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pond fish
MikeFellows - 9/7/12 at 11:58 AM

I know some of you guys keep fish so maybe someone can help me...

I have a friend who has a rather large (20m diameter and 3m deep) pond.

its currently lightly stocked with carp, perch, tench, 2 sturgeons and a few shubumbkin (posh gold fish to me)

its a still water pond - no pumps, no filters, no anything except a hole and some water pretty much.

he did a big favour for me recently and wanted to buy him a/some new fish, something a bit differnet like his sturgeon, he talked about some eels a few months ago

what can i get him that is a bit different and where on earth can i buy specimen species

Thanks


matt_gsxr - 9/7/12 at 12:33 PM

say it with eels. Doesn't have the same ring to it.


907 - 9/7/12 at 12:41 PM

I'm far from an expert, but I was under the impression that perch were carnivorous.

As for eels, don't they up and go at breeding time?


Sorry that's not a lot of help.
Paul G


andy350z - 9/7/12 at 01:29 PM

Last time I was at the local aquatic centre they had some albino sturgen in stock, if you're looking for something a bit different.

I would suggest you look in your local aquatic centre.


BigLee - 9/7/12 at 01:42 PM

Get him a Jetski - thats a massive pond!


Irony - 9/7/12 at 02:08 PM

Myself and my brother have had quite good success with Orf in outdoor ponds. They are long thin brightly coloured fish in either blue or gold. They shoal quite a bit and are very zippy, they can also grow quite large and my brother has some about 8-10inch. They don't seem to be that common in domestic ponds but they seem to sell them in most aquatic centres and they are cheap.


stevegough - 9/7/12 at 02:12 PM


Peteff - 9/7/12 at 03:05 PM

Weather Loach are a bit like eels with whiskers but if you put them in a pond you will never see them again.


gdische - 9/7/12 at 03:24 PM

You might be best to ask your friend what he would like. You have to be a bit careful - for example, some fish like to eat other fish, and it wouldn't do to get these! Others lurk at the bottom of the pond and hardly ever get seen. We had orfe in our pond at one time, and they made all the other fish very nervous.

Geoff


wilkingj - 9/7/12 at 04:05 PM

Get sturgeon.... Mmmmm Caviar!!


wilkingj - 9/7/12 at 04:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Myself and my brother have had quite good success with Orf in outdoor ponds. They are long thin brightly coloured fish in either blue or gold. They shoal quite a bit and are very zippy, they can also grow quite large and my brother has some about 8-10inch. They don't seem to be that common in domestic ponds but they seem to sell them in most aquatic centres and they are cheap.



Hmmm Buy him a pair of these.... Call one F*ck, and the other Bu**er


Peteff - 9/7/12 at 06:22 PM

We had Orfe, blue and gold in our pond and they grew over a foot in length. They do need to be in a shoal when they are smaller and do flirt about a lot. We filled the pond in last year as all the fish had died off after about 22 years, or so we thought. I drained the pond and found 3 Tench still in there so they were relocated to next doors pond and are still doing well.


jacko - 10/7/12 at 06:20 PM

Sod the fish get him something he needs a pump and filter the water needs to be moved to airieate and keep the fish alive


stevegough - 10/7/12 at 07:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jacko
Sod the fish get him something he needs a pump and filter the water needs to be moved to airieate and keep the fish alive


+1 - exactly what I was thinking!


MikeFellows - 11/7/12 at 09:33 AM

why would he need a pump and a filter, as sturgeon require excellent water quality and 2 have been living fine for 5 years?

he already has 2 sturgeon, my mate caught them both on saturday

2 mins will upload pics


MikeFellows - 11/7/12 at 10:03 AM

as promised

the smaller of the two


the larger of the two



im still confused as to why you think you need pumps and filters for a pond of this size?

eta: thats not me, its my mate, im crap at fishing so just took pics, i did catch a little carp though

[Edited on 11/7/12 by MikeFellows]


jacko - 12/7/12 at 07:05 PM

Mike
there very nice fish.
The reason i said i think he would need a pump / filter is the water needs to move to put oxygen in it for the fish .
If you go to any big garden places with big or small ponds they all seam to have one way or another of moving the water
ie water falls fountains etc or air pumps with air stones in the water

This is just my opinion,
and your friend must be doing something right or his fish would be dead by now
graham


40inches - 12/7/12 at 07:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Myself and my brother have had quite good success with Orf in outdoor ponds. They are long thin brightly coloured fish in either blue or gold. They shoal quite a bit and are very zippy, they can also grow quite large and my brother has some about 8-10inch. They don't seem to be that common in domestic ponds but they seem to sell them in most aquatic centres and they are cheap.


Good choice along with Rudd


MikeFellows - 13/7/12 at 06:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jacko
Mike
there very nice fish.
The reason i said i think he would need a pump / filter is the water needs to move to put oxygen in it for the fish .
If you go to any big garden places with big or small ponds they all seam to have one way or another of moving the water
ie water falls fountains etc or air pumps with air stones in the water

This is just my opinion,
and your friend must be doing something right or his fish would be dead by now
graham


dont get me wrong, his water is not crystal clear like a koi pond, but its not really supposed to be, bear in mind too his pond is more like a small lake

its surrounded by bull rushes and other pond like plants (lillys and stuff) - all of which i imagine takes a lot of the nutrients out of the water keeping it clean

still what to buy

I cant buy anything small as the perch will eat it, so need something decent size

will try and find a pic of the pond and upload


eta: sorry didnt take one of the full pond, I will try and grab one though

[Edited on 13/7/12 by MikeFellows]


jacko - 13/7/12 at 07:47 PM

A full photo of his pond would be nice.
Yes you are right the plants will do a good job keeping the water clean and fresh.
If i was you i would go and have a look at a good aquatic center they will have some good idear's for larg ponds

as above orf grow large i have one about 14 - 16 ins long in my pond

good luck with your serch and i hope you find what you are looking for
Graham