Tropical Fish Forums

[katienaha]

if he does, maybe his next project should be a bat box!! haha...

Or as long as the water is moving and has no dead spots... mosquitoes won't be an issue.

[Caton]

From what I have been told around here we do, but if the water is moving..maybe I will not have a problem them.

I was planning on buying the goldfish online due to my LFS not having goldfish, (she is smart...doesn't like seeing fish go to a bowl). I can go to petco and look but they have a massive ich problem. So ten goldies you say, if they do breed once I get enough of them do I need to be worried about getting to many?
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[katienaha]

Get a turtle

[diademhill]

Ask if your LFS would be able to special order some goldfish once you have the pond built.
Her stockists will have them and offer to pay when you order - just as you would for ordering online.

If you have a lot of open water most babies get eaten but a few usually survive.

[Caton]

Oh, thanks. Once I get this pond set-up and everything do I need to be worried about the eagles, hawks, ospreys, large birds, owls, wild dogs, and small birds messing with the fish? Would I need to get one of the surface heaters in the winter to keep some of the ice at bay? Thanks.
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[59FIFTY]

Well what I did to prevent the animal problems and to keep larger leaves out of my pond we put chicken wire over the surface of the water suspended by fence boards taht run from the back of the pond to the front of it.
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In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin

[UncleWillie]

Are wild dogs and ospreys a problem in Narnia? Oh, Washington. Nevermind.

No need to worry about birds unless a heron decides he prefers your pond to any other waters. The main issues would be raccoons (do you have many in your area?).

Because of aesthetics, I do no recommend chicken wire or anything like that to keep critters or leaves out. Leaves are harmless, and actually can increase inverts (but you may not want the larger predators like dragonflies in there if you plan on breeding). But you will want to scoop out what you can when the leaves start falling on the surface (don't give them time to sink or they will be harder to get out).

[59FIFTY]

Yes but I do this because I am not able to get outside and clean my pond everyday. My pond is right under a huge oak tree and the leaves fall everyday like no tomorrow. even when the trees look bare the pond is full of leaves. I usually clean my pond just for fun about once a month. And there is a good pile of leaves at the bottom every time. I also have rocks surrounding my pond to keep things like bags or other debris carried in my yard by the wind and my dogs will knock the rocks in trying to go for a swim... so this is another reason we have wire. I was actually cleaning my pond yesterday and found 2 goldfish... I guess they survived or laid eggs last summer because they were pretty good sized.
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In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin

[UncleWillie]

I gotcha.

Oh, one thing I forgot:
Definitely add a way for critters to crawl out of the pond. this could be a nice stack of flat rocks to act as small stairs, or a log that is half in the pond, half out. A dead critter isn't a good thing in a pond, and a bloated stinky rat or squirrel will not be fun to fish out of there.

[59FIFTY]

Yes this helps. My pond has a space where there is about 1/2 inch of no water where frogs can climb out. we have 3 bullfrogs in our pond so they are fun to watch.
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In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin