Yippee, last week on Wednesday I purchased some goldfish from my local pet store to place in my DIY patio fish pond, and now I can share with you how to make a DIY patio fish pond with goldfish! That said, goldfish are really not the ideal fish for a pond that you plan to leave outdoors in the winter, so I will be buying some Cherry Barbs (since no one seems to know about guppies or rice fish, possibly the most idea for a patio pond) to live in the pond over the winter. I’ll be bringing the goldfish indoors into an aquarium, but hopefully one that is its own little ecosystem, meaning with underwater, floating and above the water plants. More on that when I do it, for now lets talk about the patio fish pond that is so much fun! For supplies and complete instructions check out my DIY Patio Fish Pond Tutorial which will give you all the details for the set up.
For my plastic pot, that is black on the inside, and measures 51cm across, 3 regular goldfish and two small fancy goldfish is really the maximum number of fish. I am not using a filter, so their waste needs to be processed by the plants (hopefully.) So far, the water has stayed nice and clear, but because I don’t have either floating or enough submerged plants the oxygen level is a little bit lacking, so I have hidden a small pump towards the back to circulate the water, which turns out to be perfect. The pump does create a jet that overpowers the fish, so place in a spot where it does not disturb their swimming too much!
I will be replacing 20% of the water every few weeks as recommended, and that water needs to be de-chlorinated. To de-chlorinate water either let sit out for 48 hours or boil for 20 minutes and cool. Do make sure that your local water is treated chlorine that can evaporate, and if not you’ll need to purchase de-chlorinating tablets for fish tanks.
I have actually not had any fish myself recently, (though I have a brother was was an avid fish hobbiest in our childhood) so I’m actually really enjoying these little fish, especially the fancy goldfish that have personalities, so very fun!
Looking forward to saying tashlich on this little pond on the second day of Rosh HaShana, and you can do it at your home too, there is still time!
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