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Update on the Garden Pond

May 15th, 2010

Last week I told you about the new pond we were adding to the garden. We’re quite excited about it and were waiting for the right time to fill it! I didn’t want to use city water and I wasn’t about to use the water from my rain barrels until I knew some rain was on it’s way. Last Friday night was the night, we were out at midnight emptying our rain barrels into the pond since a huge rain storm was coming. On Monday I went out to plant a waterlily in the pond and I spotted two toads already enjoying our new water feature! (more on planting a waterlily later).

When you live a half hour from everything, you always plan your errands on the same day to save time. Yesterday we decided to spend the day Holden Arboretum with my parents and figured we’d stop by the pet store on the way home to buy some gold fish for our little pond.

We didn’t want to invest in expensive koi, especially since these cheap feeder goldfish often do better. They will help control mosquitoes and provide some beauty in the pond. We’re hoping at least 3-5 of them survive (we bought 10), I’ll keep you updated.


We arrived home at sunset with just enough time to float them in the water for 30 minutes before setting them free. Of course it was too dark to take photos them. I can’t wait to check on them today!

Anyone else have experience with fish in a small garden pond? Anything new and exciting going on in your garden?

The Seed Starting 101 Series will resume next Monday.

12 Comments to “Update on the Garden Pond”
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by mark mile, Susy Morris. Susy Morris said: Update on the Garden Pond http://goo.gl/fb/SYrt1 #uncategorized #wildlife #gardenpond #newfish […]

    Reply to Tweets that mention Small Pond Fish | Chiot’s Run — Topsy.com's comment

  2. geeka on May 15, 2010 at 9:11 am

    I had plenty of fish in my garden ponds for a few years. The grackles did eat some of them, but there were 3-4 that lasted 3 years (we brought ours in during the winter).

    I too agree that the feeder fish work better than the expensive koi.

    We never had much luck with getting the frogs to stay, but we had a couple of apple snails that did wonders for the pond’s health.

    Reply to geeka's comment

  3. Alyse on May 15, 2010 at 9:30 am

    I’ve never had a garden pond but I have had those feeder goldfish. I bought a twenty gallon aquarium with my first paycheck from McDonald’s when I was a junior in high school. I read that it’s good to cycle your tank and get good bacteria and stuff with some inexpensive goldfish and then work your way up. I bought six .20cent feeder fish. I never got to work my way up to better fish because they lived for almost eight years! Quite hardy little creatures. :)
    .-= Alyse´s last blog ..Making Butter =-.

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  4. lee on May 15, 2010 at 11:35 am

    I have water lilies growing in two large containers and I thought it would be nice to have some gold fish in them but they didn’t last long. The raccoons or the opossums ate them all and wrecked havoc. At least the water lilies recovered after a while.

    Reply to lee's comment

  5. Amanda on May 15, 2010 at 11:50 am

    My husband uses the water from our home basement dehumidifier for the aquarium. The fish thrive!

    Reply to Amanda's comment

  6. MAYBELLINE on May 15, 2010 at 1:01 pm

    Where I live (Bakersfield, CA) water hyacinth is a menace. Please beware of this invasive plant that will choke out most anything and is the devil to get rid of.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Garlic =-.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

    • Susy on May 15, 2010 at 1:09 pm

      I don’t think they’ll be as invasive here, they don’t survive our cold winters.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  7. Ryan on May 16, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    Goldfish and koi are both trainable. They will learn the footsteps of who is coming to feed them. You can teach them tricks.

    We regularly add guppies or swordtails to the pond in the summer. These fish will do well and multiply all summer long, then in the fall take a few inside as they will die off with the cold.

    Garden ponds are also great places to try out some aquaculture and other advanced gardening techniques. http://www.fastonline.org/content/view/12/26/ though I have not had the chance to do that yet. For the next pond.

    Reply to Ryan's comment

  8. Ryan on May 16, 2010 at 9:50 pm

    Goldfish and koi are both trainable. They will learn the footsteps of who is coming to feed them. You can teach them tricks.

    We regularly add guppies or swordtails to the pond in the summer. These fish will do well and multiply all summer long, then in the fall take a few inside as they will die off with the cold.

    Garden ponds are also great places to try out some aquaculture http://www.fastonline.org/content/view/12/26/ though I have not had the chance to do that yet. For the next pond….

    Reply to Ryan's comment

  9. Laura on May 18, 2010 at 8:20 am

    My parents have a koi pond and started off with just a few Koi and a few goldfish. In just a few years, the goldfish overtook the pond…hundreds of them. I’d say that you’ll do just fine with ten for now. Good luck!

    Reply to Laura's comment

  10. Miranda on May 18, 2010 at 11:00 am

    Here’s mine! I sure hope it isn’t leaking, i hate to go through all this work only to have to take it apart and patch a leak. May be what i get for rushing into the project a little more quickly than i should have. I’d planned on testing for holes fore thoroughly, but got caught up in the excitement of plant shopping!
    .-= Miranda´s last blog ..My New Pondlet =-.

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  11. mamaraby on May 18, 2010 at 9:53 pm

    I love the pictures of the pond! How exciting!
    .-= mamaraby´s last blog ..Pretty Bird =-.

    Reply to mamaraby's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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