Hi, everyone. My condo neighbors and I have set up a small pond in the back patio of our place and I want some feedback/thoughts from you guys. It was a super cheap deal so we decided to give it a shot. We got a 50 gallon circular tub style pond with 3 ledges below the water line to place potted water plants and a small pump for a vertical water fountain. It was only $17 on sale so we couldn't resist.
We have one potted water plant in there so far, don't know the name but it consists of tall thin stems that end in a large dandelion puff shaped bit. Heh. Cruddy description. I'll try and get a pic up tonight. And I also threw in 2 bunches of my tank clippings: elodea, rotalla, duckweed and other assorted bits. I also have some java moss that I need to trim but wasn't sure if it would be good to put in.
It's going to be located in our shaded courtyard so there won't be much, if any, direct sunlight. We live in Chicago, and it gets anywhere from 65 degrees F at night and it'll hit 90 degrees this week. The plan is to move it into our boiler room during the winter with a timer light to keep the plants alive.
I was thinking of just putting schultz aquatic soil on the bottom and the potted plants will provide nutrients by leaching out into the water. So, sort of a el natural style? Any suggestions on plant types or if this will work?
We were initially thinking of putting a couple cheapo feeder fish in there since they are strong but they might grow too large. Our next thought was to put some of my red fire guppies in there since I have so many and I was going to put the "deformed" ones into the pond. This would kinda help me as well since no one will adopt the "hunchbacks" and I can't bring myself to euthanising the critters just cuz they have a lil bit of crooked spine. Do you think the guppies will survive in these conditions? My tank is currently 78-80 degrees.
What else should I do to prepare them to acclimate to the new pond?
Any suggestions on pond mates?
This pond sounds great. Ledges for different size pots. Nice touch! I wouldn't put soil on the bottom; its unnecessary, especially if you have potted and floating plants. The fish will be easier to catch, and the pond more easily moved without a soil layer.
I've raised many juvenile guppies to adulthood in summer ponds. They usually do well until the water temperature consistently goes below 70F. If you get a plastic cover, you can extend the time outdoors.
I would definitely put the hunchbacked guppies into the pond. They will never "unhunch", and they may have Fish TB that could be slowly transmitted to the other fish in your tank. [P.S. I think its just about impossible to keep guppies without eventually having to euthanize some from time-to-time. You just can't keep them all, and hunchbacked ones could threaten the other fish. There are methods (Alka Seltzer, anesthetics, letting water gradually chill?) that don't seem to cause the fish pain.]
As to plants, the sky's the limit! Try any aquarium plant along with the Elodea, hornwort, Houseplants, floating plants (Frogbit, Water Sprite, etc). Definitely throw in the Java Moss. Water Hyacinth will need several hours of full sun to do well. But anything you can grow in the aquarium is worth trying outdoors.
Good luck!
