Hey guys,
Has anyone set up a mini pond in a container here in Ireland? I’m planning to create a small pond with aquatic plants and a few fish. I’m prepared to bring it indoors during winter if needed.
I’m looking for recommendations on which plants and fishes would survive well in Ireland’s climate. I took this photo
Thanks
by No_Estate4905
8 Comments
Don’t put fish in a pond like that it’s just too small, and the filtration will be a major issue and expense that you won’t want to pay and if you do you won’t bother maintaining. Just put plants and let the wild eco system develop from that. Maybe get some local freshwater snails though.
Great idea. I’d give the fish a miss, re plants make sure you get some oxygenating ones like hornwort to keep algae at bay, and put a stick or two in so any small creatures that may fall in can crawl back out. Good luck, it’s great fun 😊
https://preview.redd.it/y4a45jkrk9af1.png?width=1008&format=png&auto=webp&s=bb05a92187ed851459c2bc86ad315031e81c8629
Oh snap! I haven’t put any foliage in yet though
Im interested in doing this but I would be making mine a small bit bigger. Hoping to get some frogs or toads from it to help with my awful slug problem
Fish are a no-no. It will cook/freeze them and there is not enough water or space for them to be healthy.
I have something identical to this. Water plants are a must as is the agitation of the pump.
Your issue will be larvae growing in it as that pump would probably only be solar powered and leaving you with very still water at night
Omg bought that solar fountain a few weeks ago, Where’d you get your barrel thing?
I’ve done something similar a few months ago. I’m using a similar solar fountain. The plants are doing good but the water is a tad stinky and it has lots of larvae in it. My next move is to try clean it out with a net,replace some water with clean rainwater and judging from comments here, getting some hornwort.
Just do a wildlife mini pond. Its a lot easier/less stressful than getting fish.
You could do rice/minnow/medaka type fish’s but there would be filtration required and maintenance/testing or you would end up with dead fish pretty quickly. They would also need to be brought in over the winter most likely. Quite a bit of research involved if you want to look after the fish right, and the maintenance while not massive needs to be done or you get problems.
As others have recommended I’d stay clear of adding fish, unless you want to give the time and funds required to do it right.
If going for fish, definitely do a ton of research first. It’s not just buying them and popping them in. There is getting a cycle going in the pond first, which means building up a colony of beneficial bacteria to convert fish waste into ammonia then nitrites and finally into nitrates. If you are set on fish, you can DM me or check the relevant subs. Most fish types have a sub dedicated to them and most have a wiki/care guidelines sheet in the sub explaining the basics of how to care for that particular type of fish.