I'm going to put in a small 60 gal. water garden in front of my deck. I
have a preformed shell and a pump/filter/waterfall kit that the manufacture
says can handle up to a 350 gal. pond. I may have the weir empty in to
water course/stream that will run approx. 7' down a gradual slope to the
pond, or I may simply have it empty directly into the pond. It will get a
lot of sun, at least 6 hours a day I know it can be difficult to establish
a good self-sustaining ecosystem with such a small pond. Any general
advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Newbie in PA.

I'm in PA as well and have a 60gal.
I would try to keep it out of that much sun.
You will get a lot of algae.
Where in PA?

The sun will create alot of algae - but you'll get that anyway, just
not as much perhaps. Some shade is a good place to start, and a good
filter on your pump. I suggest not putting fish in for a while - as
long as you can wait. Let the algae bloom, let the water sit, the pump
pump it about, put some rocks in to get a good bacteria load, maybey
buy some of the bacteria to put in, so the pond will have a head start.
Test the chemicals and make sure your water is clean and healthy, put
your pond plants in, and then put the fish in. I know it sounds like
forever, but a good pond is 90% good water. The fish are icing.

Remember that proportionally, changes will occur faster for you. In my
750 gal, a change will happen fairly slowly, and my organisms will have
time to react and adapt. But in 60 gal., temperature and chemistry will
chnage fast.

I suggest a very low number of fish at first. If you follow the 1:10
(one fish per 10 gal) proportion, you've only got room for six fish,
and not huge ones.

A small pond can be absolutely charming. I hope it works out great for
you.

"nobody" wrote in message
news:KJs7g.2808$0d3.134@trnddc08...
I'm going to put in a small 60 gal. water garden in front of my deck. I
have a preformed shell and a pump/filter/waterfall kit that the
manufacture says can handle up to a 350 gal. pond.

I hope this isn't too strong for such a small pond, creating too much
turbulence.

I may have the weir empty in to
water course/stream that will run approx. 7' down a gradual slope to the
pond, or I may simply have it empty directly into the pond. It will get a
lot of sun, at least 6 hours a day

What about the heat factor of so much sun on such a small pond? It may be
too warm to keep fish.

I know it can be difficult to establish
a good self-sustaining ecosystem with such a small pond. Any general
advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Newbie in PA.

My concern is the large pump/filter kit for such a small pond. Make sure
it's not splashing the water out over the sides.....
--
Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

nobody wrote:
I'm going to put in a small 60 gal. water garden in front of my deck. I
have a preformed shell and a pump/filter/waterfall kit that the manufacture
says can handle up to a 350 gal. pond. I may have the weir empty in to
water course/stream that will run approx. 7' down a gradual slope to the
pond, or I may simply have it empty directly into the pond. It will get a
lot of sun, at least 6 hours a day I know it can be difficult to establish
a good self-sustaining ecosystem with such a small pond. Any general
advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Newbie in PA.

Sounds nice. I have a small pond of barrels connected by spillways.
Some random thoughts...

You'll need to look up whether your pump can handle a 7' head to run the
weir. With no head, you will likely too much current.

Water hyacinth is your friend. :-) It loves sunlight, grows like
crazy, thrives on fish waste, has attractive purple blooms, shades the
water to slow algae, and shelters your fish. Water lettuce is nice too,
but mine gets crispy if it gets too much sun.

If you want goldfish, only get a couple. They grow surprisingly fast
outdoors and 60 gallons isn't a lot of room for adults. Minnows like
rosy reds or gold white clouds (you can see either from above against
the black liner) are great for smaller water gardens.

Your pond will be a magnet for thirsty cats, raccoons, and other
fish-loving critters and your fish will not have enough room to escape
predation. I learned this the hard way. Consider predator netting, a
fence, a scarecrow sprinkler, or some other way to discourage them.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

The pump and weir came together in a kit so I'm assuming they're well
matched. Perhaps building the small stream would be best to avoid excessive
turbulence in the pond.

"Altum" wrote in message
om...
nobody wrote:
I'm going to put in a small 60 gal. water garden in front of my deck. I
have a preformed shell and a pump/filter/waterfall kit that the
manufacture says can handle up to a 350 gal. pond. I may have the weir
empty in to water course/stream that will run approx. 7' down a gradual
slope to the pond, or I may simply have it empty directly into the pond.
It will get a lot of sun, at least 6 hours a day I know it can be
difficult to establish a good self-sustaining ecosystem with such a
small pond. Any general advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Newbie in PA.

Sounds nice. I have a small pond of barrels connected by spillways. Some
random thoughts...

You'll need to look up whether your pump can handle a 7' head to run the
weir. With no head, you will likely too much current.

Water hyacinth is your friend. :-) It loves sunlight, grows like crazy,
thrives on fish waste, has attractive purple blooms, shades the water to
slow algae, and shelters your fish. Water lettuce is nice too, but mine
gets crispy if it gets too much sun.

If you want goldfish, only get a couple. They grow surprisingly fast
outdoors and 60 gallons isn't a lot of room for adults. Minnows like rosy
reds or gold white clouds (you can see either from above against the black
liner) are great for smaller water gardens.

Your pond will be a magnet for thirsty cats, raccoons, and other
fish-loving critters and your fish will not have enough room to escape
predation. I learned this the hard way. Consider predator netting, a
fence, a scarecrow sprinkler, or some other way to discourage them.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com