How to Select Fish for Your Pond: A Beginner's Guide
Adding fish to your pond is a fantastic way to create a vibrant and dynamic backyard oasis. Watching them flit around and interact with each other (and you!) can be incredibly peaceful and entertaining. However, before you rush out and buy a bunch of goldfish, there are some important things to consider.
First: Can your pond handle fish?
- Space Matters: As a rule of thumb, you need 10 gallons of water per inch of adult fish to prevent overcrowding. Overcrowding leads to poor water quality and unhealthy fish.
- Think Big (or Not So Big): Research the full adult size of your chosen fish species. That fancy goldfish might look adorable now, but it could grow over a foot long, and some koi varieties over three feet!
Consider the Commitment
Fish are often seen as requiring less work and commitment than other types of pets. While you don't need to walk them, and it's easy to get someone to feed your fish when you go on vacation, they are still living creatures that require care. Fish like koi and goldfish can live for decades with proper care.
Are you ready for that responsibility? Rehoming fish unwanted fish can be difficult, and releasing them into the wild is harmful to the ecosystem, plus possibly illegal.
Choosing the Right Fish
Popular types of Pond Fish
Koi: Friendly fish that come in a variety of different colors.
Goldfish: Regular goldfish are hearty and beginner-friendly fish; the fancier varieties can be vulnerable to aggressive breeds and bullying. Common types of goldfish are Comets, Shubunkin, Orandas, Tamasabas, and Fantails.
Mosquito fish: Known for eating mosquito larvae but can be aggressive to other fish.
Three-fined stingleback: These do best in cold water and can be aggressive.
Golden orfe: Will not eat pond plants but instead insects and fish fry, which can help prevent overcrowding due to fish breeding.
Chinese High-Fin Banded Shark: Prefers deep and colder ponds and is highly compatible with goldfish and koi.
Guppies: Low maintenance and will eat mosquito larvae and algae
Minnows: Can be a food source for larger fish and pond life and feed off algae.
Compatibility is Key!
Before you buy any fish, make sure they're compatible with one another. Some fish are more aggressive than others and will bully less dominant fish. Certain fish prefer to live in schools, while others like to be alone. Consider whether you have turtles, birds, or other predators nearby that could also harm your fish. If you have turtles, you'll likely need fish that are too big for them to eat. Your larger fish will need hiding places if you have birds, raccoons, and other predators.
Beyond Fish
Remember that you're not limited to just fish. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get frogs, turtles, crabs, and other freshwater critters who would love to make your pond their home.
Where to buy fish
When shopping for fish, you want to make sure that you find a reputable place so your fish are healthy. Check local aquariums and pet stores to see what type of freshwater pond fish they offer. Fish can have a wide variety of different price points depending on how unique they are.
The plainer variety of goldfish are typically less expensive than fancier ones. Juveniles often cost less than larger adults. An adult koi with a rare color pattern could cost thousands of dollars.
If you want a specific type of pond fish, you may be able to find a local breeder or a breeder who will ship the fish to you. Check their reviews online first to make sure that they're known for healthy fish. Some breeders have more humane breeding practices than others. Be careful when purchasing fish online or driving them home from the store, as this can be stressful and harm their health.
You can also check to see if anyone in your area is looking to rehome their fish. Look on Facebook Marketplace, local shelters, or AdoptAPet.com to get your new pet. These types of fish are often in need of a home and are free.
Introducing new fish
When adding new fish to your pond, you want to start with a quarantine to make sure that the fish is healthy and give them time to adjust from the stress of traveling. Ideally, if you have other fish in your pond, you want to quarantine new fish in a separate tank for two weeks. Be on the lookout for any signs of illness so you can quickly treat it.
If you're adding fish to a brand new pond, you must treat the water with Chlorine Remover to make it safe first. Regular tap water has contaminants that can harm and even cause death to your fish.
Whether you already have some fish in your pond or are starting from scratch, you'll want to research and plan before heading to the fish store. Overcrowding can become an issue when you have too many fish or they grow too large for the pond. You'll want to calculate the fish's maximum adult size when deciding whether or not you have the space. There are many different types of fish to choose from, and they have other benefits for the pond, such as color patterns and personalities.
