What creatures for pond?

[Querorz]

Gi guys. We have a little garden pool(1000 gallons)

There were some fly larvaes and water bugs(backswimmers) in it. To eliminate larvaes, i brought some mosquito fishes. Then , i couldn't stop my self and i added some goldfishes and kois in it.

I love having a balanced nature in the water. What i mean is that , i want to have a pond that has a life with it without needing my intervention ( without feeding fishes or cleaning the pond ) . I want to have a messy but lifeful pond.


So, i started to research about it. I found that aquatic plants would help, and so i added some java moss in it.

I want to add some other creatures in it such as daphnias, shrimps and some other water bugs ( backswimmers ) . But i have a doubt about that. How will i know if these creatures will have a chance to be a resident of my pond or they will be dinner to my fishes right after i add them in the water?


I also want to add other plants, such as water lilly.

Would you please help me? What animals or plants can i have in my pond? It would be great if you gave me a link or e-book telling about that widely.

Thank you very much.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

First off, while you have good intentions, your idea will not work. You cannot create a self-contained environment that will be self-cleaning and self feeding. Ponds in nature work from a huge ecosystem, not just from one little area. You might have had a chance at a stable environment with the mosquito fish, but since you added goldfish and koi to your pond, there is just no way. Koi can get up to three feet (just under a meter) in length... Consider how much food each one is going to eat, and then how much waste it will put out!

Regarding daphnia, shrimp, and insects... YES they will quickly become fish food. Just allow nature to supply her own source of insects. Flies and mosquitoes will buzz around your pond, and your fish will happily snatch them off the surface, or eat the larvae when they try to hatch. The goldfish and koi will also munch on plant roots, but they still need additional food to keep them happy.

You haven't mentioned anything about pumps and filtration, so let me just point out that these are a requirement. You want to keep the water moving, otherwise it will become a stagnant pit of stench. Your filtration needs to be large enough to handle the number of fish you have, so it might be helpful to tell us a bit about what you have in place now.

Plants... I love plants! Plants do all kinds of wonderful things for a pond. The first thing you need to consider is your climate. Do you have hard freezes in the Winter? Mild weather? Are you tropical? This will determine the types of plants that can remain in your pond and continue to grow year after year. Water lilies and irises are great, and there are many varieties of both that can handle hard Winters. There are various grasses and rushes that can grow in shallow water or right around the edge of your pond. And of course many types of flowering plants that will attract more insects.

There are other considerations as well... How will various plants work together? For instance, I live in a nearly desert climate, but I found that certain ground-cover plants hold moisture in the soil, allowing me to grow strawberries next to my pond. There are some plants that your fish will tear up trying to eat, while other plants they won't even touch. And remember that there are predators that want to eat your fish, so having a good cover of plants helps protect them, but also makes it harder for you to see them.

And finally, don't just consider what to put in your pond, but also what might go around it. Many people enjoy having frogs, but they also eat your insect population. You can't have turtles because they will eat your fish. You want to consider everything you add to your pond, and what affects it will have on the life that is already there.

Hope that helps?

 

[Querorz]

Thank you very much sir. You helped a lot. Now , i will try to answer your questions.

Firstly you told me to let nature supply its own preys for fishes. I see lots of dead bugs in the water. But there is one thing i don't get at all. There are some backswimmers in my pond. How did they come to my pond? There is no way for that , i think. Hope they will be a good food for my fish.

As i told you before. I will have my pond as natural as possible. I won't use any filtration. I won't interfere. I will use common duckweed in my pond which provides a great biologic filtration. As long as nitrogen cycle is maintained, i don't think an unhealthy place my pond is gonna be for my fish. I live in Turkey. We have a pretty dry weather. Not much rain. I guess duckweed will do all right.

I would like lillies but they have roots but there is no sand or soil at the bottom of my pond. Oh yeah. I should ask that too. Should i need to add sand or soil in my pond? Will it do any good?

 

[addy1]

I would not put sand or soil on the bottom of the pond, it collects a lot of muck. The lilies can be weighted down with a rock or put into a pot (I use oil pans, shallow wide pans with clay (kitty litter))

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I think a lot of insects ride in on the feathers of birds visiting your pond.

You say you're going to leave your pond all-natural... Do you at least have a pump to keep the water moving? Read again what I said before... Your "pond" is not natural... What you have is a hole filled with water. Look around in nature for something similar, and what you find are mud puddles that smell of decay. In nature, a living pond has a constant source of fresh water coming in from a river. Do you have a clean stream of water feeding your pond? If not, then you must simulate what nature does... You must have a pump moving the water around, and you must have some kind of filtration to get rid of the waste. If you don't do this, most of your fish will die, and any that do survive will be unhealthy and unhappy. How would you feel if you had to swim around in your own toilet bowl?

Before you run off thinking that filtration is 'unnatural', consider the common options used by the rest of us... 1) A skippy-style filter which relies on natural bacteria to facilitate the nitrogen cycle and break down the waste. 2) A bog filter which uses a combination of bacteria and plants to create the nitrogen cycle and break down waste.

By using a filtration system, we are not making our ponds less natural... We are just reproducing in a very small area what nature is able to do in a much larger area. Nature provides her own filtration system too, its just not as obvious.

It bears repeating, so I'm going to say it again -- By NOT using a filtration system on your pond, you are creating an unnatural pond which is doomed to fail. If you want your pond to be as natural as possible, you have to supply everything that is found in a natural pond, including the things you don't see. That means supplying a constant source of clean water that keeps your pond moving.

 

[Nepen]

I think something like a bog filtration might be good option for you to have a feel of nature as possible, and more area to add lots of plants!!!!!!

A bog is a shallow pond/place with lots of plant that water run through - you pump the water to run through it before it goes back to the pond. there more to it but that's all I can explain lol

 

[Querorz]

Ty very much for your attention guys.

I started a research about filters and especially bog filters. I still can't promise that i will have a filter but i will try .

I bought some plants for my pond yesterday. I couldn't find water lilles but soon i will.

 

[Souper09]

I would have to agree with shdwdrgn on the pond filter and some kind of way to aerate the water.

I've only been at this four months and have a pond that is about 1200 us gallons, I have three koi, two fan tails and two comets.

I've been feeding these guys daily since the weather warmed up, and they doubled in size.

I've added three lilies and a number of water plants to the pond, it is great shape and blooming like crazy! The plants cover about 40% of the surface water. I consider it a natural pond even if I'm checking the pH and controlling algae.

I've read a lot of information on ponds and fish and the balance of your own ecosystem and the work you do to make all of them work together, there will be things(wildlife) attached to pond that you don't even need add, frogs and turtles just show up.

Good luck with you pond, they can be really relaxing especially if you put in a water fall for aeration and the sound.

Cheers
Mark

 

[Querorz]

Souper, ty very much.