March 2009 - Posts
Water clear, fish alert and active. Plants seem to be growing. Two more shoots on water lily.
All fve of my fish are happily swimming about in the late afternoon sunshine.
Tips on all aspects of garden ponds urgently required!
My fish seem to love the rain.
They were very active this morning as the heavens opened over Lyme Regis.
However, I could only count four. There are no floaters, but I didn't get close enough to the pond to look for a sinker.
I'll check again when I get home from work later. Hopefully, all five will then be accounted for.
What I have learnt is that pond plants, although known for providing oxygen during the day, actually absorb oxygen during the night. That's why, during hot weather, fish often, apparently, die early in the mornings.
Although, if I have got one missing, it's probably been poached by a seagull or other bird.
The area surrounding my pond has been beautified by garden ornaments bought from Colour Wheel Plants, Offwell.
Two frogs, two ladybirds and a dangling toadstool add to the colour of my two new rockery areas.
I didn't feed my goldfish for 36 hours after they were introduced to the pond.
Because they are so alert, they darted off and hid at even a passing shadow – so I observed them through a slit in the blinds on the upper part of my back door.
No loners. They happily chased each other around for hours. They nibbled the weed and plants.
When they started taking small insects from the surface, I fed them – but just 2 flakes each.
They are ever so greedy, but I've stuck to feeding just a very small amount once a day.
I intend to increase next month.
I love watching my fish, but dread early mornings. Will I find a floater? None, so far, and they've been in the pond five days.
A water test shows all is still fine. I think they have ever so slightly grown.
I'm now worried about birds, etc, and find myself constantly counting to make sure I've still got all five. I'm tempted to set up a webcam, so I can alert a neighbour of a problem if I'm at work.
I have got a responsibility to the welfare of my fish.
Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated. Just email me.
Also, will they breed? I don't intend to add any more fish – unless they all snuff it.
It is not advisable to add a lot of fish to a new pond, because the filter may not be able to cope and upset the natural balance of a pond cycle.
I bough five small goldfish, which had been kept outdoors at the garden centre where I bought the pond.
We placed the bag containing the fish in a cardboard box to bring them home – to reduce stress.
Once home, my daughter and I placed the bag in the pond – so the water temperature in the bag adjusted to the water in the pond. The fish were alert and active, showing they could see the plants and pond weed by trying to nibble them through the bag.
After 30 minutes, we opened the bag and slowly let pond water mix in. We then waited for the fish to simply swim out of the bag and into their new home.
First, I washed the gravel. My cousin then found a spot close to the house and positioned the pond. He clad the exterior with forest wood edging.
We placed gravel in the bottom of the pond and ensured the pump was raised from the bottom. The electrical cord was run under a small rockery area and into the house through a chiseled grove in the back door frame.
We filled the pond with tap water using a hose. Then we placed the plants around the pond and switched the pump on.
I left the pond, pump running 24/7, for over a week before using a test strip to check water quality – and to find out if chlorine was still present.
The result showed the pond was safe to accept fish.
There are loads of really inspiring websites about how to construct a garden pond but, with five manhole covers in my garden and probably the sewerage system for the whole estate just below the surface,I took the easy option.
I bought a pre-fabricated, raised pond. It is circular, capable of holding water 2ft deep and ideal for the pond fish I just love to sit and watch – goldfish!
At the same time, I purchased two rolls of forest wood edging to beautify the pond's exterior. I also bought a water lily, collection of marginals, gravel and specialist pond reed.
For the size of the pond, I was advised to buy an all-in-one pump, filter and fountain.
Please send me your stories and pictures about how you built your own pond, so I can share them on this website.