New here. Small converted rock pond.

[gimpy]

Hi. My "pond" is a small rock pond, well originally, it was. I have removed a few of the rocks so I could add a few small fish.
The board in the first picture is a six foot long fence slab to give you an idea of the size of the feature (pond). The second picture should show a small rosy red minnow swimming around.

The fish was added back in August. Surprisingly, some survived the winter (I saw four of them yesterday). I live in zone 5. I did not feed them or add water over the winter, so, I was very surprised to see a couple a few weeks ago.

A few years ago my wife (while I was away for a couple of days) had our landscaper make a rock pond (it replaced a small 3 foot diameter preformed tub). He installed a small pond pump/filter and filled the pond up completely with river rock, then added water to it. He did drill a hole thru the big rock (the big rock on the right side of the picture), where the pond pumps the water out to make a nice little water fountain.

I plan to maybe add a couple small plants soon (I did add a couple last August, but they haven't come back, yet?).

 

[j.w]

@gimpy

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum! Nice looking pond

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[gimpy]

I went out to my pond last night about an hour or so after dark with a flashlight. My pond is very small, about 6 feet long and a couple of feet wide at its widest, by 6 to 8 inches deep. (finally starting to warm up just a little, probably in the 50's *). Back in August, I put a total of about 13 to 15 small feeder fish (rosy red minnows) into the pond. Not all at once, because they were supposed to be several together similar to dither fish and I could not see any, maybe one or two at a time. The most I ever saw at one time was five (only one time).

I pretty much forgot about them over winter (no feeding or, too cold to add any water, except what was added via snow or rain), then surprisingly, a month or so ago, I happened to see one or two swimming around. I was shocked to see any. Since then, the most I had seen at one time was four. But, I normally would just get a flash of only one or two (sometimes three) at one time. Even though I see them more at night, I had not gone out all that much to look for them (a little too cold for these old bones of mine). I had not seen any the last two or three days at all during daylight hours.

Well, last night I went out and took a little step stool and just sat and watched for close to an hour. I was totally surprised to see and count a total of 8 fish finally come out and be visible so I could count them. 8 (I was hoping for the five I had seen last year). I was totally blown away by how many I counted. I guess there could possibly be more?

This was just a quick update, because I was thinking about getting a couple of more fish, but not now, I don't think .

Does anyone have any idea how to get these to come out more during daylight? I have ordered an anacharis plant (just one) and a creeping Jenny (just one) (neither have shipped, yet). They don't come out for food (cichlid pellets or goldfish flakes).
Thx.

 

[addy1]

Mine are always slow to show up after winter. The water is still too cold to feed them. Pick one time a day to toss a few pellets in. (when the water is warm enough) they will learn to come when they see you.

I would not add any more fish, they will be breeding soon.

 

[j.w]

Fish feel more secure I think w/plants to hide in and it will take them sometimes a long time to get used to you staring down at them. They think you are a predator out to get them

 

[gimpy]

I ordered the anacharis just for that purpose, maybe for fry to hide in, when the time comes. It comes, supposedly, bare root, as does the creeping Jenny. There is little to no dirt in the tank, or even at the edges. I'm hoping the Jenny will somehow take root to bare rocks? Or do I need to pot it, which I was not thinking to do?

 

[j.w]

I stuck my Creeping Jenny in between my top edge pond rocks w/their root ends down in the cracks to the water. They grow well that way and they creep into my pond water in Spring and Summer.

 

[JamieB]

How deep is the pond? You might get a mini waterlilly if its deep enough. A shallow kitty bin with pure clay cat litter will be all it needs, unless you wish to enjoy more blooms, then fertalize with aquatic fertilizer.

 

[sissy]

welcome and they are little and you are like a scary giant to them .You are like a big peeping tom try to lure them to your side with a little food in your hand in the water .But make sure hands have nothing on them

 

[gimpy]

JamieB, it's a real small and shallow pond. When I put water in it (about every third day give or take), it is probably anywhere from 9 to 11 inches deep. After three or four hours, it has already lost a couple of inches of depth. I just now went out with a tape measure. The deepest part measured about 8 inches. It has been about 24 hours since I put water in it. So it's lost about 2-3 inches since yesterday, but, the loss has stabilized some now. The water line is pretty close to what it was this morning. So, it's 7 or 8 inches deep. It will probably lose only a couple of inches over the next couple of days from evaporation. So, is that deep enough (6 or 7 inches) for a water Lilly?

j.w, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear about the CJ. I will try that if/when it arrives .
Thx, guys and gals(?)

 

[JamieB]

I don't Thu k that is deep enough for even the dwarf varieties. If you redo it at a later date, go about 2ft deep, and you could have one. I love the scent, and will do my best to always have a pond with some.

 

[JamieB]

Just did a search, on pond megastore, they say they need 8"-14" of water over them, so with pot and medium, 12 inches at all times. If you could remove rock's from the bottom, down to the liner, you might have enough depth.