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Ok, time to start dreaming and pondering ponds again (get it ... ).


Can everyone tell me how deep their pond is and what they keep in it? I'm currently of the belief that 12" is a tad too shallow for goldfish to be happy in, but due to queensland legislation would rather not have a fence around my pond.

^_^

Our pond (shubunkin goldfish) is about 2 feet deep. 12" is too shallow for goldfish because animals that would eat your fish would find it much too easy to get them when they're that close to the surface. Also if it freezes in winter (ours never has more than half an inch because we live in a pretty warm climate) the deeper the better.

What does the legislation say? There are many kinds of barriers you can do around a pond. We have this 2' white wire decorative fence that we put up to keep the dog from going in the pond. It worked and it fit in with the landscaping.

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I think if it goes over 12 inches that it needs council approved childproof fencing of at least X height with magnetic locking gate etc etc. It gets classed as a pool.

There is a koi place near here that has ponds around 16" deep (probably deeper in a certain section, but it is hard to say because you can't access it easily) for adult koi and they sem perfectly happy cruising around. What they lack in depth they make up for in area. 12" for small goldies wouldn't be too much of a stretch. My main concern would be heat in summer, you'd need to position it really carefully and cover the surface to discourage those greedy kookas.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

No risk of freezing superlion, I don't believe we got below 6C this past winter.

Kookaburras eat goldies?
Would surface plants prevent that? A bit of shade cloth?

I was thinking nice and big surface area wise. Everything I've read about people building ponds here they've always wanted bigger once they've built one.

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my pond is 2 foot deep, but it has rocks and gravel on the bottom, and an overflow hole so the decorative wood around the pond doesn't get wrecked. lots of duckweed, reeds and waterlilies (they don't grow very well in winter though), and some other sort of floating plant i got given to me. the fish are 3 goldfish, 2 koi, 2 australian bass and 1 tandanus catfish (the tandanus and bass are native to my area). the other day i saw a kookaburra hanging around the pond (even though the dogs were barking at it) but i didn't see it go for any fish (probably didn't want to get any closer to the dogs). i used to have a problem with a herron eating all the fish in my old pond (which was only 20cm deep) but i havent seen it for a long time. thinking of putting some convict cichlids and a pleco in the pond in summer

hi
woot woot woot woot woot woot

I used to keep tiny goldies in my trough and it was always the kookaburras and butcherbirds that would hang around watching for days and then pluck them out. You might have better luck with koi, they don't tend to bob around on the surface as much as fantail goldies.

I think shadecloth or maybe a fountain might work. I had mesh over half, but you could see through it.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Well, the other half has asked the project be put on hold for a year



Koi, AFAIK are banned in queensland, my brain could very well be confused though. Thanks for the heads up on the kookaburras ect calla, wouldn't have thought. Plus we're close enough to the coast that who knows who might decide to fly in for fish and nips.

My thought was to have a nice bit of a pergola built over the pond, maybe with some seating. Shade cloth could help people and fish!
In fact, you could say they could coexist peacefully together ...yeah ok....

^_^

Ahh, bum. I forgot about the koi thing. Ahh well

Yeah, funny thing that whole "put it off for a year" line, it gets used a lot!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

It has almost been a year so Adam where's the pond?

Why wasn't I informed of said pond?

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Koi....
I don't believe you're instigating!
And here Adam thought he'd dodged that
bullet.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I believe every home should have a pond.

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

ME TOO!

ADAM!!!!!

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

haha talk about a delayed reaction on my part!



Yes Koi, Frank, I totally agree with you guys....


Looks like it's going to have to wait for the next house though


Plus, if I had my way we'd be taking our two resident ducks with us, not sure the goldies would appreciate that though :


^_^

No worries, the goldfish are usually too big for ducks. You might lose a baby here or there, but in no time at all they'll be much too large for the ducks.



Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.