Im building a pond and i need advice

[emperorpenguine]

Hi everyone
I am in the process of building a pond. Im a complete novice at ponds and fish but it is something i have always wanted but there was always more important stuff to do.. i put the conservatory up and the garden is as i want it now and i made provision for the pond when i was doing that work by putting in a concrete base as i want this pond to be above ground... My pond is almost complete now so i want the info on everything i need to do before i put fish in it. .. i have put a glass panel about a metre square on the side of the pond as i want to put lights in it so i can see them from the conservatory at night...Actually thats something i always found amusing when i visited friends that had ponds in the ground and when i asked if there was fish in it they would say .. oh they are in there somewhere at the bottom.. Well My fish are going to be on 24 hour display... ha ha ...
Anyway what i need is info.. so here is what i have and perhaps someone will offer some info on what i need to know. What i have is this.. the pond is about four feet high and covers an area about 2 metres square. It will have a suitable filter and pump system.. i just want common gold fish.. not anything special like Koi or anything like that. It is beneath overhanging bushes and set hidden in these bushes above the pond is a coffin tank which is fed by the downpipe coming off my house.. The intension is that the tank is always full and when it rains which is often, the excess flows into the pond and the pond excess water then flows into a drain.
Because the pond is beneath overhanging shrubery i will be putting some kind of netting over it to catch leaves. I have no idea about plants or anything like that so im open to any advice anyone can give me.

 

[DrDave]

Welcome to the Forum!
After 10 posts, you can upload photos. That and your location help us help you. With 4' of depth, I would certainly add a water lilly. water lettuce is a good floating plant.
Why don't you want Koi? Baby Koi are very inexpensive and as they grow become very social.

 

[koiguy1969]

most aquatic plants like 6+ hours of good sun, will the ponds location allow for this? being under the shrubbery is why i ask.

 

[emperorpenguine]

Hi Dr Dave
Thanks for your reply.. i may get fish like Koi .. i just thought i would learn the game before i thried anything exotic. I also assumed that i would need a more specialised type of pond and filters. Re. the plants for the pond.The pond is quite overshadowed however, as i said there is a glass panel in the side which will allow quite a lot of light in from the side, will this make it more suitable for plants ?. Thanks again for your tips.

 

[koiguy1969]

the glass panel will help with submersables, but not much with lillies and the sort, they need sun on the foliage above water. the shaded area will really help with algae control though.

 

[emperorpenguine]

Hi Koiguy
Thank you for your comments on the lilys. Do you know if there are any other kind of plants that would be suitable for a partially shadded pond. I would like the pond to look as natural as possible so would you know if there are any plants that would be suitable for the bottom or would the fish eat them. I say this because a friend said he had a few fish in a pond once and they ate any plants he put in it. He was not an expert so im not sure about this. Also.. would i need to put anything into the pond to condition it before i put fish in. When my children were young i used to get some frog spawn and silt from local marsh land and put it in an aqerium outside in the garden. as spring went on various equatic larve that eventually turned into flies, hatched out and the kids would see how these larve and frogspawn changed and eventually left the water so they would see the relationship with what came out of the water and everything that relied on them, Anyway, the point im getting to is this.... Would it help if i got some buckets of silt and allowed them to populate the pond first or would this be harmful to fish that more than likely would have been in a clean environment.
Thanks again for your tips..
Regards
The Emperorpenguine (tony)

the glass panel will help with submersables, but not much with lillies and the sort, they need sun on the foliage above water. the shaded area will really help with algae control though.

 

[koiguy1969]

i wouild pass on the silt unless you know the pond its coming from to be real healthy,and you dont dont whats coming with it, bad bacteria, parasites, toxins.. koi eat plants,thats just the way it is, but until they hit 10" its not a real problem,at least thats been my experience. but the younger ones even like the soft black fibrous roots of the water hiacynths,and lettuce. they stay away from parrots feather im told, and that can be planted or float. im building floating cages for my floaters so the roots will be protected. now instead of the silt, buy some beneficial bacteria,(liguid and/or powder),it is a regular part of pond maintainence anyway, and MICROBE LIFT FILTER INNOCULANT GEL, will really get your filter going fast. it colonizes up to 8 times faster than most. one week and you will have a nice colony on its way. allowing you to increase your fish population a little quicker. as far as bug larvae and such, your fish will feast on most insects so they like that. in fact koi and goldies eat their young until they are recogniseable as fish,and not larvae.

 

[garry jack]

Welcome to the Forum!
After 10 posts, you can upload photos. That and your location help us help you. With 4' of depth, I would certainly add a water lilly. water lettuce is a good floating plant.
Why don't you want Koi? Baby Koi are very inexpensive and as they grow become very social.

Water lilli is the best plant for ponds. Once i was chat in MSN. Their is one theme in which red koi and water lilli are shown. I like it very much and then i placed some water lilli in my pond.

 

[bunnymp]

My pond is in a lot of shade and I found success using water lilies, lizards tail and canna (the leaves did great, but it didn't flower). I also used water hyacinths as floaters.

Get the beneficial bacteria, Koiguy mentioned.