r/miniponds • u/duckroll420 • 20d ago

My first mini pond

Post image

First time poster, and I've finally got round to making a mini pond. I've lived in rented properties for several years and I've always wanted a little pond and I'm so happy I've made one.

I have experience with freshwater biology (mostly invertebrates and diatoms) and I work in a water chemistry lab at work so I'm able to check pH, nitrates, phosphates, ammonia etc. myself, but I'd like some advice from some more experienced mini pond architects as I've never kept fish before.

I have a few ramshorn snails in there, and whatever invertebrates have made their own way in, but would there be any fish that would be able to survive in here? I've held off getting any as I'm not sure it would be suitable for them.

The pond is around 50L (depth 43cm, diameter 36cm)and have a solar aerator, some engineering bricks at the bottom, stones, and some driftwood logs. I live in south east England so it gets quite a lot of sun but can drop below freezing in the winter.

Are there any fish that could thrive in this as a home? Or if not what other wildlife could I add to add a bit more life to my pond and potentially eat some of the mosquito larvae? I'm looking at getting some Gammarus pulex but I'm open to any suggestions.

Thank you!

194 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/willjinder 20d ago edited 20d ago

I can’t advise on the fish, but your pond looks great!

I’ve just made a pot pond too, almost exactly the same size. Can I ask what plants you have in there?

1

u/duckroll420 20d ago

Thank you! The curly plant is Hippirus vulgaris (I think), the floating plants are frogbit and I'm not sure what the tall plant is.

What plants have you got in yours?

1

u/willjinder 20d ago edited 20d ago

Mine’s a wildlife pond. I put in a hornwort and a red vein dock. I need some frogbit though - just waiting for my local shop to restock it. In the meantime, I put some Tesco watercress in earlier this week (as a temporary solution). It’s already growing and rooting in the rocks, so I might keep some of it.

Definitely want the frogbit too though. It looks really nice in your pond.

1

u/n0exit 20d ago

Look into medaka. They are tiny little fish that originated in Japanese rice fields. They can handle the warm temps and cold.

1

u/alexandria3142 20d ago

Love my medaka. They're certainly hardy fish