of the water, and how my fish are behaving. And I have to say, I haven't seen nearly as many illness symptoms as when they were in tanks, so I'm just not testing as much! No raggedy fins or flashing like I saw in more often in tanks. I'm very glad to know that outdoor fish keeping is a little more relaxed.

 

[Leah]

Welcome @Leah !

I have a small patio pond as well and just love it! Mine is similar in size to yours, but I break it down every fall and put the fish into the big pond. Either I catch a few of the babies from the previous year or I buy a couple to add to the current herd.

Mine is planted with a variety of things, and different almost every year. I've got a planting bag that I use for at least one large plant - usually a taro, papyrus or a canna lily. I like the height it adds and the root systems on all three get really big. In the same planter I'll add a few sprigs of other plants from my big pond - water celery, bog bean, some obedient plant, dwarf cattails. When I'm thinning in the spring, I just pull a few things that I can add to the patio pond.

I have a second smaller planter that I will put something that flowers - I've used impatiens a few times but my favorite is a plant who's name currently escapes me... I'll find it and post it later! It flowers all summer and tumbles over the side of the pond - very pretty!

I also put a few floaters in the patio pond - water hyacinths do great for me and sometimes even flower. I've had a water lily in there almost every year, but honesty it's too small for a lily to do what it wants to do and I rarely get blooms so I'll probably skip it this year.

I did want to say - sunlight gets a bad rap when it comes to algae. While it no doubt makes it nice and green, it's not the root cause. That's coming from - as you already noted - too many nutrients in the water. It's doing the work of removing those, so until you get things balanced out, I'd not worry too much about getting rid of it. Remove what you can by hand so you don't have clogging issues, but otherwise bless it and thank it for keeping your fish safe for the time being!

As for water testing - I never do anymore. Once we got our pond established, nothing ever changed and it got rather dull.

Here's a picture of my patio pond from last July:

View attachment 139380

Your patio pond is lovely! My hyacinth is blooming too, so pretty. I love your frog feature. Mine is rectangle but I love the square shape, I may have to splurge and get something a little nicer Also thank you for the plant species ideas, I haven't heard of some of them but I do actually have some cannalilies but never thought of them as a water plant...is it a specific species or do you think any cannalilie will do? is it fully submerged?

Thanks!