# Pond



## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

There is a chance I may be allowed to build a pond at the house we may be moving to, but this is all just the information gathering stage. If we move, I'll be cutting down on Betta tanks to two or three instead of five, so my mum said a pond would be nice and I might be allowed to build one. I would be putting goldfish in this pond, and I just need to ask some questions to all goldfish lovers.

The woman at the stores said for goldfish to remain in the pond over winter, it must be 3ft deep. But she also said it would be 15 square feet, the one I was thinking of doing.

Questions:
How many goldfish can the pond said above hold? 
Is this information correct, that the goldfish can survive over the winter in that deep of a pond?
If not, how deep must it be?
Can I combine Shubunkins and Comets in a pond?
The woman said that if I put in a lot of plants and an aerator and clean it yearly, a filter is unnecessary. Is she correct?
If everything she had told me is wrong, what plan of action do you suggest I take?

Thanks to all who answer!


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

That woman actually seems to know a bit about ponds and goldfish. Although depending on how deep the freezes go into the ground where you are I'd make it deeper. You'll need to look into your hardiness zone (it's normally used for plants but can also translate to ponds) and see what others recommend for pond depth in your zone. The US Department of Agriculture produces one for us, and the Canadian govt also does the same for you. 

Your pond is going to be roughly 330 gallons which is enough for about 5 single-tail goldfish. Shubunkins and comets can be combined without worry as they are both single-tail goldfish. It's the fancies that you shouldn't combine with single-tails. But frankly I'd make the surface area of the pond a little larger. Surface area has almost as much to do with stocking as volume does. Oxygen diffuses through the surface area and while plants help, you don't want to cut something like that close. I would say double the surface area at least. You don't have to make the whole thing 3 feet deep. Most ponds are composed of tiers with the deepest being a small-ish area in the middle where the fish overwinter. 

While an aerator and lotta plants will help I still think a filter is necessary. Plants don't grow in the winter and won't assimilate nutrients and keep the water clean. A filter will at least be moving to remove particles from the water. Look into a waterfall filter as they are beautiful and practical. You may also need to use an aerator in the winter to keep the pond from freezing.


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## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

Thank you so much for all of the information! My mother has agreed to help me find this, and said that if I wanted to make it a little larger that would be fine. Do you think possibly 6x4 feet in surface area, a portion 3.5 feet deep and the rest 1-2 feet deep would be okay? I'll look into the waterfall filters, see what this place offers- I spoke to someone who used to work there, and they said the filters there sell for anywhere from 200-800 bucks. Is that appropriate? Since we'd be moving and going to an open house outside of my town, I'll ask tomorrow about the hardiness zone of the specific house.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

That is sounding like a better plan. You might even have to make it deeper depending on the hardiness zone. Did you find out what hardiness zone you are in? 

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I'm in vacation at the beach and internet is scarce.


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## Elsewhere (Dec 30, 2012)

No problem at all! Well, we lost one house we were looking at, but it turns out that our other option has a pond already. A tiny one, but it has a large filtration system the owners are leaving behind, so the filter is all good! I asked my dad, and he said he had no clue about hardiness. I'm going to ask someone as our municipality building tomorrow, as the website they have also said nothing. Though I did find out our average footage of ice freezing- 1.5 feet in the bay.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I've been away on vacation with limited internet access. 

... That's a pretty deep freezing depth. Let me know what you find out. It sounds like any pond to survive the winter will need to be pretty deep.


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