Setting up a shallow pond for goldfish

[Waleed K]

Hey folks,

Dipping my toes (ha!) into the world of ponds, still a newbie.

We recently added a rain curtain water feature in our back yard that looks like this:

So it's a rain curtain and underneath the rain curtain is a pond about 3 feet wide, 6 feet across, but only 10 inches deep.

Currently I have a TotalPond 1300GPH pump + UVC pushing the water up the 6 feet to the rain curtain.

I'd like to build a setup that allows me to keep a small number of small goldfish in the pond underneath.

I've been having trying to work out a setup that accomplishes this, because 10 inches is pretty shallow and most products are designed for greater depths.

I think what I need is:

- A pump with an intake (the above pump doesn't).
- A surface skimmer to get rid of leaves etc that fall in.
- A mechanical and biological filter.

How would you tackle this? How you would build a goldfish-friendly setup with these constrains? Also, will the rain curtain itself cause any issues?

 

[sissy]

You could get a pump with a built in filter and instead of a skimmer you can get a net to pull stuff out and instead of goldfish since the breed to much ,go with fat fantails .What are your winters like .The fat fantails have never had babies for me and been in the pond since 2004 .I call them butt wigglers because they wiggle their butt to swim and so cute and can be very friendly

 

[MitchM]

Welcome Waleed. This is not a setup that I would be comfortable stocking with fish.
It looks like more like a water feature for garden aesthetics only.

.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I completely agree with @MitchM. !0 inches is entirely too shallow for keeping any type (specie) of fish. If you live in the Northern latitudes the pond will completely freeze during the Winter months. If in the Southern latitudes, the pond will become too hot to safely keep any fish.

 

[Waleed K]

Thanks for the feedback MitchM and Meyer! I'm in Northern California, so the weather is pretty nice here.

What's the minimum depth you would recommend?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

No less than 24".for Goldfish.

 

[Waleed K]

Thanks again! Are there any fish that you think could live in such an environment?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Maybe some minnows

 

[Meyer Jordan]

In the peak of the Summer months, any fish will cook in 10" of water unless ample shade is provided.

 

[addy1]

In the peak of the Summer months, any fish will cook in 10" of water unless ample shade is provided.

I was wondering if that constant fall of water, assuming it is always on, would keep the water cool enough for some small fish.

 

[Lisak1]

I was wondering if that constant fall of water, assuming it is always on, would keep the water cool enough for some small fish.

I can't imagine it would. Plus I don't know how fish would feel about water constantly falling on their heads with no where to go to get away from it.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I was wondering if that constant fall of water, assuming it is always on, would keep the water cool enough for some small fish.

At a 10" depth, I have doubts. Radiant heat generated by the sun can be overwhelming at times.

 

[CometKeith]

Why don't you just remove some of the rocks and let a fish liner go out 2-3 feet in each direction from your water feature? This way could go under the waterfall to go from side to side but they don't have to. Generally the more space fish have the happier they are!

 

[Waleed K]

So, quick update.

I decided to take the plunge and get 5 1.5" comets to see how they behave (talked to another fish owner who said I should try and that he thinks there might not be any issues).

They seem to like the environment OK. The water feature doesn't seem to bother them much, other than -- weirdly -- it providing camouflage from predators -- I can't see them unless I turn the water feature off.

Also discovered I do have mosquitofish after all ;-). Thought they had all died, just turns out it's impossible to see the mosquitofish with the water feature running and there's _plenty_ of them.

Temperature variation does seem like it could be an issue. Today's weather ranged from 50F to 80F, with the temperature of the 100 gallon pond varying from 53F to 70F. So it does appear the water feature provides some cooling, but that's a double edged sword.

Considering putting a 300W aquarium heater in there to help with that.

 

[MitchM]

I wouldn't advise using a heater.
Heat loss through evaporation will exceed the heat that a heater puts out.