When can I introduce fish to my new pond ?

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So i've decided to go ahead and build a fish pond (no previous experience, just read a bit on the internet before doing it). so i dug a whole in the ground, covered it with cement and added a EPDM wrapper. i filled the pool exactly a week ago on saturday. (just above 200 gallons in my opinion)

I've added water plants a couple of days later...

I've tried a DIY filter solution that was suggested to me - inside the waterfall (which is a large pitcher) i've put special bacteria-friendly gravel and a water plant inside it too... the water pump is 1000 liter/hour.

I haven't added any special ingredient or chemical into the water - just plain water.

My Questions :
  • When can i introduce fish to the pond?
  • What kind of fish do you recommend? (i live in Israel, Mediterranean climate)
  • Do i need to add anything to the water before adding fish?

Also i would like to get some general Feedback on the whole project - i realize its not perfect work because it's my first time and i have practically no experience in these things.
 

addy1

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to our group!

Nice pond you built!

The pond needs to do natural cycling, Does your water have chlorine in it? If so when you change or add water be careful to add dechlorinator.
I would stick with just a few goldfish for a pond that size, they will breed and add more over time. Add the fish very slowly, maybe just start with two You also need to get a test kit to check for ammonia and other things as the pond matures and the fish grow. The liquid test kits are the best for accurate results.
Here is a sample of one.
http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater-Master-Test-Kit/dp/B000255NCI?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000255NCI
 
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Welcome to the forum from Plymouth UK you'll find us a friendly bunch
At 200 gallons goldfish are your best option koi would grow too fast and get too large for your current pond , as addy has already said your going to need an API pond test kit dechlorinator do you know if chloromines are in use where you are ?
Most dechlorinators do duaal removal so dont worry non there.
As too our DIY filter well I'd seriously think about buying a propper one cleaning your existing one would be a bit of a pain otherwise especially as your fish grow,
Buy a book about your subject fish that way you'll know exacltly what your doing what diseases and illnesess to look out for etc etc .

Dave
 
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Hello and welcome!

What a nice pond! I agree with the above comments.

I can't tell how deep the pond is, and I don't know how cold your winters are. I have a small pond, 110gall, its quite deep though, I have a few goldfish (4) and some tropical fish (mollies and platies). I do have plans to move the gold fish to my large pond when they start to get bigger, but for right now they are less than 2 inches and add some nice color. Based on the size of the goldfish in my large pond, I don't think the 110gall pond will be enough space for the goldfish.

In that pond, I have a lot of plants (water lily, water lettuce and an umbrella palm. No real filter - although I would like one. I have a pump that circulates the water, I have wrapped the pump in some quilt batting to filter out anything that would clog the pump. I pull it out every few days and hose it down. The pond is healthy and happy. No algae problems at all and clear water.

Good luck with whatever you decide and please keep us in the loop!
 

j.w

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Roibenami
Very pretty pond you built and will do just fine w/ a few small fish in there when the water has cycled for a few weeks. I'd only add a few to begin with. You could add any type of small fish that would be hardy in your weather. Goldfish or maybe Rosy Reds. Many types of fancy goldfish are available like fantails, shubunkins, just depends on what you like. Watch out for predators that may come and enter your pond to eat your fish. You may have to take precautions against whatever critters you have around there.
Nice looking helper you have at the end of your video. Bet he likes to take a drink from the pond or maybe even a swim :)
His toenails might make a hole in your liner tho so be careful in keeping him out of there. He will be unhappy I said that now.........sorry pooch :rolleyes:
 
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wow thanks a lot everyone for the warm welcome!

1. the pond depth is about 50cm

2. i know for a fact in my region they use chlorine in the water, do i need to get something for that? (they call that anti-chlorine here)

3, about the current (DIY) filter - a lot have told me that i would need a proper one (mainly for the UV light) but i've witnessed a lot of fish ponds without them (but with a lot of plants) that do well - so my thoughts are to try that for a while - and if things go south i can always upgrade.

4. our winters aren't that cold - we're a very warm country (usually just a few weeks of rain a year and that's about it)

5. i was thinking of getting Guppy fish - they seem awesome - does anyway know if they can survive without special heat conditions ?

