[ilamont]

The article is correct in my experience. If you build a pond, wildlife will come. I would only add that having a simple pump to create a little flow and oxygenation really helps reduce algae and mosquitoes. If the pond is deep enough (18"/50cm), it will frustrate raccoons.

I've done two small fish ponds using heavy duty rigid plastic liners expecting only the fish (koi and shubunkin) would enjoy it. We live less than ~10 miles/~15 km from downtown Boston.

We were surprised to see the second pond, which is next to the north side of our basement and on a small hill, gets all kinds of animals and birds coming to drink. Racoons, possum, fox, squirrels, and many types of small birds. Without fail, one or two tree frogs find it every summer and settle in on the water plant we put out there (taro) in a semi-submerged pot.

The frogs disappear in the early autumn. Before the first hard frost, we bring the taro plant inside in a bucket, and place it next to a sunny window for the next 6 months. By mid-December the pond freezes over except where we have a small pump running. The fish go dormant at the bottom, under the ice.

Then in spring it starts back up again. The ice melts, the fish come back to life, and the animals return to drink. I am going to put the taro plant back out in May, and once again the pond will be the center of life in our side yard.

[ilamont]

Here's a video I did three years ago showing how the small pond is set up. It's probably about 4 feet long (~130 cm) and with a deep spot of about 2 feet (~60 cm) ... if it's too shallow the fish would die, either from racoons getting them in the summer or deep freeze in the winter stopping the pump and possibly freezing the water all the way through.

https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4?si=dJ1pOaw-zLA-Rvk2

FWIW we are only using tap water (which comes all the way from the Quabbin reservoir in western mass) and rain water. I think at the beginning we used some sort of algae treatment once or twice during the summer but in the past 5 years it hasn't been necessary as long as the pump is creating a bubbling flow and there aren't too many fish, usually no more than 3 or 4 small to medium goldfish/carp varieties ... koi, shibunkin, and comets.

[Jorslu]

Sincerely, thank you for the explanations and youtube video. They were GREAT!

[wil421]

My pond attracts a lot of wildlife too. Frogs, animals, flying water insects, and even a couple crawfish came from a small creek nearby.

What do you use for soil in your taro plant?

We are much farther South and don’t have to deal with ice. I’ve been trying to put fish in it but the chipmunks turned the pond liner into Swiss cheese in some places.

[ilamont]

The taro plant is still in its original planter, with the same soil that was in there when we purchased it 15 years ago. I think we added a few small stones to the top (which now are covered with moss above the waterline). It's an incredibly hardy plant, and if it could find soil or mud nearby it would expand for sure ... there are always runners creeping out from the pot, and little baby taros sprouting around the moss. I would think where you are in the south it would do really well.

Kind of surprised about the chipmunks. We have them too but the liner has never been damaged. OTOH it's pretty heavy duty rigid PVC.

[downut]

No problems with Herons? Here in suburban Atlanta I have several different kinds visit our big pond daily, including Great Blue. Fun to watch them fish.

Your pond looks lovely.

[ilamont]

Thanks! The pond is next to a house and there is tree cover, which I think deters herons. But the Charles River is just a few hundred yards away, and the herons are very active there in the shallows and swampy coves.

Our main problem is racoons. At night they come to fish with their claws in the shallow areas of the pond.

[nightowl_games]

From what I've read, winterizing your pond and making it healthy enough for fish to survive the winter is difficult. Did you find it challenging? Many failures?

[ilamont]

It wasn't hard at all as long as the pond is deep enough per my earlier comments and the fish are not freshwater tropicals (we've had comets, shibunkin, and koi make it through without any issue, including deep freezes of 10F/-10C lasting a week or two). Keep the pump on all winter for oxygen. Remove the taro to a filled bucket and stick it on a sunny shelf inside.

Once the temp drops below 40 degrees F (~5C) the fish go dormant, usually under some dead leaves at the bottom or in the cinderblock we have at the deep end. When ice forms they will be fine, as the bubbling pump keeps an open spot for oxygen (it should be bubbling about 1 inch above the water line and not splashing outside the pond liner). If it's a deep freeze and the pump forms an ice bubble, break it open with a hammer. The rest of the ice can stay on the pond surface.

[nightowl_games]

I live in Saskatchewan, where it hovers around -40C for a couple weeks in January/February. Ive heard the pumps can take a beating here, but it's interesting to hear your success story.

[aidos]

We inherited a couple of ponds when we bought our place 4 years back. One has fish in.

To our surprise, every winter the pond freezes over and the fish are fine come spring. In fact they’re thriving and we don’t touch the pond at all - it doesn’t even have a pump.

The other pond could definitely do with cleaning out, but again it’s teaming with wildlife. There’s not a huge window between when the newts leave for the summer and when it freezes in winter. By the time it thaws and we think to do something about it the newts are back again.

[nightowl_games]

How far north are you?

[aidos]

South east England.