New to Fish Pond and need help

[ceejayt2k]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to start a small pond almost like a water garden in my backyard less than 50 gallons and I am new to this. I would prefer not to use any type of pump for filtration and go natural, I would like to use plants and maybe a shrimp or fish. I have several questions in regards to my project and need some advice from pond experts before proceeding.

1. Mosquitoes are one of my biggest concern since the pond will be stagnant. Again, I don't want to use anytype of filtration in the backyard. What can I do to help prevent mosquitoes from thriving in the pond. Could I use some small mosquitoe eating fishes and where can I find them?

2. Since the pond is going to be small, should I be concerned at all in regards to the water warming up during hot days and killing the plants? If I should, what could I do to prevent it from occurring?

3. I live in a fairly cool climate temperatures range from 50 to 80 deg F throughout the year. Will my pond turn green and what can I do about it?

These are only a few a my questions and I am sure more questions will come up as I get closer to starting my project. I have never had a pond before and any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Ceejay

 

[Jennie Beth]

Hi Ceejay,
Yes, you will get mosquitoes. Whether fish would survive in a totally unfiltered and unaerated pond, I don't know. However, there are several things you can put in the water to kill mosquitoes. I looked into one called mosquitoe dunks (looks like a donut made of sawdust) that you float on the water to keep the mosquitoes from reproducing. Read the fine print, though, because you don't want something in there that will hurt the dog, little birds, etc, that might come to check out your pond.

Will your pond have any shade at all? A small amount of water will indeed change temperature quite a bit more rapidly than a larger body. You can help this by shading the pond with larger plants planted around it. If you don't want an in-ground plant, a japanese maple in a pot next to the pond looks lovely and will be happy for several years, especially if you go with a dwarf or very slow growing variety.
That being said, I have a roughly 600 gallon pond and last year the air temp hit the 100's for almost a week. The water temp was in the 80's, and the fish and plants did fine. I did do some partial water changes to cool the water when it was so warm. The lilies and water hyacinth loved it. You might like tropical lilies, too, as they like the warmer weather, and sounds like you won't have to worry about frost. I've read here somewhere, too, about people floating frozen water bottles to act as big ice cubes to keep temp down.

Your pond will turn green. Every pond, when first set up, turns green for a little while, and then as things settle and the plants start to flourish, the water will clear. Mine gets green every spring, and once the plants start growing again, it's all good. Your pond is pretty tiny, though, and especially with the water being nice and warm, I think you might have a perpetual algae problem. Again, lots of plant cover will help, both with stiffling algae and keeping the water a little cooler. Some people use barley straw (comes in a mesh bag, looks like a teeny bale of hay) and say it inhibits algae. Like with mosquitoes, there are chemicals that kill algae, but you have to remember algae is a plant, so if it nukes the algae, it may make your plants unhappy, too. Again with the reading the fine print lecture

Good luck! Hope some of this helps a little.
Jen

 

[MrsMoose]

I don't recommend putting fish without filtering the pond you at some point run into bad water quality because where there is fish there is fish waste. You will find your self with fish getting sick and more than likely dieing. Like jen has said the dunks will help with the mosquitoes . Plant coverage will help with the algae after the pond establishes its self.

 

[FinFanatic]

I believe you can get mosquito fish from your local vector control department in your city. I think they give them away.
I don't have any practical experience with ponds, but I'm guessing if you don't go with any filtering or aeration, you're going to have to do more consistent water changes.
Also, if you can supply some shade, it would help with temperature control.
As for algae, you will find people saying the light doesn't cause blooms, but excess nutrients. Control the nutients, control the algae blooms.

 

[musaboru]

For mosquito larvae-eating fish, look for White Cloud Minnow (or something similar). You can find them at Petsmart for under 50 cents each. And they are small fish.

I know my water gets very hot, but I still have water lily, Crypts, Cabomba, etc growing in there. You living in SF should not have a major problem. Even if the water gets that hot, most plants are able to handle it.


Just having water in a container outside will have it green. You can put your pond in partial shade. Most plants will suffer in full shade. But a heavily planted pond, with lots of submersed plants, can be crystal clear without filtration, especially the more shaded it is. I speak from experience. In full sun, the water can be forever green. Maybe you can combat green water by using products against this. Such as liquid chemicals or barely straw available at major pet stores in the pond section.

 

[ceejayt2k]

Thanks everyone for the response. It definitely helps when I start setting up the small pond. One additional question, would it be possible to have crayfish as well in this set up? Thanks again..

 

[ceejayt2k]

Thanks everyone for the response. It definitely helps when I start setting up the small pond. One additional question, would it be possible to have crayfish as well in this set up? Thanks again..

Would a pump be necessary since I plan to include a lot of aquatic plants in the pond?

 

[ceejayt2k]

thanks for the responses again. I plan to use white cloud to help decrease the amount of mosquitoes. I also checked and my county pest control and has a pest contral program and they provide free fish for ponds. I started my pond and have a lot of frogbit and Water Hyacinth in the pond. I also used old water from my 300 gallon tank to fill up my small pond.

thanks again for the response. Any other ideas out there?

 

[verbal]

Thanks everyone for the response. It definitely helps when I start setting up the small pond. One additional question, would it be possible to have crayfish as well in this set up? Thanks again..

You probably don't want to have a crayfish for a couple reasons. The first is the danger of an exotic introduction. There is a good chance it would crawl out of the pond and could possibly meet up with another crayfish. Yes I know the chances are very low, but just look at the menace that snakeheads are.

So you could get around this issue by catching one locally. However your set-up would need to at the very least have a water pump to provide aeration and probably should have a filter. Crayfish generally live in running streams, so a still pond is not an ideal environment.

 

[learn2turn]

I caught a crayfish at the local pond was I was a kid and put it in my goldfish tank. One by one, my goldfish disappeared. No trace what-so-ever. No half-eaten carcass. Nothing.