6. my original planning was Guppies and gold fishes - i was thinking of koi but i too think they'll be too big for my pond - also the pond will look a lot bigger with small fish :p

7. About predators - the only concern here are cats and birds. i doubt i should worry about birds because there is no aerial vision on the pond (there is a shader on top of that area as me and wife sit in the garden a lot) but cats could be a problem. i was thinking of putting something in the water which will give the fish shelter from them (also cats really don't like water, so its a question of how much do they like fish against how much do they dislike water... but i really doubt they'll take a 50cm dive for a fish)

8. about my dog (it's a She) - i was worried at start so thought about building a fence, but that would really make the pond look less attractive. i'm lucky that she's a good girl - after a few tries she knows now not to get near the pond :) of course i'm not sure what she does when i'm not there... :/
 
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I keep guppies in another smaller pond (I've really got the pond bug bad!). So I have a small 35gall container pond. I have loads of guppies, I have no pump, no filter, no moving water. Lots of plants and the fish do great. I do have algae in that pond, but I blame that on the mess from the tadpoles. I have since added a fish to eat the tadpoles. I live in the Caribbean so its warm all the time. We might get into the 70's for 'winter, on a super night, very high 60's, but by the next day it will warm up.

If you have running water you might have a bird come to check out the sound. That happened to me and he cleaned out my pond before I figured it out.

I would also suggest platy fish. If you get different colors they start multiplying and new colors start coming out. They bred like crazy. Another cool fish is the mollie (another live birthing fish, so you will have babies). But my favorite are the platy's.
 

j.w

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If you have the chlorine in your water yes you will need to get a bottle of liquid dechlorinating stuff. Follow directions and all should be fine. Or if you don't add fish for a few days the chlorine will dissipate on it's own but anytime you need to add new water to top off the pond or anything then you need to add the dechlorinator. Otherwise the chlorine can kill your fish fast.

I have 2 cats and they don't bother my fish. They just like to get a drink of water out of the pond and that's it. I guess it depends on the cat.

IMG_4047.JPG
 

callingcolleen1

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Sweet little POND! Let me tell you I never get tired of looking at sweet little ponds cause it reminds me of my little first pond and all the excitement it brought.
I think Guppies and Goldfish would work really good too! In town at our local pet store ships in lots of goldfish from Israel to Canada and so I do have a few Israeli goldfish! :D

I would not worry to much about the cats, they will just look and mostly likely drink water from pond. My large old dogs have all been bad as puppies and every one of them have been in all my ponds at one time or another as puppies. Puppies are just too playful but as they grow up they learn the boundaries. I would be careful about what you wash your dog in, use natural shampoo and then if the dog goes into the water, they will not be bringing in anything toxic to the fish other than big paws!

I would build a shelter just in case of bad heron types birds. Shelters can be made of plastic large tubbing and then covered with rocks so it looks like a natural underwater tunnel! :)
 
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True all our cats do is sleep by the side of our pond and thats all , they will look at the koi if they come up to them but thats more koi instigated than cat :happy:

Dave
 
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thanks everyone for all the compliments!

so i've added de-chlorinate substance to the pool and i've been adding bacteria to the pool also last 2-3 days... i wanted to get a pack of rosey barb but a lot of people suggested that this is a bad time to introduce them to a pond because its cold, and that i should do it in the summer.

i'm not sure what difference does it make because it will be winter next year again :p - maybe its because they'll have more time to adjust to the temperature ?

anyway, i think i'll start adding goldfish today or tomorrow.

oh, and i've been gardening for a while now (the pond is my latest project) and i am truly baffled on the speed the water plants is growing. the lettuce has doubled itself (at least) in the 1 week its in my pond! the water lilly has also popped 2 new leaves... its pretty cool :)

i would love to shoot a follow up video in about a month to show you the progress.

on the subject of koi - some people told me that if i would bring small koi (young ones) they wouldn't grow too much in my pond, so its ok to bring 2-3 koi fishes. any thoughts ?

also any other advice on fish i could add would be awesome - haven't added any yet :p

thanks a lot for all the comments again!!
 

j.w

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I wait to add any fish to the pond when weather is mild as in Spring/Summer so as not to shock the fish. Also I do not feed them in cold weather below 55. So if you put them in now when cold they will not have had the time during the warm weather to build up strength from a good diet and may not make it through winter. How cold is it there where you live? Maybe if you aren't below 55f then you can add them and feed them also now. Unless you plan on making a much larger pond I would not get koi or you will be selling or giving them away when they outgrow your pond.
 

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