# pond novice



## uru (18 Mar 2014)

Hello. I have a small pond in my garden with a small solar powered pump. I was planning to eventually have some plants and maybe a goldfish in it, but then I rescued 2 goldfish from a friends house (there were 6 goldfish in 30l fish tank). there is nothing in the pond at the moment apart few stones and the fish. I just ordered few Elodea crispa plants from e-bay. I have a couple of basic questions: what food should I get for the fish? Do I need to add any gravel or soil to the pond? Will my little solar pump provide enough circulation?


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## foxfish (19 Mar 2014)

I would get a lily to offer some security for the fish, keep the lily in a big pot & replant it every year with fresh soil.
Use a mix of pond soil and gravel in the pot, when you lift the pot in the winter, cut back the roots to keep the lily compact.
It depends on the size of the pond as to the need for filters ad pmps but a permanently running electric small pump would be a lot better than a solar pump! 
Goldfish have a tendency to multiply, so beware .....


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## allan angus (19 Mar 2014)

problem with solar is at night when the temp is high in summer a little more oxegen is good foxfish advice looks good 2 me


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## uru (19 Mar 2014)

Thank you for your replies. Will try to get water lily today. The solar battery has spare chargeable battery so pump stays on almost all night. I don't have possibility to get electricity down there. The fishes tend to stay on the bottom of the pond and didn't come up even when I put food in this morning. Is this normal?  At the moment I use just a aquarium gold fish flakes. Is there any food you would recommend? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## martin-green (19 Mar 2014)

Hi, what are the dimensions of that pond and how big are the fish? (Hold on, with the water lilly)


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## uru (20 Mar 2014)

martin-green said:


> Hi, what are the dimensions of that pond and how big are the fish? (Hold on, with the water lilly)


Hi martin, the measurements of the pond is 55inch long and 48inch wide. the deepest place is 20inch. it looks quite small in the picture. the gold fishes are almost 3inches long. I have got water lily yesterday from lfs.[DOUBLEPOST=1395316227][/DOUBLEPOST]What is the best way to count volume of the pond?


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## Andy Thurston (20 Mar 2014)

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/calculators/pondvolumecalc
http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/calculators/irregular-pond-volume
These might help


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## martin-green (20 Mar 2014)

I figure its about 190 gallons, but it is tad on the shallow side. I am not a believer in "pond balance" (a whole different subject) I would say it has recently been filled, give it a few weeks and it will be like pea soup and it will require filtration otherwise the fish will die.


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