Any pond success stories??

@BooseysMom
You can order testing strips online (ebay probably or any aquatic/fish type businesses) so you can test the water easily. I have 2 sorts of pondweed for oxygenating and one small lily. Also, bundles of barley straw (online from pond supply places & ebay again) keep the water clearer - they float initially but later, when full of water, sink below the surface so not unsightly.

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork
Thanks for the advice. (Sorry, I have hijacked this thread as I'm not the op). Ok, I'll try pulling it out..i'll probably have to use some secateurs as it's that thick and embedded into the sides. The pears don't drop in as this is the first year we've had any as it's a new(ish) tree. I felt all around the bottom and kept disturbing the frog but no sign of any newts. Also did have water snails but found an empty shell so they might be perished now. I think the balance is all wrong, probably due to the shamrock taking over and hardly any rain. Maybe I need something like a surface plant like a water lily.

If you do know someone with a very healthy pond - ask them for a chunk of sponge media from their filter, don't let them swish too much muck out of it, and ensure it is kept wet and transferred into your filter rapidly (within a couple of hours at most). This will transfer a good chunk of healthy bacteria and is the only way to 'instant cycle' but... if you then overload the pond with too high a bio-load (fish) you can still crash it. Ditto if youf ill pond up with untreated chlorinated tap water or other chemicals.

You're waiting for the filter to 'cycle' ie, to develop a colony of denitrifying bacteria that can cope with the ammonia and nitrite build up (the nitrate build up is solved by removing and replacing water) from all that lives in the pond.

This can only be done gradually - all the products marketed as instant cycle are going to be using the wrong bacteria (bacteria that survive in a bottle) and as those die off, the correct bacteria take time to colonise and the pond will experience high ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels again.

Shame the fish store didn't bother to tell you this but the reason is if you knew, you'd probably not bother, its boring.

Keeping fish/pond/tank... is about keeping water chemistry perfect. The fish/plants/inverts are secondary to that.

Buy your own chemical testing kit, when you see the nitrite levels and ammonia levels stable at 0 and nitrate is present (but reduced by chucking out a few buckets and replacing with dechlorinated tap water, you're safe to add a couple of small fish... then give it a month, test a couple of times, add a couple more small fish.

A pond can either be a wildlife pond... or a goldfish pond. Trying to have a pond be both is very tricky as goldfish aren't native and will out-compete native species for food (or will eat them).

If you know someone with a thriving pond, ask them for a bucket of water from it. That will contain the sort of micro organisms which get the balance right(probably have eggs from other larger creatures as well).

My pond is basically a big stable bucket sunk into the ground (I have a very small garden). It spent the first year being totally sterile while I worked out how to get plants in it without them just sinking without trace into the water. Bought some 'pond pockets', planted them up and haven't looked back! I've now got snails, all kinds of creepie crawlies and frogs for the first time this year (pond is five years old). No fish because there's not enough pond. I do have to top up frequently at this time of year, but everything seems to be going well.

Maybe it just needs time to settle. You're trying to rush it. Give it all time to breathe, and consider leaving it 'fishless' to encourage frogs, toads and newts.

I think I would pull it out a bit (so it is where you want it to be, not all over) and wait for resulting mud to settle then in an hour or so put your arm in and pull the mud out in handfuls (delightful task) so the pond is clean enough for the wildlife. I had to look water shamrock up and I see it is certainly fast growing! My newts just turned up but I do live next to a forest, so that helps. Do the pears drop into your pond when it is windy?

This is interesting as it sounds like ours. Its very small and has a pear tree over hanging. I do cover it over in the autumn to prevent leaves dropping in. No fish but does have a resident frog. Would love newts too. Anyway it has been taken over by water shamrock which has grown all around the edges and formed a thick blanket. I cleared as much as I could of the leaves and stems but pulling at the foliage causes the thick blanket to come away from the sides and it fills the water with mud. What should I do? Try to remove as much as poss or just leave it? Thanks for any help anyone can give!

Think carefully about getting fish, they need the time and effort plus the expensive pump, filters and cost of electricity etc. Plus fish eat
frog spawn, newts and other good pond dwellers.
Wildlife ponds are so much easier and you get loads more inhabitants. Also get a water butt so you can top up with rain water, ponds don’t like to much tap water (avoid where possible). We have run a water gutter from the roof into the pond so it refills whenever it rains (always have an overflow though).
Make sure you have a beach area so that visitors can access the water to drink safely.

This is pretty much ours but we’ve upgraded the pump and filter.

