My Michigan pond

Yes, but check your state regulations before you put fish in your pond. Dojo weather loaches cannot be placed into outside waters (even private) in some states due to their invasive potential. Goldfish and common carp (e.g. koi) are already well established in Michigan and most other states, so there are fewer regulations on them. Make sure your pond has deeper areas (6 ft. plus) where the fish can overwinter.

Your pond may already have bass or other big predators, in which case goldfish and koi would swiftly disappear. If you know any anglers, you might ask them to come fish it and see if they catch anything.

You could also consider some of the pretty native Michigan fishes like yellow perch or sunfishes; you may be able to get some of these from local hatcheries. Just stock the pond with forage fish such as fathead minnows and golden shiners, and possibly a few big predators such as bass or pike to keep the sunfish population under control, and you'll have a self-sustaining ecosystem.

*Edit* This link should help you figure out what you are legally permitted to put in your pond. Dojo loach (referred to as Japanese weatherfish) are specifically prohibited from being imported into the state without a permit.

I imagine fancies would be swiftly picked off by herons and other predators, since they're so slow. Whether or not you decide to use fancies, I would encourage you to plant waterlillies or other floating-leaved plants to help hide the fish from marauding birds.

Yeah, they'll be fine. The leaves die in the winter, but the rhizome survives and puts out new leaves in the spring. Just be sure you get hardy rather than tropical lilies; many pond suppliers and nurseries carry both.

Where at in michigan? I would be happy to come and fish out some bass for you. I would even relocate them. You would be suprised the amount of bass that find thier way into smaller ponds around michigan. It is amazing. I'm always pulling of the road and fishing smaller run offs and ponds. Anyway I live in the downriver area.

lol.. I don't think its the right time of year to attempt to add any kinds of fish to it. Chances are you'll never be able to do goldfish either. If you could get some koi 16"+ koi they might make it with the other fish in the pond. My girlfriend has a pond thats about a acre. Her parents get pissed when I fish there because they are their "pets" but the pond is a natural one and its ridiculously overstocked. I would imagine if the world was without people all ponds would be as full as this one. You can stomp on her deck and every fish in the pond literally swims to it waiting for you to throw them handfulls of food. There 6 2'+ koi in there, small mouth bass, large mouth, sun fish, blue gill, big cats (don't know the species, but they average about 20" each and the bigger ones are about 32") and maybe perch. I really need to catch some pike and muskee to throw in there to even out the population. I told her parents I had some 10" piranha I no longer had room for and her pond sounded like a easy place to dump them (obviously joking) and they both flipped. Anyways.. Give it time and try getting a pond heater if you don't want it to freeze over. You can get them for like $20 at petsmart this time of year on clearance, I thought about using one in my 130gallon lol. Its obviously not going to keep a lake from freezing but it should keep about 10feet of ice melted in each direction of the heater. Either that or put a huge pond aerator, thats what my girlfriend has and her pond didn't freeze all winter. Hers is also spring fed too so it doesn't freeze that well.