Ponds

How to protect your goldfish pond from invasive plants

by
Cartoon of a plant chasing a goldfish

This is a guest post from Ricky at swallowaquatics.co.uk. 

Remember how Seymour thought Audrey II was the most amazing plant he’d ever found in Little Shop of Horrors?

If you haven’t seen the film, spoiler alert – the plant starts eating everyone.

Of course, it’s unlikely that invasive plants in your goldfish pond are likely to commit murder! But they could be harmful to your other plants, taking over the living space and restricting their ability to grow and feed.

So, how do you keep these nasties out of your pond?

Read more

How to Add Goldfish to a Pond

by
Fish knocking on door with briefcase in hand

When you have finally reached the stage where you are ready to add goldfish to your pond, it can be very tempting to rush out and buy a large selection of fish immediately! However, it’s important to handle the introduction of your goldfish slowly to avoid placing too much of a strain on the natural … Read more

Decorating a Goldfish Pond

by
Two cartoon goldfish carrying a plant

Once your pond is built and watertight, you can start adding the goldfish pond equipment, fixtures and eventually, live plants! It may prove helpful to only half-fill your pond with water until after you have situated your decorations and fittings, in order to provide easier access to the bottom of the pond and allow you … Read more

How to Build a Goldfish Pond

by
Cartoon goldfish reading a ponds for dummies for ponds manual

Exactly how you go about setting up and building your goldfish pond will depend upon what type of pond you have chosen to construct; however, the order in which you go about things will be roughly the same regardless. Once you have decided upon your pond’s location, size and type, follow our step-by-step guide to … Read more

What equipment do you need for a goldfish pond?

by
Cartoon goldfish putting equipment up on a high shelf

Running a pond can vary in levels of maintenance, depending on the type of pond and its inhabitants. However, any successful pond requires key pieces of equipment.  There is much more to keeping the occupants of a goldfish pond happy, healthy and thriving than just adding water, plants and food! Vital equipment such as filters … Read more

Goldfish Pond Size: Choosing a goldfish pond size

by
Two cartoon fish measuring pond size

When constructing the goldfish pond, you need to choose what size you want the pond to be. 

There are certain size constraints you should definitely abide by, such as depth of at least 3ft to prevent freezing and having a large surface area to provide better gaseous exchange within the water body.

However, the length and width can vary depending on a few things, these include: 

  • Amount of goldfish
  • Filtration size
  • Cost of running and setting up
  • What breeds of goldfish you want to keep
  • Maintenance

The volume of water is just as important as the space provided for your goldfish, as the amount of water a pond can hold contributes to its water quality. 

A pond with a relatively low volume of water means that it will become polluted with nitrogenous waste much faster.

Contrary to what some may think, more water actually means less maintenance not more, as it takes much longer for water quality to deteriorate in a larger volume.

This makes calculating the volume of water in your pond important in deciding how many fish you want to keep, as more fish means more food, more waste and more ammonia.

Read more

The Different Types of Goldfish Ponds

by
Two cartoon fish pointing at different goldfish ponds

Once you know where you want to place your pond, it is time to decide what type of pond you would like to build or place there. Remember, the location you choose can add restrictions on the type of pond and what fish you want to keep in there.

The various types of ponds can be distinguished by the way they are structured, the use of materials, shape and size, function and design taste.

Every pond is different; however, the most common types of ponds follow the same rules and methods of ensuring they are secure and safe to house fish.

Read more