Smaug
God makes perfect. I just dug the hole
Keep it for year with plants and maybe some small fish like rosy reds. If you enjoy the experience then go bigger .
Inherited pond
- Thread starter Matt Bird
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I had my pond for a year with no fish. I loved it. And no naive questions, trust me we have all been there. I only say start small with what you have because fish require a different level of commitment that I wasn't sure I wanted when I started. I had plants and frogs all over the place when I began. Check out @mrsclem, she has a garden pond that is beautiful. For the record I'm reliving my pond this year and rebuilding. Lol it's an addiction.
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Matt, from a UK perspective, I wouldn't worry overmuch about the pond freezing solid. We don't get the extreme winter conditions our friends face in the States.
You have a pump and filter, which I guess the previous owner purchased for the pond. The pump goes into the bottom of the pond, water is piped to the filter and usually returns back via the waterfall. Thats the set up I have. It is pretty small, but could be fun with some nice plants, and no more than a couple of goldfish. Or leave out the fish and enjoy the frogs and plants.
If the pond addiction bites, then do some research, ask as many questions on this forum as you want, and dig a bigger pond when you're ready.
Chris
You have a pump and filter, which I guess the previous owner purchased for the pond. The pump goes into the bottom of the pond, water is piped to the filter and usually returns back via the waterfall. Thats the set up I have. It is pretty small, but could be fun with some nice plants, and no more than a couple of goldfish. Or leave out the fish and enjoy the frogs and plants.
If the pond addiction bites, then do some research, ask as many questions on this forum as you want, and dig a bigger pond when you're ready.
Chris
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Hi @Matt Bird, just wanted to say welcome to the forum 
A neighbor of mine has a pond similar to yours. She keeps a couple of goldfish in it and in the winter she takes the fish inside. I think you have a really good start for a really nice pond,
bettasngoldfish
Maria
When I had my preform (which was about 165 gallons) I used to bring the goldfish in the house for the winter (kept them in a rubbermaid stock tank in the utility room) I actually enjoyed having them in the house because I got to see more of them.
Smaug
God makes perfect. I just dug the hole
I never brought my fish in even when I had the preform of 150 gallons. Even in very cold weather in never froze too deep because I kept a pump running and I have my pond protected from the wind .
Hi
So the filter is out of the pond, pump in bottom sends to filter then to top waterfall and obvs circle starts again? Haa feel it's prob so simple but never had one, any advice for good places for researching?
Cheers
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Matt,
this forum is a great place to start. Lots of people have pond showcases which often include sketches and diagrams. If you also look at the manufacturer's web site you should get installation info for the items you have.
Chris
Hi Matt its always better to do a total re-build that way you know that you have the space for your fish , we have a 1,000 gallon Imperial pond for keeping our koi in and thats at the small end of the pond scale but it will give you an idea of how much you need for fish .
Your best bet would be a butyl liner to give you over 20 + years of fish keeping , you would have to upgrade your filter berhaps even fit a bottom drain, your going to need a minimum depth of about 4.5ft - 5ft fopr koi. 3.5ft - 4ft for goldfish.
A pond airpump is also neccessary preferably with a multi gang fitting to give you greater coverage of th pond.
I hope this helps to start with , spend till late spring planning your new pond then in early summer build it .
Dave
sissy
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I still have a petco aerator that I have had for over 10 years and it has 4 ports and came with everything to set it up and it was less than 30 dollars .I use it on my stock tanks .I bought a laguna 12 port one for 149 dollars for the big pond but the petco one was great for the 1000 gallon one .
Thanks for the help, I'm going have a look on the web and see if I can work out via a diagram exactly what I need to do, also going to empty the pond and get an idea of the size and also what's with the waterfall etc... Then go forward with a bit with advice from on here.