Inherited pond

[Matt Bird]

Hi all, names Matt

I've recently moved and inherited a pond with waterfall, from what I can gather it's not been attended to for bout 5yrs I did see some tadpoles and young frogs back end of October, I've no experience with ponds but have always like the idea of setting up and looking after one, I have a 5yr old too who I'd like to enjoy it, I'm looking for any advice anyone can give with how to go forward, cheers now for any assistance, I'll post some pics, it's a bit sorry looking.

 

[sissy]

Welcome and your pond is a preformed so guessing no fish .Well once you get working on it you will find you will make it your own and enjoy it more .I am afraid to tell you that then you will be addicted and that there is no going back .The rocks around the outside are really nice .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

You will first need to determine what you have to work with. Is there a pump? Does it work? Is there anything that may appear to be a filter?

 

[tbendl]

Welcome!

 

[Matt Bird]

Hey

Thanks for your response, can I just sort of go in and empty it out? And say take down the waterfall and rebuild?? I also have these items in the shed.

 

[addy1]

Hey

Thanks for your response, can I just sort of go in and empty it out? And say take down the waterfall and rebuild?? I also have these items in the shed.

You can, if you do you might want to get rid of the preform, get a liner and go bigger. If you want fish it is better to be bigger.

 

[Matt Bird]

Would you advise a liner over what I have now?? What sort of fish could I have in there??

 

[tbendl]

How large is it? That will determine what type and how many fish you can have. And putting a liner in over what you have isn't needed, the liner would be in case you wanted to go bigger but you would have to dig or enlarge the structure that's there.

 

[addy1]

Agree with ^^ bigger is better with fish. If you are going to tear down the waterfall, it MIGHT be a good time to enlarge, if you enlarge it would be easier with a liner. I had two preforms, both over time, split, they heave with the freezing we have here. In re-looking at your photos, the preform is nicely set into the rocks. IF you wanted more water you could dig deeper using a liner, keep the same foot print the preform is in.

But your pond looks good, I like the waterfall. A filtering system will help keep the pond clean.

 

[tbendl]

If you haven't had a pond before I would start with what you have. Clean out the preform, rebuild the waterfall, throw your pump in and some plants and call it a day. If you decide at a later date you love it, you can then make plans to enlarge it.

 

[Matt Bird]

So I could go with a few fish in what I have now?? The plan is just to tidy all the weeds away, clean up an get the electrics sorted and try to make it look nice.

 

[tbendl]

Ohh I don't know, what are the dimensions of the pond? I would guess that it is too small for fish but maybe some of the resident experts will weigh in on that.
If you are able to add fish you will need a filter of some kind.

 

[Matt Bird]

Lol sorry for bein very naive on this, perhaps frogs/ wildlife??

 

[Smaug]

So I could go with a few fish in what I have now?? The plan is just to tidy all the weeds away, clean up an get the electrics sorted and try to make it look nice.

looks to small to me. And it's raised which means it coukd freeze solid in a cold winter.

 

[Matt Bird]

looks to small to me. And it's raised which means it coukd freeze solid in a cold winter.

What would your suggestion be for it??