Topic: Starting brand new pond

[wetandcold]

Hi,

I've just finished my new pond - hurray! We lined it and filled it with tap water today after many days of hard work in the rain...

I have read conflicting ideas about starting a new pond off with a few handfuls of sediment from another pond - does anyone have any experience of doing this? I am slightly worried about introducing something nasty...

Is there anything else I should think about doing to help the 'pond-ecosystem' get a kick start?

Many thanks,

[Doris_Pinks]

Over the years I have built a pond in every house we have lived in.
That's erm.............4 I think!  I have always added a bucket of water from my Mum's very healthy pond. (Built that one too come to think of it!)

Never added the sediment tho, as would be worried that it would be decomposing stuff in there.

With this last one built last January/February, I got plants in as soon as I could, to get it going, oxygenators too. Though at this time of the year the marginals look a bit sparse.

If you want to add fish wait six weeks until the plants are established.

I am sure someone more knowledgeable will be along to help!

DP

[Margaret]

Is it going to be a wildlife pond or a fish pond? If the former then yes,a bucket of water from an established and healthy nature pond would give you some insects to colonise it,plus beg a few pond snails too!!Other insects will soon arrive as if by magic.

However if a fish pond then when you have the filter set up ,get some bacterial filter feed for it to start the biological process.However i would wait until it gets a little warmer and don't think about adding pond plants until end feb or march,and fish end march,april time.

[wetandcold]

Thanks Margret and Doris,

The pond is not going to have any fish (well, I'm not going to put any in myself but if a rogue egg gets transferred from next door...).

One of my neighbours has a lovely pond so I will ask if I can have a bucket of water - with all the rain recently I am sure he won't notice!

I already have my plants on back-order and they should be delivered in March hopefully.

[RW]

9 years ago I started a pond and put a bucket of water in it from a river. There is still one river fish (of originally 3) in it from this bucket.

The fish is about 10cm long and crawls along the bottom - looks like a kind of catfish - anyone any idea what it is?

[BoardStupid]

9 years ago I started a pond and put a bucket of water in it from a river. There is still one river fish (of originally 3) in it from this bucket.

The fish is about 10cm long and crawls along the bottom - looks like a kind of catfish - anyone any idea what it is?

It sounds to me like either ...

A Gudgeon



or a Stone Loach

[GrannieAnnie]

Channel Catfish can survive northern cold winters.
I'd post a picture of our pond if I could learn how. Where on the forum do I find the instructions, please? Or guess I could just use photobucket.com.

[RW]

Thanks BS

It looks like the Stone Loach

The fish is quite tame as well - sometimes I can catch it by just putting my hand underneath it.