Members Advice on Pond Construction

Ponds are a wonderful addition to any garden, the sound of running water and watching your fish swim about on a hot sunny day is one of the simple pleasures in life.
However most people think you just add fish and that’s it however they can be very time consuming and getting it right is not an easy task as I my self a beginner found out.

I have a 4ft by 6ft pond, which is around 4ft deep at its deepest point.

The pond itself is made with a liner, which is cemented at the topsides and then crazy paving all around it to enhance it.

I recommend getting a liner if possible its so much easier and all you need to do is dig out the hole to the required size.

You can then add your fountain to the middle, most pumps come with a fountain attachment, and you simply place large stone to the middle to hold your pump in a centre position. This leaves other possibilities such as running an extension pipe from it’s out let to allow water to be pumped round to say an additional water feature such as a waterfall, these are also available as ready made shells at garden centres, just position it so the water flows back down it and into your pond.

Please ensure however that a qualified electrician does any wiring!!

Once you have your pond you will need fish and plants. Koi carp and ghost carp as well as the humble goldfish are just many types of fish suitable.
However you must allow 1 fish to every square foot of water for them to have enough air and space for growing. Fish themselves are quite a task in themselves and you need to give them close attention. Here is just one of the things that can go wrong!

I purchased a beautiful large gold Koi carp, It was a joy to watch it jumped and ate more than any of the other fish, however After only 2 weeks I noticed that it was off colour and hardly ever came up for food, I then noticed the goldfish were all covered in White spot, This I had already come across in my tank at home and had lost fish to this.
We promptly emptied the pond, not an easy task trying to catch 30 fish in a net! And put them in a water butt.

We cleaned the entire pond out then refilled it and treated the water. Some of the fish were pretty bad so we decided to destroy them as their fins were too damaged.
Next came the treatment, formalin which is available at pet stores, this is excellent but you must dose it correctly according to volume of water.
Then the surprise ingredient! 1tsp of cooking salt (NOT TABLE), per gallon.
Leave this 7 days then redoes after removing a third of water and replacing it.
I was very sceptical and did lose several more fish in the mean time.
However the others started to improve and the white spot gradually disappeared bit by bit, until they made a full recovery.

I then replaced the lost fish with 4 more baby ghost carp and 2 shabunkins. These ghost carp grow rapidly and 6 months on you will have a decent sized fish.
The main thing is to keep checking your fish for any disease signs and treat as soon as you see it, however in my case the white spot appeared almost overnight.

The other main things your fish need are plants and oxidation, the plants can be bought from garden centres in various different varieties, some float and some such as the weed are sunk to the bottom. These give off bubbles so giving your fish more air.

A pump is a must especially for carp, as they do need a high oxygen level.
You must also test your water quality from time to time and you can get a dip test and water treatments from your petshop.Poor water that is too high in lime or other chemicals can wipe out your entire pond!!.

Algae is a big problem to the pond keeper, it can deplete oxygen levels and apart from anything else spoils your view of fish, a filter with a UVA light is one answer or you can add barley straw to the pond or failing that special preparations from the pet store.
Winter means your fish will slow down and eventually partially hibernate, this is the time to turn the pump off to leave the water still, you can feed low temperature fish food, should the winter be particularly mild or your fish are still actively seeking food. However you should never feed for the sake of it.

Ice must be melted if your pond freezes as this causes a build up underneath of harmful gasses, the best thing to do is to put a ball in your pond which will leave an air hole, however if it does completely freeze then you must melt a hole with warm water, never break the ice as this sends shockwaves out which can kill your fish.
Well I hope this has been of some help to you, if you have any queries then please email me and I will be glad to help if I can.