My Michigan pond

[Cichlidgirl91]

We just moved to Michigan and I now am the proud owner of a HUGE pond. :headbang2:
Almost a lake, but not quite LOL. Anyway, I've been trying to find out what I can put in this pond. I see a lot of suggestions for Bass, but I don't want "fishing" fish. I'm wanting to do goldfish, koi, weather loach, you know... "pet" fish. Will goldfish do okay in Michigan?

[Notophthalmus]

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 (http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-indigenous-species8-23-05_137217_7.pdf) 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.

[Cichlidgirl91]

Okay, scratch Weather Loaches off the list. Would fancy goldfish be all right? Or should I just stick with comets and shubunkins? I'm pretty sure the pond is more than 6 ft deep. I might do koi too... still undecided about those...

[Notophthalmus]

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.

[Cichlidgirl91]

Will water lilies be all right when the pond freezes over? The pond freezes enough for me to be able to walk across it. But I'll definitely put some in there if they'll survive.

[Notophthalmus]

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.

[Cichlidgirl91]

Awesome! There's already a few cattails growing, so that's pretty cool. As soon as I get the camera unpacked (and learn how to post pics) I'll take some pics, so ya'll can see the size of this pond!

[boggs]

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.

[Cichlidgirl91]

Arggh!!!
It won't stop snowing! It's been snowing for the past 3 hours! I want my pond to thaw out so I can get some fish for it.

[Oii]

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.

[Fishfiles1]

i live in michigan and let me tell you i have only have had luck with try color koi, your best bet is blue gill cannel catfish, bass crappie, pike, shiners, and put it to use and fish it, but like you said you dont want to do that so i would say koi, what a wast :(

[Reddog80p]

I would go with bluegills or some sort of sunfish. Channel cats are also a good choice. Check local hatcheries. How big is this pond?

[ITHURTZ]

Fancies dont do well over winter.

[Sarge_857]

i live in michigan and let me tell you i have only have had luck with try color koi, your best bet is blue gill cannel catfish, bass crappie, pike, shiners, and put it to use and fish it, but like you said you dont want to do that so i would say koi, what a wast :(

pike need alot of room and would eat everything. i'd say the blue gill, koi and crappie would be nice. where are you located?

[kimbo3311]

pike would be bad... I would also agree that bass and other native fish are better, but Koi will do fine. if you stock any sort of bluegill or sunfish you are going to need some sort of predator to keep their population down. Koi will keep the vegetation down well, and they'll most likely do alright over winter.

[Cichlidgirl91]

We do have a pair of candian geese and a pair of ducks that "live" at our pond. Would that be a problem for the koi? Oh, and BTW this pond is HUGE! It's not manmade... all-natural LOL. I just found some Daphnia in it a few days ago. Perfect for my baby guppies.

[Sarge_857]

We do have a pair of candian geese and a pair of ducks that "live" at our pond. Would that be a problem for the koi? Oh, and BTW this pond is HUGE! It's not manmade... all-natural LOL. I just found some Daphnia in it a few days ago. Perfect for my baby guppies.

sweet, but where you located?

[Notophthalmus]

Geese and dabbling ducks (such as mallards, teals, pintails, etc.) will not bother koi; some diving ducks (mergansers) might catch juvenile koi but would cause no trouble to larger fish. You're more likely to lose fish to herons. This is just an inevitable fact of keeping fish in ponds. But if you have a good population of fish, and provide them with sufficient cover, you will probably never notice the few you lose to birds, watersnakes, raccoons, and the like.

Predatory fish are another matter. You really need to know what fish are in the pond now before you can decide what fish to add. If there are any big pike, trout, walleye, bass, bowfin, or catfish in there, any goldfish and all but the largest koi would end up as fish food. Snapping turtles could also cause trouble, though they seldom bother healthy large fish.

[Cichlidgirl91]

Ok, great. The ducks are only mallards, so I guess that won't be a problem. How large should I start my koi off in the pond? Would 3 or 4 inches work. Oh, and Sarge, I'm in-between Flint and Detroit.

[THE V]

Start them off as small as you can. The birds can get them until they are well over 18". No need to spend extra money for a bigger fish when they will get large soon enough. :).

Figure out about how many gallons the pond is and stock it accordingly. Given how cold it is where you are 500-600 gallons per fish is reasonable if you have a filter and 1000 gallons per fish without. These guys get to be very large and will live, if taken care of properly, the rest of your life, you kids, and maybe your grandkids lives as well.

Be sure that the pond is over 4 feet deep so that the fish have someplace to swim in the winter. Also invest in a small pond heater to keep a small patch of the pond unfrozen, otherwise the lack of oxygen will kill the fish.

[Molgen]

cool shold be nice if there isn't to much in it already to eat em....