Woos Garden

Your garden really does look inviting Woo and some of the warmth you've had this summer would be nice up here in the north west.

 

Wish I had a lovely shady spot like that woo! Enjoy it

 

You'll have to put a red beacon on the top of that sunflower soon.

 

Well you're not to far from it at the moment. Fingers crossed.

 

12ft??? good grief!

Your garden is really nice I like the pond. I'm going to skip through the previous pages to see if you've written anything about that. 51 pages is quite a long thread! It's nearly the length of a book

 

It's looking really good Woo. Fish? Don't forget the fake Heron to stand guard.

 

You've probably got this all sorted anyway but just to make sure... have the fish got everything they need?

Oxygen (via bubbler or fountain) In winter the surface can freeze and the gas exchange occurs at the surface. This needs to be melted or freezing prevented. Fish tend to be dormant over winter at a depth of about 2ft deep in still water.
Shade (they don't have eyelids remember)
Filter (to remove nitrites and nitrates. Frequent water changes are an acceptable alternative and makes good fertiliser)

Enough of all that jazz...

What type of fish have you (or rather Mrs Woo) bought?

 

@wiseowl I apologise for the length of this post. Best to cover everything and get it sorted in one go

Grab a cuppa and get comfy!

Firstly, you've got the shade there because of the lily pads. Fish have no eyelids and they protude from the body which means if they can't get out of the sun then they are essentially staring at the sun all day, regardless of what direcion they are facing. That's a common oversight for fishkeepers.

My advice would be to get an air bubbler, aka an aerator. They just pump air down a tube into an airstone which is sat on the bottom of the pond. The bubbles rise and then oxygen in the bubbles "soaks" into the pond water. It also causes a slight current in the pond water. You'll also get a nice bubbling sound too! The other benefit is that when the surface pond water starts to freeze, the place on the surface where bubbles are rising shouldn't freeze over (unless it's REALLY cold).

Here's a link to one:
(Admin please take these off the forum if not allowed)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hozelock-Po...1439460492&sr=1-4&keywords=small+pond+aerator

MAke sure you get one with the ability to control the power of the aerator. Too many bubbles and it will look like a hot tub, too few and it's pointless having one. 2 outputs probably isn't necessary for your pond but it's always nice to have the ability to add a second airstone to the pond later if you wanted.

You usually get a filter for ponds or fish tanks but goldfish are VERY messy (poo wise) and filters get bunged up more often than you'd care to imagine. I would avoid getting a small filter because it will be more hassle than it's worth. A big filter will overpower a small pond (and the filters tend to be about 2ft diameter to work properly... which will look a tad unsightly) and small ones just get bunged up.

Nearly done!

The thing that you need to remember then is that when you're feeding your fish, scoop out what they don't eat after 3 minutes. Any excess food simply rots and creates nitrites and nitrates (toxic to fish). You'll naturally get a build up of fish waste, rotting debris that falls into the pond and rotting excess food and these all create nitrites and nitrates. These need to be removed. You can do this by emptying out some of the water and refilling it with fresh water. The only issue is that fish poo sinks and you've got to suck it out of the bottom (of the pond... not the fish ). Plants will use SOME of the waste on the bottom of the pond but only a very small amount!

Remember to add DECHLORINATOR to tap water to make it fish safe. This neutralises the chlorine and chloramines in tap water, which cause goldfish problems if left in the pond. Chlorine will eventually evaporate into the air but chloramines stay in the water. Fish can get itchy/burny gills, eye problems and lots of other problems if these aren't removed from the water. I've seen a goldfish get a head tumor from chlorine and it swam sideways near the top. Adding dechlorinator to the water caused it to recover in 1 week. It does make a difference!

Overall:

• Aerator (with a pipe leading to the bottom of the pond)
• Filter not needed
• Dechlorinator to add to tap water (or a chlorine filter to add to hosepipe) or rainwater

P.S.

If you're wanting a fountain then check out solar water fountains. They work using sunlight. They do need full sun to work, but it cuts back on the electric costs for you.