Fish Ponds

Fish ponds are quite an attraction in the garden and add a charm of their own to the theme of a garden. Building a fish pond is not very difficult a lot depends on the area where one is living and the types of fish they want to keep. Koi and goldfish are the two most popular types of fishes that are kept in fish ponds. Koi because of their array of colors and well gold fish are gold fish so one need not describe the color that they add to a fish pond.

Plan on how many fish one plans to put in a fish pond and the area in which the pond is to be built. Depending on the climatic conditions of the selected area and the type of fish one plans to keep the depth and the size of the pond can be determined. Having worked these out the fish pond construction can start. To build a fish pond first mark of the area and make sure that no overflow or rain drain runs through it. Then one can either dig the pit themselves for the pond or get it dug to the required size by someone and make sure that the sides and the bed of the pit are firm and there are no sharp objects that could puncture the liner. Place an underlay in the bottom of the pit which could be newspaper, carpet or a pond underlay. Then fit the liner in the pond pit and shore up and firm the area around the liner and pit walls. Attach the pumps, filters, etc and the required piping and if there is a waterfall set that up. Fill in the pond with water and start up the pumps. All fish pond construction kits come with a bunch of handy instructions and there may also be a video. Read the instructions carefully and follow them closely so that there are no disappointments later on.

There is a difference in the requirements of a goldfish pond and a koi fish pond. Goldfishes are kept in aquariums in homes also and they do not need much space as they don’t grow very big whereas on the other hand koi can grow quite big. Building goldfish ponds is not very difficult and the minimum depth of a goldfish pond should be at least 2 ½ feet that is if it’s in area where there is no snow or chances of the pond freezing solid in winters. For colder climates one would need a deeper pond or a pond heater. The length and breath of the pond is dependent on the number of goldfish that one plans to keep. If one plans to add some fish later on then that should be taken into account.

Koi fish ponds require more depth as they are cold water fish. A koi fish pond should be at least 3 ½ feet deep and more if it is in an area where there are chances of the pond freezing in winters. Or again use a water heater to keep the water from freezing. One would need to put in some kind of filtration system and this would require some plumbing depending on the type of filtration system that one is going to use.

After constructing the fish pond de-chlorinate the pond and plant the aquatic plants and place any other items like stones, etc to the pond fill it up and put in a package of bacteria to start the ponds ecosystem. Put the fish in the pond some people recommend putting the fish in batches so that if the fish start dieing one will not loose all the fishes and can rectify the problem before adding more fishes.

Fish pond accessories, plants for fish ponds and container fish ponds are also available from fish pond suppliers and garden stores so getting a backyard fish ponds constructed and going should not take too much time or effort.