Fish Pond advice

[The Hound]

Hi All,

 

Mrs has had a hankering after a pond for a while.

we now have a free standing one thats 175 gallons.

 

Can anyone suggest they best way to care for the fish, we have 5 smallish ones as advised by the chap at the shop.

 

there are a few plants in it and snails, its been left to settle so there is sign of aquatic life.

 

do we need to use a filter ? id like one thats solar powered or battery if we do.

 

its not near a power source and ideally something very quiet if we do have to use one.

 

any tips welcome

 

cheers

[Alex97]

Hello, did you go to wildwood's?

 

Don't over feed them. They eat a lot less during the winter. 

 

Filter wise you'd need a massive solar panel to power a filter and it will drink though the power. It really needs to be powered off the mains.

[The Hound]

yes I did alex,

 

I cant get mains there, how about a load of plants and a battery filter ?

[Alex97]

2 hours ago, The Hound said:

yes I did alex,

 

I cant get mains there, how about a load of plants and a battery filter ?

The plants will naturally filter the water, I can't remember the name of the ones to get. It's a little too late in the year to get them now as around the end of September to mid October you cut them back to the root ready for new growth in the spring. Wildwood sell a product called cloverleaf, it'd a white powder that helps keep the water clear and kill any blanket weed. 

 

Plant wise I'd down to wildwood's and see what they'd suggest and what you like the look of. 

 

Did they sell you a net? Is so I'd suggest that you get one otherwise you won't have many fish left. 

 

As you don't have any water circulation I'd suggest that you get a air stone or something to keep the water moving and to get oxygen into it. You would require electric for these. 

 

 

 

[The Hound]

Thanks alex, yes we are putting the net over shortly.

Its in a corner under some dense trees so well hidden , but net will be sorted soon.

we've nicked a few plants from mum in laws pond which have been in a couple of weeks and seem to be sprouting in places

some little black wriggly things are also in the water, plus some pond skaters

[Alex97]

54 minutes ago, The Hound said:

Thanks alex, yes we are putting the net over shortly.

Its in a corner under some dense trees so well hidden , but net will be sorted soon.

we've nicked a few plants from mum in laws pond which have been in a couple of weeks and seem to be sprouting in places

some little black wriggly things are also in the water, plus some pond skaters

That's good, you sound like you have it all under control. You do really need to get some water moving it pond to keep the water oxygenated.

[The Hound]

I have a 3700mah 7.4 saddle pack running a fountain at the min, seems to last hours, will whack on a big thing if it proves to not last after a while

[turok007]

if you stick to a few fish  then you can get away without having a filter  just as long as the whole pond isn't in direct sunlight.

[The Hound]

thanks turk, yes its in a shady corner, fish all still alive after day 1 !

[turok007]

when people kept fish many years ago they never had all this hi tech stuff  and fish still survived. 

[Tamiyacowboy]

ok 

 

its a bit like a indoor setup but your just outside instead. 

as for water circulation and airation, check amazon/ebay for a small solar fountain , its just a little 7v pump fitted to a small solar panel, you can use this to make a circulation/water mover. simple thing is to have it mid water without the fountain attachment , this water flow from the pump is directed to the surface so  it moves the water round. in the summer heat months you can add the fountain attachment and have this sprinkle back onto the water surface, this action airates the water just like an airstone but less intrusive .

planting out, go for shady loving plants a small lilly will help as its leaves will cover some of the surface and help keep sunlight down also give a place for fish to hide.
theres a rule of thumb for water amount to fish population to, little gold fish given a big enough room will grow bigger than one expects, keep an eye out for poorly fish, fin rot /white spot are very common and down to poor water quality and contamination. any new fish added need to be in quarantine for atleast a couple weeks before adding to main pond ( helpful to have a little indoor tank.

food, do not be going crazy one person only feeds them and you only put enough in for them to consume , any food thats not eaten will rot away and cause poor water quality.stay clear of pond weed, most will be american pondweed and its very agressive in covering and can and will take over the surface leaving you with just a green mat. a decent netting to keep leaves and like away will help and a large'ish net to capture poorly fish /help clean the pond. 
TOPPING UP, sometimes you will need to top up the pond due to evaporation in very very hot weather, so you must use a very very clean container and make sure the water is left to sit for atleast 24-48hrs so clorhine can disperse  and other adatives, or you can use a water cleaner product from pet stores to treat tap water.

Fish population : around 15 small fish to your 175gallon pond is about right, ie small goldies , so i would shoot for around 7-9 goldies and leaves you with space for them maturing and keeping water quality at its peak, less fish = less poop = less nitrate and nitrites , you can add a filter to the inlet of the solar pump so when powered water is drawn through the filter into the pump and ejected via the fountain. you can also use the solar pump to pump water into a large external box filter and a pipe running back to pond - waterfall or some other eyecandy.

pump outlet is connected to a pipe that leads to a large external pond filter box.  the water is filtered in the external filter box then returned via an overflow pipe to the main pond. some folks set this up as a water cascade/waterfall  and hide the box behind the pond and feed the water cascade via the outlet from the filtering system. 
a filter system will in the end need cleaning as it builds up with poop and likes , and as always with ponds / lakes and tanks , the bigger the water volume the less risk. 9-10 times porr water quality comes from over population or overfeeding  

[The Hound]

mega TC  thanks for such detailed advice.

 

I have a solar fountain but as it only seems to work in direct sunlight, ive made up a duel input so I can power it from a Nimh.

I leave it on for a good few hours a day and so far the fish seem fine.

I'll keep an eye on things and report back any interesting updates

 

thanks again folks 

[Tamiyacowboy]

 

an old car battery charged up and a voltage regulator, hook the regulator to the pos and neg on battery terminals.
set the regulator to around 7v and connect the outputs to pos and neg leads on the pond pump, a couple spare car batterys can be used one powering for 3-4hr stint during the day and other ready to swap out when  you have to charge the main one up again.

PV panels unless they are huge house ones only work in direct sunlight, some do work in indirect sunlight but they cost an arm and leg.
most folks will hook a few panels up into a line and run them to a solar controller topping up a large'ish battery bank when going off grid. 
More ah the batterys have the longer the pump will run for. 

have a google seach on fishtank powerhead, you could suspend the pump mid water to create a flow in the pond, the moving water will naturaly add air to the water. if your willing you could add a pipe to the outlet of the pump nozzle and have this pipe above water, as water is pushed through the nozzle it creates a vacuum in the pipe and drags air into the water stream creating a venturi system , this will add air quicker into the water and still give you a flow circulation in the water and water surface