Hello,
I am planning on rejuvenating my mum and dads garden pond. It's been fishless for a few years now and is very messy with a thick layer of silt at the bottom. It's about 3.5 feet deep and about the same wide.
What can i do to get it ready for a few fish?
Also what sort of fish would be suitable. Hardy and easyish to care for?
Many thanks
Dom
1 30gallon tank. 1 Albino Ansistrus (Cedric), 1 small common Plec (Biggie), 1 crown tail Fighter (King Theo), 1 Snail (Stripey), 3 Albino Corys, 8 Neons, 8 Endlers, 4 Hatchets.
I'd empty it completely, and leave it dry until the srping, so any latent diseases will die off, and then refill it and stock very slowly with golfish or comets. :)
I checked it yesterday, It's got alot of weed on top.
Cheers for the advise. I will do my best to get it empty and clean.
Is there any need for filtration in the new set up pond?
I was hoping to maybe add more wild style fish. Sush as roach and rudd, as i have seen these for sale locally to me, and they are reasonably in expensive. Does anybody have any expierience with keeping these sorts of fish?
If it doesn't have any mechanical filters I would (as a novice) say that you either have to get an established eco system going (lots of plants that do the same job). Depending on the size and layout of the pond you might struggle with this. (ie. if you have no ledges for marginals).
It would be far easier to buy the equipment and once the you've gutted the pond I would get it up and running for a couple of weeks and stock just a few fish before it gets cold.
120ltr Tank, 7 guppies, 6 harlequins, 5 panda corys, 5 endler guppies, 4 white cloud mountain minnows, 3 unknown tetra, 1 zebra danio, 2 black widows,2 pitbull plecs and snails
40ltr Tank, 1 S Fighter, 1 Adult platty & 5 young uns, 3 African Dwarf Frogs and snails
500ltr Pond, 3 Goldfish, 3 Golden Rudd
It has a small ledge all the way around. It's about a foot deep and 10 inches wide.
Was hoping not to have to spend too much, as i can't really afford to pay out a great deal. Especially for a pond thats not really mine.
That sounds fine for marginals. I guess you would just need plenty of plants then. Here is an piece of text I read, doesn't give quantities but gives you an idea. I would see if you can pinch some plants from a real pond as they can be more expensive than the fish, :D
I have no pumps, filters etc and apart from some blanketweed this spring, which I removed with the assistance of a large stick, pond has been extremely clear all year. Pond was new last autumn, so will be interesting to see whether the blanketweed returns or not next year, now it's matured.
I have plenty of marginals and a waterlily for surface coverage and also plenty of oxegenators (although need to thin these out now & again) and nature seems to sort things out herself.
I have 6 shubunkins who seem to be thriving. As there are plenty of plants, they seem to sort out the pollutants.
Pond also gets the sun for most of the day (don't know if this is relevant).
How do i go about pinching plants? Do i take the whole thing roots and all? or do i just take a cutting?
Also anyone got any advice on the roach/rudd question?
Where's Bigeddd when you need him?
1xTrigon 1903 Clown Loaches,14 Cardinal Tetras,8 Rummynose Tetras,6 Cory Trileneatus,6 Hatchetfish,4 otocinclus,1 SAE,1 Bristlenose,, 10 amano Shrimp
Anubius Barteri,Crinum thianum,Limnophilia sessiflora, Echinodorus Blehri, nymphaea lotus, Ammania Senegelis, Crinum calimustratum, java moss, 1xRekord 60Empty at Present
12 litre tank - 4 japonica shrimp, 4 Red crystal shrimp, 5 High Spot Rasbora
Anubias Barteri, Glossostigma Elatanoides, Ammania Senegalisis, Limnophilia Sessiflora, Bacopa amplexicaulis
I went to a local WOW today. They had some good looking silver rudd. And some nice comets and shubunkins. But they had a tank full (practically to the brim) with tench, and most of them really looked worse for wear. Really thin with big sores/holes at the base of there fins. Not sure if i would buy from there.
At My lfs they had some really nice gold rudd, not very big, but looked healthy and quite cheap! Still along way off so dont know why i'm talking about fish yet.
Dommo: Hello, I am planning on rejuvenating my mum and dads garden pond. It's been fishless for a few years now and is very messy with a thick layer of silt at the bottom. It's about 3.5 feet deep and about the same wide. What can i do to get it ready for a few fish? Also what sort of fish would be suitable. Hardy and easyish to care for? Many thanks Dom
hi dom, sorry i haven't answered before,
firstly, i'd do as you've aready been advised, that is to empty it, clean it out, then refill it and put in some oxygenator plants and a couple of nice marginals.
if you are going to filter it, it might be best to leave setting that up till the spring, which will also be the best time to add fish.
this will give you all winter for the pond to settle and cycle, then about march / april set up the pump and filter, and leave it alone til the water temp reaches 50 f when you can add a few fish......................goldfish are far away the best fish to keep, as they are both colourful and hardy, and (fairly) easy to keep
HTH
edd
it's my union flag and i want it back
bigeddd, a legend in my own lunch box..garden photo bloghttp://img405.imageshack.us/img_viewer_framed.php?g=1starum3ve.jpg
Cheers for that. Is there any way with enough plants i can get away with no filter? It's just wanted to set it up cheaply as pos, my folks wont let me pay, and they aint exactly rolling in cash.
yep, no problem, the key is the oxygenators, get loads of em, (but they need to be controlled eventually ), only keep the minimum amount of fish, and keep ane eye on water parameters.
actually, if you clean and plant it now, things should be pretty hunky dory by april / may, and if you're lucky, some wildlife will move in after hibernation
Fantastic. Ok last 2 questions.
To clean it do i just remove all the water, and then clear out all the silt, scrubb the sides with a stiff brush?
And again, would rudd be ok for this type of pond? I was thinking a few golden rudd, and a couple of commets.
that's all i would do dom, i never use detergents or anything, just a good scrub, refill to about half way and empty again, and refill again to the top, remembering to place any potted plants on the bottom before the water gets too deep.
golden rudd are a lovely fish to have in a shoal, but unfortunately not that visible unless they stay at the surface. in your unfiltered pond, i would have about 6 and nothing else, and don't put em in till next spring