Pond Tips for June

Welcome to my pond tips for June. This month’s topics – feeding your fish, and pond liners.

Try not to feed your pond fish too much. The more you feed them, the more nutrients end up in the water and the more likely you are to have problems with green water or blanketweed (algae). Because the weight of the fish is supported by the water and they are cold blooded they need only tiny amounts of calories. If you feed them lots they put on fat in the gut and just get bigger and bigger. The bigger they are the more oxygen they need as well, so they become more vulnerable to low oxygen. Something else worth bearing in mind is that their oxygen requirement goes up after they have been fed and oxygen levels in the water drop during the night so don’t feed them late on in the evening.

Don’t economise on the liner if you are building a pond. I have seen lots of really nice pools that have had to be rebuilt because the liner was so poor. If the liner fails it doesn’t much matter how good the rest of the build is. Also, plant as heavily as you can. You can’t really overdo the plants – if they fill 50% of the water column that’s fine. They will use up nutrients, provide shelter for the fish and generally improve the water quality. It is the water quality that determines the health of the fish so plants are a big plus.

That concludes my pond tips for June. However, if you want any further information on this month’s topics, please get in touch and we’d be happy to help.

Photo: These are my favourite ornamental fish, golden orfe – long lived and beautiful.