Hi,

We're thinking of installing a small pond in the garden. We worked out it would hold roughly 220litres of water. We wanted to put some shubunkin in but google search informs us that amount of water is only suitable for like 1 fish! Is this really the case, they're in much less water per fish in the shop!?

Realistically how big does our pond need to be and what could be we have in it, fish wise?

They are in less water in the shop as
1) The tank is aerated
2) The shop keeper (hopefully) keeps a beady eye on the water quality
3) They are still very small.

Shubunkin are goldfish and so will grow to 6-9 inchs. So for stocking you have to think about their adult size. For ponds its probably more practicle to think about surface area rather than volume as a pond for gold fish could be from 45" deep to six foot!
I think the recommended maximum stocking for goldfish is 1" of fish per foot so six square foot per adult (ie a pond 2.5 foot per size) Having a permant fountain/waterfall and filter will help.
Otherwise maybe try smaller fish like minnows/sticklebacks?

Hmm, thanks for the advice, very disappointing though, minnows and sticklebacks aren't particularly pretty are they

220 litres isn't very big at all. My tank in my living room is a 4 ft tank which holds 240 litres. For ponds you do need a minimum depth in case the surface freezes. It needs to be deep enough that if the top freezes there is an insulated layer underneath. You don't want the entire pond to freeze into a block of ice.

I have an outdoor pond and I've never noticed the surface freezing. I keep the water filtered and flowing through a waterfall so that I think the movement of water stops it freezing. However, I keep a net over my pond to deter predator attacks (I lost a few fish to herons several years ago) so when it snows heavily the pond gets covered with a blanket of snow. The fish underneath have always been fine, they seem to go into a sort of hibernation in the winter, sleeping at the bottom of the pond.

I inherited my pond from the previous owner so I'm not very knowlegeable about fishkeeping but my present fish have survived healthily for the past 4-5 years. My pond is small, about 5 ' long, 3'-4' wide and probably only about 45'' deep. I have 6 goldfish. I've had someone from the aquatic centre near where I live come to assess my pond and he said that it could accommodate no more than about 7 gold fish but that what I was doing and providing was absolutely fine for the amount of fish that I had.

One of my fish is getting quite large now (he's the oldest, about 7) and the time will come when I need to call on that fish expert again to help me re-home him. The others are about 4-5 years old and are still quite small, they have plenty of room to move about and areas to hide under in the pond.

I really like having the fish pond in the garden. The sound of the waterfall is very soothing when sitting outside on warm days. The fish come to the surface as soon as I approach, expecting to be fed, and retreat down under when my cats peer in at them (they can't get at them). I like to see the frogs around the pond too although, unfortunately, my cats do try to catch them - usually failing. The pond is relatively hard work in the summer because the filters need to be cleaned regularly (but not too frequently or too well as I have learned as it's important not to change the water environment too drastically) and treatments need to be added to the water to minimise the build up of blanket weed. The UV bulbs need replacing at least yearly.

The aquatic centres that sell artificial ponds, and fish, usually have staff who can advise and guide you through the process or put you in contact with someone who can help.