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A Goldfish pond adds beauty to any garden
Ruwini Jayawardana
Goldfish ponds are a beautiful addition to any garden and a stunning
focal point. Goldfish ponds have been admired in Asia for centuries,
especially in China and Japan. Today, you will find goldfish ponds all
over the world, including Europe and North America.
Goldfish can be kept in ponds as well as in aboveground pools. It is
recommended to plant your pond/pool since goldfish will feel much safer
in a planted environment. It will also be able to hide among the plants
in order to avoid predators.
A lot of animals like to chase and eat goldfish, including cats,
birds and raccoons. Sometimes plants are not enough to guard your fish
and you will be forced to cover the pond with netting during the night.
In an above ground pool with straight sides, the predators will be
unable to wade in and must instead perch themselves at the edge of the
pool when looking for prey. This will usually be noticed by your
Goldfish and it can seek shelter deep down in the pool.
A planted goldfish pond is easier to maintain since the plants will
aid you in keeping up the water quality. Live plants can use organic
compounds excreted by fish as nutrition.
This means that the organic waste will be absorbed by the plant
instead of staying in the water and polluting it. Live plants will also
inhibit algae growth since plants and algae compete for the same
nutrients. If you still experience excess algae growth, you might be
feeding your Goldfish too much.
If you feed your fish a lot of food, they will subsequently produce a
lot of waste and there will be plenty of nutrients for plants as well as
algae in the water. Some algae are a natural part of any pond or
aquarium, but excessive algae growth should be counteracted since it is
unhealthy for the fish.
Keep in mind that if you use a chemical to kill the algae or if an
algaecide is involuntary introduced to the pond, the dead and decaying
algae will use up a lot of oxygen and your Goldfish might suffocate and
die. Using natural methods to combat algae, such as plants, is therefore
recommended.
A common beginner mistake is to add all the Goldfish simultaneously
to their new home. This will cause a rapid change in water quality since
the bacterial colonies that inhabit the pond are too small to process
the sudden increase in organic waste. Instead, you should ideally add
one or two fish and allow the bacterial colonies to grow larger before
you add any new fish.
This will naturally also depend on the size of your pond and if you
are using any type of filtration. In a large pond, excess waste will be
dilute by a very large amount of water and therefore less likely to
reach
concentrations high enough to harm you fish. Good filtration will
also help removing organic waste and other toxins from the water.
So, how much Goldfish can I fill my pond with? As a rule of thumb,
one Goldfish per 30 gallons is recommended, but this is naturally a very
imprecise ratio. As mentioned earlier, the water quality is one of the
limiting factors.
Plenty of water, developed bacterial colonies and good filtration
will make it possible for you to house a larger number of Goldfish.
There are three basic types of filtration: biological, mechanical and
chemical. Biological filtration will be taken care of by the mentioned
bacterial colonies.
A mechanical filter will filter the water through some form of
filtering media where larger debris will get caught. The most common
form of chemical filtration is the addition of carbon to the mechanical
filter, where the carbon will bind various types of toxins.
Another important factor to keep in mind when you decide how much
fish you wish to add to your pond is aeration. Fish require air to
breath and will suffocate in a poorly aerated pond, especially if
decaying plant matter consumes a lot of the dissolved oxygen.
In an open pond, there will however be a considerable gas exchange
between the water and the surrounding air. The larger the surface area
of your pond, the more oxygen will be brought to the water.
A large surface area will also make it easier for the water to
release carbon dioxide. Plants in the pond will also produce oxygen and
consume carbon dioxide. In some ponds, this will however not be enough
and if you want to be able to house a large number of Goldfish some type
of aeration is recommended. |