16. Fish, Plants, and Scavengers for Ponds
For your garden pond or pool to function well and look pleasing to the eye, you should strive for the proper balance of fish, plants, and scavengers. Plants have considerable impact on both the water’s surface and under the surface. It is important to keep all inhabitants in your pond and plant life balanced to ensure you maintain a healthy ecosystem.
To make sure your garden pond or pool to function well and look pleasing to the eye, you should strive for the proper balance of fish, plants, and scavengers. Plants have considerable impact on both the water’s surface and under the surface. Plants provide healthy benefits to fish inhabitants within your pond.
We recommend the following proportions of plants and animals to help achieve balance throughout the pond and its surface:
- To provide adequate shade and reduce the proliferation of algae, 50-60% of the pond surface should be covered with lilies, floating plants, or floating leaf bog plants.
- One bunch, 7-10 stems, per square foot of surface area should be oxygenating or submerged plants.
- Scavengers, snails, or tadpoles, should be added one per square foot of surface area.
- Stock up to 1” of goldfish, fantails, and shubunkins or 1/2″ of Koi per 3-5 gallons of water.
- The total volume of water should be recirculated and filtered every 1-6 hours depending on the filter and fish load.
Scavengers
Scanvengers are a very important part of maintaining your water garden and should be put into the pond. They help keep the pond free of algae and debris. Stock scavengers 1 per square foot of pond surface area. Scavengers can be tadpoles or snails, and they can also clean and remove waste. Adding them to your pond helps to ensure that your pond becomes and remains a healthy ecosystem, keeping it balanced. See Solution 19 on how to add fish to your water garden.