Any pond success stories??

[Helena2000]

I'm losing the will to live.
DD desperate for a pond in our (small) garden.
So DH and I diligently set upon a project to create one for her. We started out thinking it'd be a lovely thing to make for her.
She's got a few different difficulties going on and her antidote is to spend downtime at home and in the garden.
DH dug the hole, and I spent hours researching pond liner versus pre-formed ponds and size of pond/litres of water and learnt all about how many fish you can put in a certain amount of litres of water.
Anyway, bought a £280 pre-formed pond with a 250 litre water capacity because lots of reviews said cheap pre-formed ponds are useless and pond liner laid down in the hole splits.
Installed it and filled with water.
Spent an eye watering fortune on an all in one pond pump/filter/fountain. Made sure it was the correct pump strength for the pond's capacity/litres of water. Again, this took me hours of research and reading reviews.
Put plants in - oxygenators, marginals, a water Lily. These were very expensive, I was surprised by the high cost of pond plants! But I learnt they are essential for healthy ponds.
Let the pond sit for a week like this, then happily and excitedly travelled to the aquatic shop to but fish. Got told they won't sell them to us without testing the pond water first.
Travelled all the way home again. Fish less.
Following week, returned with sample of pond water. Happy days, I thought. Our pond water is crystal clear. Has been settling for 2 weeks now. Healthy plants growing in it. Lovely fountain. Pump and filter running splendidly. The fish are going to love it, I thought.
Man at aquatic shop tested our sample: chlorine levels too high.
Wouldn't sell us fish.
Sold us a de-chlorinator product, told us to put it in the pond and return in a week with another sample.
We did this.
Returned. Man tested pond sample: Chlorine issue resolved but now the nitrates are a problem.
Wouldn't sell us fish.
Sold us a nitrate solving product.
Told us to add this and return in 2 weeks.
We did this.
Returned with another pond water sample: nitrites too high. First the nitrates. Now the nitrites.
Wouldn't sell us fish.
Sold us a load of bacteria to put inside our pump/filter and told us to return in 2 weeks.
We did this.
Returned. Water sample. Tested: nitrites still too high. Told to add even more bacteria balls daily for 2 weeks then return. Even Sold us a bacteria 'bomb' to tackle the nitrites.
Went back with yet another sample on Saturday.
Tested: nitrites still too high. Still won't sell us any fish. Man at centre said he can't sell them to us until water nitrites and nitrates and chlorine are all within regulations.
So 2 months after installing this pond, we still have no fish.
And guess what has happened now. The water in our pond is rapidly going down in volume by the hour. It's obviously developed a leak. Despite me buying an expensive good quality one.
Waaaaaaah......this was supposed to me such a lovely little project to do with our DD!
I've spent hundreds of pounds and am no closer to having any fish!!!
Why is a pond creation so hard?!

The water volume may just be lower due to the warmer weather. Top it up with a hose and monitor it.
I have a tiny pond and it needs topped up in a hot spell. Definitely no leaks.
The water balance sounds tricky. Did you speak the aquatic shop aboybthe choice and quantity of plants as some can elevate nitrate levels. Water soldier reduce nitrate levels and float in ponds quite happily.

Hope you get it settled and are able to get fish soon.

Oh dear it sounds disappointing but perhaps you were just trying too hard?
My pond is just an irregular shape lined with black liner. It's shallow at one end for wildlife. No pumps or filters.
It probably took 2 or 3 years to settle and for algae to disappear. It has lots of plants and water lilies and is full of frogs, newts and dragonflies love it. No fish though.
DS2 punctured it with a stick when he was 4 and I repaired it with duct tape.

Maybe just leave yours alone, skip the chemicals and let nature move in?

I ignore ours..... honestly think you trying to hard. Too many chemicals. We've had dragon flies this year which is lovely

My pond seems to manage itself.

I don't think the army of frogs that live in it really care about the nitrites. Or at least they never complain.

I did dig them a new frog cave though to shield them from the cats.

Whenever I pick the paving slab up there is always a frog or two under there so they must like it.

