Out door pond

sebastianv

We have a man made pond in the garden approx measurements 20feet by 10. Approx 3 and a half feet deep in the middle part.
It was emptied years ago and covered as wife was a bit paranoid about the children falling in They are now of the age were if they fell in the pond they would only come up to there knees

It seems a shame that it is just there doing nothing, obviously we would need to replace the liner and get a new pump.

What kind of fish survive out side (I would be waiting till after winter now ) and any recommendations for plants too.
We may go the whole hog and get some lights and a tacky statue. :cool:

Seb

Jimkel

Sounds Like a nice size pond! I recommend KOI in such a pond, they are, simply put, the most beautiful and prized fish in the world. Also I recommend Goldfish (Not fancy goldfish)
Blue or Golden "Orfe" if you can find them..All of these fish do great in Irish weather but your gonna have to consider a few things.

First of all you will need a large external filter in a seperate housing like a small mini pond (Sump) for this size pond. Or you could get a sealed external filter, it's gotta be heavy duty though so your looking at around 300 quid. You can fit the outlet to a raised area and have a waterfall feature. I do this and then have the external filter hiding behind the waterfall and plants.

you must have this pump maturing for at least 2 months before adding fish.
To obtain the Nessecary Bacteria Cultures essential in breaking down fish waste.

Dont add your fish all at once, 1 or 2 at a time with about 1 week between them. This will avoid any disasters such as a Bacteria crash which can kill your new and probably expensive fish.

you will need to cover the pond with a mesh or have some form of gaurd, you don't want to see your fish being eaten by large birds do you? CAts can cause problems aswell so consider security.

Oh and dont go planting any big trees beside the pond, the roots can grow through the liner.

Remember to consider the suns position, you dont want green water, so dont have the pond basking in direct sunlight, you may need to consider using plants to block out most of the direct sunlight, plants are also the most attractive method of disguising your pond from the air, so birds cant get a view of your tasty fish.

Finally condsider raising the perimeter of the pond with a small wall, build up the sides basically, doesnt have to be much, just a few inches but it makes sure that muck from the garden and water from your pond dont mix in heavy rain. You can then fit an overflow pipe, a peice of hose into the raised perimeter, and run it to the gutter drain. Keeps the pond from flooding in heavy rain.

Im not much of a plant buff so I cant recommend many plants, Water Lillies are a good idea, and a weeping willow by the pond looks great (Just watch those roots!)

Lights are a must, you want to be able to see your pond in the winter when it gets dark early, Im not into statues etc, I prefer a Naturalistic look, not a formal pond but hey each to his own.

Best of luck mate hope I helped.

sebastianv

Jim thanks for taking the time to respond with that detailed and informative post, one very important point you mentioned was the tree roots. Our garden is enclosed with Cyprus (yuck) trees/weeds and copper birch, the roots do tend to grow out. We have a man coming to see if he can look at the roots and thin them out a bit.
Koi it is going to be even she who is boss, like them too, afraid she may not be swayed on the statue, we might get it down to a bird table though
Cheers seb.

Jimkel

sebastianv wrote: »

Jim thanks for taking the time to respond with that detailed and informative post, one very important point you mentioned was the tree roots. Our garden is enclosed with Cyprus (yuck) trees/weeds and copper birch, the roots do tend to grow out. We have a man coming to see if he can look at the roots and thin them out a bit.
Koi it is going to be even she who is boss, like them too, afraid she may not be swayed on the statue, we might get it down to a bird table though
Cheers seb.

No probes man, Been keeping ponds for years so I like to help where I can;)

hardly work'n

Jimkel wrote: »

Sounds Like a nice size pond! I recommend KOI in such a pond, they are, simply put, the most beautiful and prized fish in the world. Also I recommend Goldfish (Not fancy goldfish)
Blue or Golden "Orfe" if you can find them..All of these fish do great in Irish weather but your gonna have to consider a few things.

First of all you will need a large external filter in a seperate housing like a small mini pond (Sump) for this size pond. Or you could get a sealed external filter, it's gotta be heavy duty though so your looking at around 300 quid. You can fit the outlet to a raised area and have a waterfall feature. I do this and then have the external filter hiding behind the waterfall and plants.

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We put in a fairly large pond last year & finding a pump big enough is a nightmare. Where can I find a sealed external filter for 300 quid????? I have been looking for a bigger pump & filter, but even the little ones are €300!! We have two pumps & two filters on it now & it just doesn't seem to do the job well. We don't have that many fish in it for the size of the pond.