Building a large native fish pond in the uk

[BO17]

I would like to build a large fish pond for common carp, goldfish, perch, wels catfish, rudd, gudgeon, ruffe and possibly pike if the pond is large enough. What would everyone recommend I plant for spawning and how deep should a pond be for my fish to survive a winter in the uk? I definitely want to have lily pads and arrowhead because you can eat arrowhead roots.

 

[Ansorgii]

How big (area) are you roughly planning on? And how will it be lined? With plastic or clay?

Wels and Pike are notorious for eating more than a pond can provide. If you want a pond with clearer water I would also recommend to avoid carps as they enjoy digging in the mudd, murking the water and depriving it of oxygen, unless the lining and filtrationprevents a builtup of those.

The deeper the better, it doesn't have to be deep everywhere but the fish certainly will welcome it. 80cm is usually technically enough for small fish, but bigger fish would welcome more.

For breeding, pondweeds and some areas with gravel should do. And overall, a clearwater pond with lots of green underwater is always a beautiful sight.

Another fish I would highly recommend to add, tho I dont know if you consider it native would be Leucaspius delineatus.

Awesome at eating Mosquitos, Algae, both suspended and growing on things and the perch will love to snack on them.