I just went to pets at home - goldfish going strong, very happy, zooming around, never tested the pond but it's well filtrated, sure they're happier than the diddy fish tank they were stuck in 😕

I think skip the fish, we've got a small pond, there are newts, tadpoles, frogs, the birds bath in it - it looks after itself - I occasionally fish dead leaves out of it. I've got oxgenators as well. Lots of wildlife.

Fish are difficult I think.....

A pond without fish is far more interesting. Fish make it really dirty, you'll always be fighting a losing battle with that, and they eat any interesting larvae/tadpoles etc.

I've got a wildlife pond, had it for about 3 years now. Pre formed, no pump or filter (no way to have one without it sucking in tadpoles and froglets etc) it's got a shelf for marginals, which I rinsed most of the aquatic compost off the roots and planted in clean fine gravel. That way the plants use dead leaves and frog poo for nutrients, rather than it making the water murky, and I've got a water hawthorn to give surface cover to stop it going green from sunlight.

Filled it with rainwater, top it up from the water butt if it's hot, let surrounding plants shade it in the summer so anything living in there is a bit protected from the sun and predators. Occasionally rake out some plants if it's getting a bit over full. It's teeming, crystal clear, and I've got newts which is just awesome.

There's an FB group called 'Wildlife Ponds UK'... Could she be convinced to get int seeing what creatures come to the pond naturally? This would mean you can just leave the pond and creatures would come in. It's a win win- easy, costs nothing and solves the no fish problem.

Fish do need ponds to be clean. That's why you have to have all that stuff air filters pond balls fountains otherwise they will die.

Frogs on the other hand, I am convinced mine like it the dirtier the better.

I don't put tap water in it though, only water that has come off the roof.

I'd bet Pets at Home would sell you the fish.

The quickest way to resolve this is to throw a defrosted prawn in the water. This will cause it to rapid cycle and for two weeks your levels will be all over. Buy some generic aquarium test strips from Amazon. And monitor your own levels. You also need to research nitrate/nitrite cycles to Bertrand what’s happening. Honestly I think the shop have seen you coming as chlorine from tap water evaporates with 24-48 hours

We have an above ground pond now.if you want fish,you can't top up the water level with a hose. We've got water butts, otherwise you have to leave tap water in containers for 48 hours to dechlorinate. We have got rid of most of the plants, apart from a rather lovely water lily. We don't use chemicals when we first introduced fish,we used barley straw blocks for the weed. We now have an electric UV filtering system, which also has mesh filters. They do need cleaning regularly. A fountain to oxygenate the water. We are in the SE UK it's been mostly in the high 20s, even around 30c a few days, and the water evaporates. In winter the fish have an electric heater so you need electricity nearby. Our last pond we used a fibre glass preformed liner.we had a cat who sat on the edge of the original pond and clawed the liner.

Oh, world of fish

Never once tested my water. I threw in roach, they proliferated, I had to re-home them. I currently have goldfish, they have a filter, mini waterfall which splashes so oxygenated water. They’ve recently reproduced. Whilst I don’t advise adding fish if they’re likely to suffer due to poor water quality, you can buy fish over the internet. I’ve seen dead fish floating in the local nursery/aquarium, I bet their water quality is crap.

I occasionally top mine up and add the dechlorination product, doesn’t matter how long it stands, the chlorine will never really go otherwise.

Don't bother with fish until your pond is well established. They'll only die or get eaten by a heron.

Let the pond get properly sorted, growing for a year, ideally attracting frogs, damselflies etc. Fish need decent and stable levels in the water in order to be healthy. The first season of a pond can have it veer from one to the other until it's a self regulating ecosystem. It's the same with an aquarium, but that's much smaller and under your control with things like light and temperature. A pond need to be healthy and established.

After that, decide if you want to add fish.

Edited to add - successful pond here for 17 years with both wildlife and fish

Thank you to everyone who has answered.
I never knew there was so much involved in trying to create a pond for fish. Had I realised, I'd never have embarked on all this time, effort and money.
To everyone advising turning it in to a wildlife pond, it's been sitting there for 2 months and not one creature has started living there. Nothing.
The point is, we want fish. A pond with a fountain and fish in it.
I just need to work out where on earth we're going wrong with being unable to get the correct water conditions for fish to be allowed to live in!😣

@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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.