The Fish

well Lemmy is wondering whats going on. No one is going down to feed the fish so no sneeky fish food for him to pick up when anyone drops some. The fish have stopped eating now. In the summer months from about April to October/November when it starts to get cold the fish eat about 4 times a day and this is when they grow. In the winter time they will only eat about once a week because they practicaly hibernate. Their motabolism and movement slows to keep them through the cold weather. They have a floating food that sits on the top of the pond and they come up to eat sometimes jumping out of the water but in the winter they stick closer to the bottom of the pond so they need a food that will sink. We have a heating stick that goes in the water. It is not to heat the water it is to keep a hole in any ice that forms so that the air still gets in but the water fall does this trick as well. Pete loves to go watch the fish and Lemmy goes with him. He has never tried jumping in though cos he doesnt like water passed his knees LOL

what fish do you have ?

we have some koi carp common carp and gold fish. we got them when they were about 2 inches and now some of them are massive. we lost some on the way figuring out the pond and all the maintenance and stuff but pete and matthew are quite good now. we had some frogs in the summer that spawned and the fish ate some tadpoles and some spawn but lots survived so god knows how many frogs are coming and going now.

i have some koi and some other fish they have breed ths year as we have got around 20 babies at one point they were the size of rice but i saw one a week or so ago and he was a good size so hopefully they not all been eaten!

aw bet that was good to see. its great to know if theyre breeding your pond is healthy then bet you were excited. do you put actual barley straw in to keep the blanket weed at bay or the liquid stuff. pete puts in bactual bunches of barley straw and he got some pond snails as well.

Well thats me fish educated

I've always wanted them but have never gone through with it.

janey wrote:
Well thats me fish educated

same here

That is cool, have you got that set up in the backyard Julie?

Its relaxing watching them. Pete spends hours down there.
We have it at the bottom of the garden.
It's not easy or cheap to set up but looks nice and the stream and bit of a water fall sounds lovely and relaxing while your sat outside.
The stream comes down the side of the decking with a small waterfall into the pond that goes under the bridge and along a bit. its about 8 feet long 4 feet wide and the deepest is 4 feet. Matthew bought a sunken submarine for it.
It took them a while to make it but they loved it. It was good watching them work together in peace without arguing

Oh wow

Wish I had something like that in my backyard.

Lemmy drinks out of it he's too lazey to walk back to the house

_julie_ wrote:Lemmy drinks out of it he's too lazey to walk back to the house

If I was dog, I'd be jumping in

no he doesnt like water if it goes passed his knees. even on the beach he only goes in up to his ankles.

impressive pond if i can find some pics of my big boy koi carp ill post them he was huge.

My Dad used to keep Koi Carp, when we all lived at home, in a large pond in our garden. It was great as a kid seeing them grow up. Sadly though a local heron decided they were on his menu. That was the end of it really once he started to visit. We did put netting over the pond after that but never did replace the fish. They are quite expensive bird food. A lovely way to relax is watching fish swimming. Brings back many happy memories for me.

cheeky herons. we have had the odd cat checking it out but now we have lemmy he see's them off

the heron attacked our pond and got one fish who he then dropped but we think he caused brain damage as the fish wasnt right after that plus he would poo out the side of his body, he got nicknamed nemo but died in the summer.

That pond is great, your garden is lovely! I'd love a pond but after I fell in as a kid in my grandmother's pond, I wouldn't have one with the children so young! So we have 2 tropical fish tanks and my little girl has a goldfish tank.
The other problem with ponds is frogs, I have a massive phobia of frogs thanks to my brother who used to sling them at me with a tennis racket