Tropical Fish Forums

[Michael L.]

My grandparents are putting a pond in their back yard. (They live up the road from me) I have estimated it at roughly 1500 gallons and was wondering what I could stock it with seeing as they know nothing about ponds and I will probably be doing most of the work.

In the winter, the temperature can drop to about -5 C (23 F). In the summer it can get as high as 30 C (90 F) The pond will freeze over in the winter, so I am windering what I could stock the tank with that will survive through the winter.

I would like something aside from the typical old koi and comet deal. That got boring before in their old pond that we tore down.

What could we do to prevent leaves and herons from getting in the pond. Chicken wire is visually unappealing, so I was wondering if there was anything else?

One more quick question. What kinds of plants could I put in this pond?
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[grapeape]

you can put any of the fancy goldfish in. just make sure that there is always a hole in the ice for the gas exchange

[Michael L.]

So there is nothing but goldfish, koi, or comets that I can put in there.

How hard do you think it would be to get a bass or something in there and living properly?
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[grapeape]

when I lived in nova scotia a lot of people in my area had trout in there ponds

[Michael L.]

Where do you get trout? Do you have to catch them? Maybe I'll just do koi.
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[Oscer]

Bass, trout, salmon and carp are all appropriate. Treat them as you would treat koi, but be careful with bass. Yes, you have to catch them yourself or you could contact a fish farm (if you do, specify you want live fish).

Personally I like koi a lot. They display better than trout or carp would for obvious reasons and live longer and are worth more, if you would want to sell them one day.

[Ganoderma]

go down to elk lake in victoria. go fishing for a few hours. they have carp, mirror carp, sunfish (quite colourfull) and the usualy base/trout thing. the sun fish I find very pretty. go to the path on teh way to beaver lake, there are small little docks here and there through the bushes. should catch hundreds. also off the rowing docks if they arn't using them.

there are rumors of snake heads in washington. any truth to that?

[Michael L.]

I might go for sunfish. Do you know if there are any in Nanaimo?
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[Ciklido]

Sunfish need much more good quality water and the most important thing is that they are seasoneal fish. At wintertime they need very low temperatures. At summer is when the fish spawn by making crevices at the shores in sandy shores(I have seen this in nature near my house) They are very colourful but grown males can be territorial when spawning. There are different species of sunfish. But I am not sure if they would be available to you. They require a good sized pond and good deep water , try and not place too many plants in the middle of the po nd. Rocks and sandy shores are necessary if you want them to breed, they need neutral slightly soft water someimes, and need an excellent supply of livefoods which could be an expensive budget for you. Although colourful they are okay for a pond. No the best choice but still are okay. Sunfish usually live in north america and towards the north into the southern part of Canada. The is some in the north of United States but I do not where you live soo
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Get attached, love everything now, then, suffer when it comes to an end, for it will bring great meaning to one's existence. JR

[Michael L.]

Victoria is about a 45 minute drive from my house. I'm sure that they will be in some lakes by my house. I am thinking abut breeding feeders one of these days, so I am not worried about the live diet. Plus we have an abundant source of worms and mosquitos out here.
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