Questions about ponds

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A

aeri

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2007
566
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Toronto
I'm thinking of starting out an outdoor pond next spring after the snow melts.

Deciding between using pond liner or a tub like stotty has as shown in my attachment or his post (http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1497243&postcount=6). The tub is a bit cheaper than the liner here, but I'm not sure if there's a risk of it cracking over the winter...

Also, are bugs a big problem with ponds? Is there anyway to minimize it? Such as higher flow rates to reduce dead spots?

Are animals bothering your fish overnight a problem? Anyway to keep them away without putting a huge ugly cover over it?

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I never knew we had so many animals in the neighborhood before we got this pond. We don't have any bodies of water nearby, we live on top of a hill, yet we got tadpoles somehow. We get a lot of birds hanging out around the pond, there always seems to be a cat by it. They just lay there taking in the ambiance, sometimes go for a drink, but they never mess with the fish. There are racoon tracks by the pond, but no fish come up missing.

We don't have a shallow area of the pond. Well there are 2 bog areas with plants, but there are no fish in there. I don't think racoons or cats would get down in the water unless it was really shallow.

That's a good thing cause our gold fish and koi just swim right up to the cats, but the cat can't reach them.

We don't have any extra bugs, I've seen our goldfish eat crickets, so I'd imagine they'd eat any kind of smaller bug too.

Our bog is one of those hard shell plastic liners, that was a friend of mine's outdoor pond for a few years, never cracked on him.........
 
Thanks for the detailed response.

I think that's alright then, I know there are animals wandering about in my neighbourhood, but I was more concerned with them trying to eat my fish.

How about mosquitoes and flies?

That's good to hear, I'm leaning more towards the a the plastic tub than the pond liners, seems easier to manage as long as it doesn't crack over the winter.
 
I recently have had some cat issues. A woman who recently moved nearby feeds the street cats at her house which is about 4 doors down from me. Previously, it used to be the occasional stray cat would come by hang around for 10 minutes and get bored and move away. Now it is the WWF tag team - one sits by the pond - gets bored - leaves and another takes its place. Repeat 20x. I have spoken to her and she agrees there is a cat plague in our area but she feels that if she stops feeding them they will starve to death. Municipal laws don't allow much to do. I have tried all sorts of anti-cat tricks but none seems to work. I am waiting to order a water scarecrow for the spring - which will hopefully help.

The point is - animals are always an issue and having a pond will always involve some amount of tinkering due to changing circumstances.
 
Are you planning to over-winter your fish in the pond?

If so without heating it's not deep enough.:(

As far as pests are concerned, ponds rate right up there with gardens :D, If you want one it's definitely worth it!

Pest control can range from Plastic Owl, Heron & snake replicas to netting and
as hankn said a water scarecrow http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...=aps&hvadid=2207136281&ref=pd_sl_9h6g6wyh5j_b

Bugs normally are an issue with moving/running water with fish.

(hankn, get 6-10 small mouse traps and set them wherever the cats are...won't hurt them but scares the bejeebers out of them. Cats don't like hassles and move on).

Two things happen when you feed cats...

1) you get fat cats.

2) you get MORE cats!

Here (Florida) if you feed a stray cat 3 times your responsible for them!

Dr Joe

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Bugs are good fish food. I no longer use lawn ferts. in my backyard. I did it for the dogs, but have noticed more insects, bugs, and butterflies since removing the ferts. and pesticides form the lawn. All the birds and Amphibians are a part of the natural system. As long as the water is not stagnet, mosquitos will never be a prob., and if any do reproduce, the larvae will be eaten by the fish. I have got a team of Dragonflies that constantly patrol the yard. We eat on the patio a few nights a week and never need bug spray. Animals and critters will always be attracted to moving water. if your pond is designed well, they will never be a prob. and move on. You may get a few damaged plants, but the fish will be safe.
 
haha sounds interesting. cats are okay. i like cats :). but mosquitoes/flies no.

i'm going to setup the pond first before thinking about the stocking. i may not even stock it at all. if i ever do, i don't plan to leave any fish over the winter, i was mainly worried if the pond would crack if i did because i have no space to bring something like that in the house.

sounds great. so i just gotta make sure to have water flowing through most if not all of the pond. dragonflies would be ok. they add to the look
 
If no fish, then as much moving water as poss. + surface agitation.
 
I live on a farm out in the country an have a 300 gal pond, with a 50 foot 2 ft wide creek running from it down to my 3000 gallon pond and so far no animals are messing with it. The only thing that shows interest are stray cats, but my dogs usually eat them (seriously, I find cats laying dead tore apart all the time) I have a pair of owls with a nest in one of our barns, been here for 5 years now. They haven't touched my fish , they sure do keep the barn clean of all mice and snakes and such. They have a pile of bones in the corner it's awesome.
 
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