Birds, and introducing new fish to an existing pond .... good FAQ's posed by Sergio today
Hi there Tony, I subscribe to you gazette and I have also purchased one of you books, and I must say that you always provide very useful information and tips. Keep it up, being an amateur pond & fish owner I find your words of wisdom extremely valuable. There is just a few questions I would like to ask you:
I have a very large pond in my back garden, it's in the perfect spot - middle of the garden, lots of sun and it blends in beautifully with the natural rock. I started off with about 12 goldfish and I now have 4 left, because the rest were eaten by birds in about 1 day. I have subsequently put a net over the pond to protect the remaining 4 and they have grown to be a very good size. Some of my guests have even commented on how beautiful my "koi" are looking - little do they know. I have a spectacular waterfall and I have recently cleaned all the pipe work and built [I'm an Engineer] a mechanical / bio filter using a lot of the information which you have provided. The water is clear and the fish are as energetic as ever - it looks great.
My question is: Can I introduce more fish into the pond or will the existing fish terrorize them? The pond is big and these 4 fish are dwarfed in all that water. I suppose I could wait and see if the have little ones, but that might never happen.
Yes you can easily add new fish with little chance of other goldfish becoming too upset. Of importance when adding new fish is to acclimatize the new fish to new water condition by slowly mixing pond water into bag (or whatever other means is used to transport the fish home). This will also help the temperature of the water to even out. Do not add too many all at once. Little ones will come along .... the danger is that the eggs are eaten by the fish in the pond (they are cannibals) and there needs to be somewhere for the hatchlings to hide. This is good reason to add plants to the pond as you mention below.
I would also like to introduce some aquatic plants [lilies and bog plants] but I'm scared that I will contaminate the pond more than enhance it.
My question is: Is there a website or a nursery in Gauteng that could provide me with valuable information on how to introduce plants to my pond, as well as, which plants to introduce? I have searched the internet, but I get a lot of American and European sites that promote plants indigenous to their continent.
You should add plants for many reasons ... just do it properly. Go to http://www.garden-pond-plants.com As far as Gauteng garden centres are concerned most are very poor as far as aquatic plants are concerned and you need to ring around a bit
I have another small pond in my front garden. Unlike the pond in the back garden, this small pond gets no sunlight. The previous owner built this pond in the bottom corner of my front garden. I haven't done anything to this pond except to waterproof it and fill it with water.
My question is: Will it be worth my while to introduce fish to this smaller pond and if so, is there some type of fish which will be better adaptable to a colder environment? I have been told that Goldfish are more robust than Koi and that they should do well in this environment - what do you think? I have thought of moving the 4 fish that I have in the back pond to the front and then getting new fish for the back pond, but I'm scared that a change in environment will kill my 4 fish.
Goldfish are very hardy .... but THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT before introducing large fish to a new pond that has never had fish you need to get biofilter working. You do this by adding what are often referred to as "kamikaze" fish to the new pond. These fish provide the nutrients that allow the biofilter to start working. Any fish can be used for this purpose including goldfish which are so hardy they will do OK while biofilter is building up capacity
I have been advised by a friend of mine who has a Koi pond that I should through coarse salt into the pond every now and then. He claims that this helps the fish and kills unwanted bacteria in the pond.
My question is: What do think of this?
No do not do it .... unnecessary. Search this site for info on salt in ponds
I'm thanking you advance for taking the time to read my e-mail and I eagerly await your reply.
Regards
Sergio Coelho
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