Hi again,

Sorry for absense. Been on holiday. Well, I've just received permission from my mum to make a pond in the backyard. I was wandering if it's a good idea, or should I just stick to a tank? Ponds seem easier to me, but I want an unbiased, expert opinion. I don't have to worry about the labour, because it'll be spread out over a few days. I'm just wandering if it's a good idea. Also, could orandas survive in a pond over winter in Australia without a heater. If it needs a heater, well then so be it. Thankies

First of all, a pond might be easier to maintain, in the way that the fish will take care of themselves mostly as they find food in the pond But you will need a filter in this as well, and from time to time, you might need to perform water changes. Not to mention that it's harder to control the temperature and water quality in a pond. And, predators and parasites will be a constant threat.

YES, you can keep orandas in a pond, but in that case, choose the warmer time of the year to make sure that they won't be exposed to any bigger temperature drops. Which would shock the fish to the degree where they'd get a swim bladder disorder. The kind of swim bladder disorder that you couldn't treat anymore.

So do as Andrea suggested, if you want a fish to live in the pond during the winter months, you'd better keep commons, comets of shubunkins in the pond, which are hardier than egg-shaped varieties You can buy a heater for the winter if you want so that the water won't freeze over completely! And remember not to feed the fish at all during the winter as they're hibernating

I've been thinking about that, and I think I should put chicken wire over the pond during summer. I've checked some council regulations, and they say the pond can't be over 2000L or 450mm in depth without getting building approval. Do you think 450mm is enough for the goldfish? We have a padio beside where I hope the pond will go, so it should be shaded 80% of the time.

Oh, and the reason why I didn't post in the pond section was because it hasn't been active for a while.

That depth should be fine d: Larger surface area is more important for goldfish anyways, for maximum gaseous exchange

Either way, doesn't matter where you post because all new posts will be marked anyway, so we'll notice for sure

Will a filter be necessary for the pond? BCC states if the pond has a filtration system, it has to get building approval and get a pool fence around it. It's kind of ridiculous in my opinion. Like anyone's gonna drown in 45cm deep water, but I guess they're meant to..."protect us."

Filtration is definitely needed UNLESS, you plan on following a nice water change schedule. Meaning that you change water every day during the summer and every week during fall, then you slowly start working from every second week during spring until you reach every day again Not to mention that you can't stock the pond too heavily if you won't have filtration.

Aww, that sucks Is it hard getting that?

That's quite a pain then :C Maybe you should just go for tanks for now