Post by Amanda on Nov 20, 2005 11:48:38 GMT 7
For those of us who either don't have a backyard, rent or live in an area affected by cane toads this is definately the tip for you!
I've tried the pond in the backyard but had no success because of toads. The toads swim in the water and killed the fish, I also have a cat problem.
I had all this unused space on my front veranda and came up with this great little setup.
1) forget ponds from hardwares...unless you want to pay upwards of $100 I found a sturdy planter pot with the base that you have to punch the holes yourself in for $43 at bunnings. It's really thick heavy molded plastic and looks great! If you wanted you could get a beautiful teracotta pot and line it with pond liner or black plastic for a similar look but it is more expensive.
2)I took it home rinsed it and placed it in the area I wanted it. I rinsed some fishtank gravel and put a layer about 4cm in the bottom. If you want a cheaper alternative go to a landscape supply store and purchase coarse riversand. A bag of approx 20kg is about $7. Place amounts of the sand in a bucket and rinse until water runs clear. This medium would be heaps better for pond lillies to grow in too!
3) Set up water like you would a fishtank, for townwater go to your nearest petstore and ask for chlorine neutralizer, it removes the chlorine from the water so the fish will survive, while your there check out their plants. Most petstores sell their plants and water lillies a LOT cheaper than garden centers or hardware stores. Purchase the plants you want and put them in the tub where you'd like them to grow. Some come in pots and it's safer for the plant to be left there because it protects their tubors. Invest in a PH test kit! you'll need it setting up a pond, it's new so things will take a while to adjust in the environment.
4) By now your pond should have treated water and plant's in it. Now is when you decide if you want a water filter or water fountain. You could try hardware stores and pet stores and compare prices but have you also checked to see if you have a Pump store? Davey water pumps are great! they have all sizes for ponds of 100L to 10 000L! Pumps that filter will grow good bacteria in them and help to keep the pond clean and healthy whereas fountains just spray water!
Place your pump in your pond where you want it, plug it in and adjust the fountain (if you have one). Now you can leave it for a couple of days to a couple of weeks to mature, testing the water to check it's PH and if the PH go's up you may want to consult your nearest petstore If your unsure of the problems (if it's your first fish setup)
5) Now you can choose your fish!!! Goldfish are the oldies of ponds, always been around! You could have a pond of livebearers (platties, mollies, guppies and swordtails) great for the kids because they breed and the kids get to see all the little fishies
You could go crayfish or a favourite up here is oscars or Barramundi!!!
A lot of people I speak to also have Gourami like the pearl's and the moonlight's because they can grow large. In the end it's up to you
PS. Don't forget fish food!
So here is my little pond!
Mine is different because like I said I have problems with cat's and Bowerbirds and I don't want them pinching my pretty fish.
The pot = $43
The gravel = already had
The Chemicals for the water = already had
The plants = 2 lillies @ $10 each one elodia $4.20
The pump = already had (it's so old!)
The Fish..... 15 Platties 4 boys 11 girls (the boys will service all the girls, less boys means the girls don't get stressed out as much) and 5 swordtails.
Cover is scrap pine with flywire (like flyscreen but made of alumnium) stapled together to make the cover.
How easy is that!
I've tried the pond in the backyard but had no success because of toads. The toads swim in the water and killed the fish, I also have a cat problem.
I had all this unused space on my front veranda and came up with this great little setup.
1) forget ponds from hardwares...unless you want to pay upwards of $100 I found a sturdy planter pot with the base that you have to punch the holes yourself in for $43 at bunnings. It's really thick heavy molded plastic and looks great! If you wanted you could get a beautiful teracotta pot and line it with pond liner or black plastic for a similar look but it is more expensive.
2)I took it home rinsed it and placed it in the area I wanted it. I rinsed some fishtank gravel and put a layer about 4cm in the bottom. If you want a cheaper alternative go to a landscape supply store and purchase coarse riversand. A bag of approx 20kg is about $7. Place amounts of the sand in a bucket and rinse until water runs clear. This medium would be heaps better for pond lillies to grow in too!
3) Set up water like you would a fishtank, for townwater go to your nearest petstore and ask for chlorine neutralizer, it removes the chlorine from the water so the fish will survive, while your there check out their plants. Most petstores sell their plants and water lillies a LOT cheaper than garden centers or hardware stores. Purchase the plants you want and put them in the tub where you'd like them to grow. Some come in pots and it's safer for the plant to be left there because it protects their tubors. Invest in a PH test kit! you'll need it setting up a pond, it's new so things will take a while to adjust in the environment.
4) By now your pond should have treated water and plant's in it. Now is when you decide if you want a water filter or water fountain. You could try hardware stores and pet stores and compare prices but have you also checked to see if you have a Pump store? Davey water pumps are great! they have all sizes for ponds of 100L to 10 000L! Pumps that filter will grow good bacteria in them and help to keep the pond clean and healthy whereas fountains just spray water!
Place your pump in your pond where you want it, plug it in and adjust the fountain (if you have one). Now you can leave it for a couple of days to a couple of weeks to mature, testing the water to check it's PH and if the PH go's up you may want to consult your nearest petstore If your unsure of the problems (if it's your first fish setup)
5) Now you can choose your fish!!! Goldfish are the oldies of ponds, always been around! You could have a pond of livebearers (platties, mollies, guppies and swordtails) great for the kids because they breed and the kids get to see all the little fishies
You could go crayfish or a favourite up here is oscars or Barramundi!!!A lot of people I speak to also have Gourami like the pearl's and the moonlight's because they can grow large. In the end it's up to you
PS. Don't forget fish food!
So here is my little pond!
Mine is different because like I said I have problems with cat's and Bowerbirds and I don't want them pinching my pretty fish.
The pot = $43
The gravel = already had
The Chemicals for the water = already had
The plants = 2 lillies @ $10 each one elodia $4.20
The pump = already had (it's so old!)
The Fish..... 15 Platties 4 boys 11 girls (the boys will service all the girls, less boys means the girls don't get stressed out as much) and 5 swordtails.
Cover is scrap pine with flywire (like flyscreen but made of alumnium) stapled together to make the cover.
How easy is that!
