Just bought house with pond and seller abandoned fish...

[max1989]

Hi all, I just bought a house with a small (I think 500 litre?) plastic pond in the garden. The seller was meant to take the fish but I think he only took the expensive ones (Koi he said he had?) to sell and has left at least 2 reasonable sized fish (goldfish maybe? Or orange koi??) and I spotted one smaller one. The orange ones are about 2-3 inches? I initially was planning on getting rid of the pond as I have a three year old but now he's left fish I feel guilty...so I just bought a cheap pond pump as I read online they needed the water circulated - got a pontec pondovario 750. I'm feeding them some koi food I got recommended at the garden centre. Is there anything else I need to be doing? Like a filter? I've attached a photo.

 

[Lisak1]

Well, I have my doubts about any expensive fish being kept in that tiny pond. It's fine for goldfish but too small for koi. The one I can see is indeed a goldfish - looks to be a comet.

If the fish are happily living in the pond, there's nothing you "have" to do, but aeration is always a good idea. It's a sweet little pond - more plants would make it prettier and improve the water quality as well.

Welcome to the GPF!

 

[max1989]

Well, I have my doubts about any expensive fish being kept in that tiny pond. It's fine for goldfish but too small for koi. The one I can see is indeed a goldfish - looks to be a comet.

If the fish are happily living in the pond, there's nothing you "have" to do, but aeration is always a good idea. It's a sweet little pond - more plants would make it prettier and improve the water quality as well.

Welcome to the GPF!

Thanks for the advice. Re the koi, I'm only going off what the seller said, but given the other stuff he lied about I'll take his comments with a pinch of salt! There are at least a couple of smaller black/grey fish I've seem but can't make them out easily.

What's the best option for keeping the heron out then? The previous owner used this horrible chicken wire thing (see photos) there must be a better option, which will also stop my son falling in? I've posted another photo of the new pump in situ...

 

[max1989]

Here's a photo with the pump

 

[max1989]

And the awful cover...

 

[max1989]

And finally, a slightly better photo of the fish?

 

[Lisak1]

Why do you assume your son will fall in? We have 9 grandchildren who are around our pond constantly - not one has ever fallen in. Plus your pond is so shallow - what harm could come if he does fall in? He could just stand right up and climb back out. If you want to teach him to stay back, perhaps a low bit of fencing in the front edge - just 12 or 18 inches high, as a reminder to not get any closer. But he will love feeding the fish and watching them and looking for other critters in the pond. Kids love ponds!

As for the heron - I'd suggest more plant cover. But ultimately - while you're right that cover is ugly - a net can be the only defense that really works if the heron is persistent. There are better ways to do it though. Lots of folks here have netted ponds - search for "net" and you'll see lots of posts.

 

[addy1]

Turn the pump off and you will get better pics of the fish. Hard to tell goldfish vs koi.

With your child you could do a fence.

Kids do love ponds.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Looks like a happy little pond with an established water lily and some goldfish that may or may not have had some offspring. They often start off dark colored so time will tell.
For water quality I might want to add a bog type filter - where the water slowly runs through gravel and plant roots and then returns. Tons of different and imaginative ways you can manufacture it. Lots of us here use something similar so look at some of the posts.
One option for a cover might be something like this:

https://www.wayfair.com/outdoor/pdp/vevor-pond-cover-dome-garden-pond-net-12-inch-mesh-dome-pond-net-covers-with-zipper-and-wind-rope-nylon-pond-netting-for-pond-pool-and-garden-to-keep-out-leaves-debris-and-animals-fxnu1571.html

Welcome to ponding

 

[max1989]

Why do you assume your son will fall in? We have 9 grandchildren who are around our pond constantly - not one has ever fallen in. Plus your pond is so shallow - what harm could come if he does fall in? He could just stand right up and climb back out. If you want to teach him to stay back, perhaps a low bit of fencing in the front edge - just 12 or 18 inches high, as a reminder to not get any closer. But he will love feeding the fish and watching them and looking for other critters in the pond. Kids love ponds!

As for the heron - I'd suggest more plant cover. But ultimately - while you're right that cover is ugly - a net can be the only defense that really works if the heron is persistent. There are better ways to do it though. Lots of folks here have netted ponds - search for "net" and you'll see lots of posts.

So I'm not assuming he'll fall in, just it's a thing people worry about right? Especially my parents' generation because of the Don't Look Now effect I think...

Kids can drown in pretty shallow water I think but tbh I'm not too worried but the missus is and if I'm going to win the battle to keep the pond (she doesn't want to) I'll need to at least make visible efforts to make it more childproof I think...

I've not seem a heron to be fair but can only assume the previous owner had that cover for a reason? Should I just chance it?

 

[max1989]

Turn the pump off and you will get better pics of the fish. Hard to tell goldfish vs koi.

With your child you could do a fence.

Kids do love ponds.

Welcome to the forum!

I'll try to turn the pump off and get some better photos for ID purposes!

 

[max1989]

Looks like a happy little pond with an established water lily and some goldfish that may or may not have had some offspring. They often start off dark colored so time will tell.
For water quality I might want to add a bog type filter - where the water slowly runs through gravel and plant roots and then returns. Tons of different and imaginative ways you can manufacture it. Lots of us here use something similar so look at some of the posts.
One option for a cover might be something like this:

https://www.wayfair.com/outdoor/pdp/vevor-pond-cover-dome-garden-pond-net-12-inch-mesh-dome-pond-net-covers-with-zipper-and-wind-rope-nylon-pond-netting-for-pond-pool-and-garden-to-keep-out-leaves-debris-and-animals-fxnu1571.html

Welcome to ponding

Thanks for the advice. Can I just buy the bog type filter or is it something I'll need to construct? On the net, I'm tempted to give it a go without anything? As I said above, I haven't actually seen a heron...or is it not worth taking the chance?

 

[max1989]

Turn the pump off and you will get better pics of the fish. Hard to tell goldfish vs koi.

With your child you could do a fence.

Kids do love ponds.

Welcome to the forum!

Are these any better?

 

[addy1]

Thanks for the advice. Can I just buy the bog type filter or is it something I'll need to construct? On the net, I'm tempted to give it a go without anything? As I said above, I haven't actually seen a heron...or is it not worth taking the chance?

You can construct one. Not really hard to do.

Bog building, also called upflow filter, eco filter, wetland filter

I was asked to start a thread on how to build a bog. This is my rendition on bog building 101............. Building a bog: Before you decide to build a bog, you need to know what you want its primary purpose to be. Total pond filtration bog filtration combined with another filter. If you...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[addy1]

When you look at their mouth, do you see barbels hanging down? Little whiskers looking things. If so they are koi.