Not much help to OP as I don’t have the space for a big pond although at my last house I did
We just tested the water ourselves and were never refused fish purchase
Our 2 local garden centres sell pond fish and have never even asked for water samples
For anyone with a small garden I can recommend a surface pond

I dug my own tiny pond. I aerate it with 2 large aerating stones bubbling away and have oxygenating weed and a small water lily (native British). It is so small I have only 2 goldfish and one green tench (who is useful as they eat a lot of the crud at the bottom of the pond. Definitely test the water (strips bought online) regularly, particularly in hot weather. Top up if need be (not too much in one go). You can lose fish really quickly if you don't keep an eye on water quality. Leaves in the pond eventually sink and rot, so pull out any and periodically clear excessive silt from the bottom to help water quality (I leave some for the larvae , newts etc). About a year after I started my pond I was getting newts, frogs and toads. They are excellent at dealing with the slugs and snails - if you go down the garden at night you will meet them doing their excellent work. My pond is very small and slightly overhung by a plum tree so the herons have not been a problem as they haven't noticed it.

Birds are welcome to drink from our pond,we get gulls and herons, unfortunately the pond is pretty much covered with chicken wire.

You're trying to establish an ecosystem which has a bacterial cycle. You can do it quickly and artificially but the chemistry is complicated to balance, or do it the natural way and leave it to establish itself for 6 weeks or so. I went down the wildlife pond route so after a couple of months nature just moves in and it doesn't take any work at all but it does take time for the plants to grow and start oxygenating the water and for the bacterial cycle to be suitable for life. Chlorine will re-set the bacteria so you should use the dechlorinator if you top up with tap water. Setting up a fish pond at this time of year is difficult though with the hot dry weather. Once we get the rain in the Autumn it will be easier. Just forget about it for a while and in a years time it will be lovely.

My grandad had a pond and we put the one remaining goldfish in it when we got rid of our tank - 10 years on it was still going strong along with a handful of other ls he had, no filters, no special chemicals etc, just a natural looking pond. They are pretty hardy once established. No idea how long it lived as the house was sold with pond to pay for care, the new owners showed a picture the following summer when we bumped into them but didn’t keep in touch obviously

I would go on local social media and ask if anyone has fish. Goldfish breed and often pond owners are happy to share. I have given 3 people fish in last month. Also if you get babies, they are black and you have the excitement of seeing what colour they will turn out. Pond owners often have pond weed and other bits you can have without purchasing. I love my pond. It has no filter/ pump. 2 types of snail that have constant babies. The snails keep it clean. Never tested levels of anything. Just top it up with a hose when levels of water too low.

Yes this ^ DH has kept fish for years, indoors and out and some very hard to keep stuff.

We have a very small pond now as the garden here is too small for what he really wants.

we bought two gold fish and let them live for a few weeks before adding anything else. The live bacteria matures the filter and settles the water. Test kits are cheap and the can keep an eye on it at home but actual fish shit is far better then chemicals.

Just saw you want a fountain too...buy a small floating solar one, really easy.

I agree with BadActingParsley and don't get too hung up on fish. My very small pond which has been in place for around 18 months has attracted frogs though I haven't seen them this summer. The water level goes down a little due to evaporation. It was started off with some water from a friend's pond to get the level of nitrates (or whatever they are) and then topped up with rainwater and tap water. It attracts dragonflies and the like. It's still doing its bit for wildlife. Better than nowt.

We have a pond in the garden, it's got a liner in it, plants, no pump or filter, and lots of little tiny Japanese Rice fish! They are like tiny gold fish, don't need anything doing with them and breed every year so numbers go up and down but always some there. We also have lots of bugs and dragon flies and birds who use it for washing and drinkng. It's lovely. Good luck, sounds like you need to find another fish supplier! My parents had a pond too, with Koi in, never had any issues just buying the fish.

Look at it this way, if you want fish you want them to live, so keep following the advice and you'll get there 😀

I can't believe that you've gone to so much trouble OP. Years ago, I wanted a pond, did some research, dug the hole, put in an old carpet, with sand under it, and then the pond liner material. Edged it with stones, put in a few aerating plants, and left it for a week to settle. Went to a garden centre that sold fish, bought 5 goldfish, put them in the pond. After a couple of weeks there were only 3 left, thought 'Oh well, 3's not too bad'. By the following summer, we had a pond full of baby goldfish! Didn't add anything else to it, other the aquatic plants, and everything thrived. As well as the fish, we had frogs, loads of dragonflies, and all sorts of other creatures. Used to sit by it with a glass of wine after work every night. It was beautiful, and always interesting. So I think you're being conned by the place you're trying to buy your fish, try a garden centre or somewhere.

Honestly I would get two goldfish from pets at home, pop them in and see how it goes. Get the largest they have as large ones are less delicate. Or go to another fish shop. It does sound like your shop may just be selling you lots of things. Or buy a water testing kit off amazon and check for yourself.

@Helena2000 - patience is your biggest ally.

Think of it as a new planet you're putting settlers in. There's some terraforming to be done before the atmosphere is good. Letting the processes run until it's stable is the cheapest and most effective way of making a decent habitat. Tee more you try and ruch it, the more expense and hassle it is.