Another question of balance about adding fish and water plants to the garden pond

Assuming that you have been well informed and that the pool has been planted with the right number of just the sort of plants that wont get out of control in less than 12 weeks what next? Time for the fish?

If you have waited 3 weeks and the water is nicely mature and things are beginning to move, then the time is ripe. You havent? Then you must wait at least three days, and treat the pool with a Pool Conditioner or add a couple of gallons of water from a mature balanced pond in the neighbourhood.

Goldfish ready for sale, but is your pond ready for them?

When the time comes, add them at only two or three at a time. In fact regard the first as pioneers. Dont put all your hopes into their survival, so dont put the best and nicest fish you have come across in the whole of your life in there. These fish need to be there so that the cycle of life and minerals that works in harmony with the metabolism of the fish gets underway. Essentially it is fish faeces that are required and this will kick start the nitrogen cycle into action, so as the process of it being broken down by bacteria to relatively harmless plant food, so this will begin to able to thrive in the pond water.

Adding fish to ht pond: the rules

Float them for 15 minutes inside a plastic bag in the pool whilst the temperature of the water in the bag adjusts to the pool temperature. If you roll down the top of the bag, this acts as a float and whilst it is there add a several small cups full of pool water to let the occupants get used to the new water chemistry.

The rule of thumb with fish is that with a pool at least half a metre deep you must allow two inches of fish per square foot of surface area. This adds up to a half a metre, nose to tail tip, per square metre. If you feed them, only feed them what they can consume in the minute or two that you are watching them. Too many fish with too much food and fish waste will mean you will soon be looking for a biological filter system.

So, with two inches of fish per square foot of surface area of the pool, you will be looking at two thirds of the pool covered with plant life.

What? You only get to see the fish a third of the time?

Hey, its better than not seeing them at all! Any less plant life and you are looking for a biological filter system again, which is a turbo version of the bottom of the pool and thats all lot more money to be spent (See filtration).

If koi carp are what you intend to keep the you will need all the help you can get with the balancing act; the only recourse is technology. Get a biological filter system complete with U/V clarifier.

 If Koi carp take your fancy then U/V clarifiers and an effective filtration system may be essential.

For more fish trouble shooting see WATER PROBLEMS RELATED TO FISH