# Interesting Fish for a Pond



## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

About a month or so ago we moved into a lovely new home in the country which had a nicely sized pond on it. Currently it houses many frogs(and tadpoles)along with a very, very large what I believe to be a goldfish(WE call him Frank =3)and three small feeder goldfish I've just released into the pond. But my dad wants something else to put in there, something that will keep the bugs at bay and would be interesting to watch. Naturally I want Koi, but my dad wants something a bit more unique. Any suggestions?

Here is a picture of our pond by the way, I'll see if I can get more. OH and we also live up in northern WA state, to give you an idea of climate...


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I vote for koi too, they are just so beast.

After googling, you might consider Golden Orfes they are kinda like goldfish except they school and dart across the top of the water.They need good quality water though.


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## MBilyeu (Nov 25, 2008)

Try to find some of these: Freshwater Pond Fish for Water Gardens Mosquito fish


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks :3 I'll definitely look into the Golden Orfes, though not to sure about that one. The pond is....more natural them man made/not conditioned or cleaned and kept and whatnot. Perhaps I can convince my dad to get at least a couple Koi, I just love them personally x3

Hmm....those little guppyish ones might be too small, Frank will probably just eat them :/

My dad has informed me that he wants something like trout or perch xD Goodness knows why....but would something like those or similar be a possibility?


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## froglady (Apr 12, 2009)

hi Mbilyeu what kind of catfish is that in your avatar? hes pretty.


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## beweeb (May 18, 2008)

Chinese Hi Fin Banded Shark are cool


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Oooooh, I like that suggestion. Must research....


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## MBilyeu (Nov 25, 2008)

froglady said:


> hi Mbilyeu what kind of catfish is that in your avatar? hes pretty.


Syno Decorus, AKA Clown Catfish. I want another one, my pleco killed him. I have since gotten rid of the pleco.


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## MBilyeu (Nov 25, 2008)

DragonFish said:


> My dad has informed me that he wants something like trout or perch xD Goodness knows why....but would something like those or similar be a possibility?


Not sure about perch, but trout is a maybe. Depending on how big the pond is, would really be the defining factor. Trout really are schooling fish and can reach almost 2ft in length. From the picture is doesn't look like the pond is big enough for 5-10 trout, but you could always try 1 or 2 and see if they stay alive. If I were you, I would catch whatever I could at a local lake, and then put them in your pond. See what will stay alive.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

MBilyeu said:


> Syno Decorus, AKA Clown Catfish. I want another one, my pleco killed him. I have since gotten rid of the pleco.


What kind of pleco? Just curious...

Dragonfish- what a great sized pond. I wish I could have one that large!


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

DragonFish said:


> My dad has informed me that he wants something like trout or perch xD Goodness knows why....but would something like those or similar be a possibility?


Lul, does your dad happen to like fishing, I bet he wants his own personal trout lake.


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## MBilyeu (Nov 25, 2008)

aunt kymmie said:


> What kind of pleco? Just curious...


A common pleco, and I should have taken him out before I put the syno in, but I thought that he would survive a couple days no problem. The day before I was to take the pleco to my parents house, he ripped apart the syno, as plecos are well known to do. Well there was $30 down the drain.


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

MBilyeu said:


> Not sure about perch, but trout is a maybe. Depending on how big the pond is, would really be the defining factor. Trout really are schooling fish and can reach almost 2ft in length. From the picture is doesn't look like the pond is big enough for 5-10 trout, but you could always try 1 or 2 and see if they stay alive. If I were you, I would catch whatever I could at a local lake, and then put them in your pond. See what will stay alive.


Well the pond is roughly about 30'x30' and the depth ranges from around 5'5" to 2', I'd assume thats big enough for about five+ or so =3 Frank I'd estimate at around 20" and he seems to look rather small when sitting at the bottom xD



aunt kymmie said:


> Dragonfish- what a great sized pond. I wish I could have one that large!


xD Thanks ;3 I'm rather fond of it^^



IonBaller07 said:


> Lul, does your dad happen to like fishing, I bet he wants his own personal trout lake.


xDDD I bet thats it, hes a big fishing fan ;3


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## redpaulhus (Jul 6, 2008)

How deep is it ?
Any filtration system ?
Any oxygenation system ?
Is it shaded or in direct sunlight ?
Any pond plants ?

Offhand - without a seriously large filter system, or some tremendous depth (ie a huge water volume) - I suspect that that pond won't support koi well or for long.
A pond without a filter system of some sort (biological or vegetative) is basically one big fishbowl - and koi are tremendously messy. 
Even 3 or 4 adult goldfish will probably severely tax the water quality of a pond that size if it doesn't have a filter.
If it gets some halfway decent sun, you'll have green soup and have trouble seeing your fish.

I would check your area yellow pages (or google) for pond supply shops (or aquarium shops that do alot of pond business) - different fish are legal (or illegal) in different states, and they'll know what a) is legal and b) will survive thru the winter (this will depend alot on the pond depth).

In my area, I usually recommend the pond be at least 3ft deep if koi and goldfish are going to overwinter in the pond. I've had a number of customers over the past 10+ years who "got by" with 18-24" deep, until a bad winter a few years ago killed everything in pretty much all of the ponds shallower than 36" (and killed some fish in poorly maintained deeper ponds too).

Bare minimum I would add before adding koi would be a large biofilter (commercial or home-made) and an oxygenating water feature (waterfall, fountain, etc). I would also invest in the proper hardware for performing water changes - contrary to popular misconception, ponds need water changes just like aquariums, especially with koi. Other optional add-ons - UV sterilizers, bio-bead or sand filters, etc - would increase the odds of seeing the fish in the summer.

I would never ever ever recommend gambusia - "mosquito fish" for anything - they really don't eat many mosquito's, and they are a nasty little invasive species in many sub-tropical climes where they were introduced to eat mosquito's and proceeded to eat the native fish that were doing a better job on the mosquito's already.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Why does the pond look unlined to me? No pond liners and simply mud? I would not bother putting any fish in there at all unless it is lined and operated with heavy filtration system.


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## fish999 (Nov 11, 2009)

Mosquito fish and tilapia... you can eat tilapia grown in a pond.


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## finsNfur (May 4, 2008)

ITA with Redpaulhus and Lupin. You need some kind of filtration for the pond. And during a draught, without a liner, your pond could entirely dry up. If the OP doesn't intend to add any kiind of filtration, his options are really limited. I wouldn't begin to consider any kind of large fish like koi or trout to the pond as is. And even with proper filtration and a liner, I don't think it's big enough for several trout or koi. There are beautiful, multi-colored varieties of hardy goldfish though, I have some really pretty sarassas goldfish in my pond.


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