Crystal Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 This year I kept: Goldfish (but had to pull the fantails out at 68 - too cold) Rosy Red minnows Mountain cloud minnows guppies (removed at 60) platies (many babies from them) (removed at 60) Botia lohachata - Pakistani loach (removed at 60 - but an elusive one is still in there and temps have dropped below 50 at times!) Kuhlii loach (removed at 65 - do not let them get any colder) All lived well together. The guppies and platies are so voracious - no mosquito larvae in my pond. the mountain clouds cleaned up many small insects. The loaches surprised me, doing very well, but forewarned the Kuhlii loach prefers temps closer to 70 and above - I had to pull them when temps dropped. I actually saw a Rosy red jump 3 inches out of the water to get a fly on the wall! Honestly, I did feed them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Posted March 6, 2009 Report Share Posted March 6, 2009 This year I kept: Goldfish (but had to pull the fantails out at 68 - too cold) Rosy Red minnows Mountain cloud minnows guppies (removed at 60) platies (many babies from them) (removed at 60) Botia lohachata - Pakistani loach (removed at 60 - but an elusive one is still in there and temps have dropped below 50 at times!) Kuhlii loach (removed at 65 - do not let them get any colder) All lived well together. The guppies and platies are so voracious - no mosquito larvae in my pond. the mountain clouds cleaned up many small insects. The loaches surprised me, doing very well, but forewarned the Kuhlii loach prefers temps closer to 70 and above - I had to pull them when temps dropped. I actually saw a Rosy red jump 3 inches out of the water to get a fly on the wall! Honestly, I did feed them! I am shocked and surprised by what people keep in their ponds!! I only ever kept Koi carp in a 14 ft sq pond which was 6ft deep and that was in England Apart from stoping the koi from eating the to my mind samll fish how do you see them?? or are we talking small shallow ponds that get wrapped up in the fall and started in June? I saw out door tropical ponds at Seaworld Florida and they were fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 I am shocked and surprised by what people keep in their ponds!! I only ever kept Koi carp in a 14 ft sq pond which was 6ft deep and that was in England Apart from stoping the koi from eating the to my mind samll fish how do you see them?? or are we talking small shallow ponds that get wrapped up in the fall and started in June? I saw out door tropical ponds at Seaworld Florida and they were fantastic They were brought in when temps started getting cold, I got most in at 17-18, but some eluded me until it was colder. It is a shallow pond, and no one was big enough to eat anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 My pond was only 800 gal. so not big/deep enough to run over winter. My Koi were <24" and for the most part didn't bother with the other fish. I had Rainbows, Rosy Barbs and Rosy Red minnows spawning and ended up bringing in more fish than I took out. My water was clear enough to be able to see the smaller fish from a bedroom window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkN Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 I have been thinking of starting a pond this year. What do you guys use for filtration??? Do you do water changes like you would inside? Thanks Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted March 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 Basically, a pond is an over sized aquarium. Unless you have a stream running through, or very large understocked pond, you still do maintenance. For filtration on my 800 gal. I used a pond pump intended for 1300 gal., larger would have been better. For a prefilter, I used a Laguna Power Flo Max expandable underwater filter. On the other side of the pump, I used an up flow style bog filtration. The water was pumped to the bottom of a large water tight box with the overflow going back into the pond as a water flue. The water filtered up through a layer of gravel then a layer of sand. I had the layer of sand several inches below the level of the over flow and put marginal plants in there. I only needed to clean the prefilter about weekly or as needed. I didn't worry about using pond water for that as there was plenty of other surface for biological filtration. I used the same filtration system for my 300 gal indoor pond just scaled down. How big a pond are you hoping to have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoiBoi07 Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 :thumbs: :thumbs: Koi survived the winter outside :thumbs: :thumbs: They've been really active and are back eating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrid Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 :thumbs: :thumbs: Koi survived the winter outside :thumbs: :thumbs: They've been really active and are back eating! good to hear koiboi... i was worried when I saw a 3foot snowdrift covering half your pond in january.. congrats,,, i'm looking forward to making the expansion with you this summer!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 :thumbs: :thumbs: Koi survived the winter outside :thumbs: :thumbs: They've been really active and are back eating! Well done! That is good to hear! :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemi Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 I kept a pleco in my 300 gal raised pond one summer and he was fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharuq1 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I wonder if those golden wonder killies they have at petsm@rt would work in a pond..... Has anyone tried it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I'm planning to build a waterfall/pond combo next year. I have the perfect landscape set-up with a fairly steep up slope in front of my back fence. I'm planning on using a Laguna 50gal spillway on top of the hill draining into the waterfall and then into a 250gal main pond at the bottom. None of these tropical or koi types of fish for me, get this....I know a guy who can get me trout. I'm planning on 2 or 3 six inch rainbow trout fingerlings. This guy I speak of has a 150gal aquarium set up 1 year ago with 2 rainbows in his basement and they're doing great. I don't see much of a problem keeping them in a natural setting outdoors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystal Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I'm planning to build a waterfall/pond combo next year. I have the perfect landscape set-up with a fairly steep up slope in front of my back fence. I'm planning on using a Laguna 50gal spillway on top of the hill draining into the waterfall and then into a 250gal main pond at the bottom. None of these tropical or koi types of fish for me, get this....I know a guy who can get me trout. I'm planning on 2 or 3 six inch rainbow trout fingerlings. This guy I speak of has a 150gal aquarium set up 1 year ago with 2 rainbows in his basement and they're doing great. I don't see much of a problem keeping them in a natural setting outdoors. Trout are becoming fairly popular. I know a number of places are stocking with rainbow trout, they survive our winters with few problems. They don't seem as prone to low O2 levels as goldfish, koi, or even perch. Some people enjoy the fall fish fry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted June 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 I'm planning to build a waterfall/pond combo next year. I have the perfect landscape set-up with a fairly steep up slope in front of my back fence. I'm planning on using a Laguna 50gal spillway on top of the hill draining into the waterfall and then into a 250gal main pond at the bottom. ... I don't see much of a problem keeping them in a natural setting outdoors. What are you planning to do come fall? Bring them indoors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted June 19, 2009 Report Share Posted June 19, 2009 Exactly what Crystal mentioned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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