[Gill Catton]

yes I agree with Dan with regard to the fish and as for danios, cloud mountains yes they are cold water fish - but their wild temp range is 18 c to 26 c which is still pretty warm! Plus I'm not sure they can survive winter cold temps the lowest they can go is 5 c, especially if they are of stock hatched and raised in warm water (which most for sale in aquarium shops are), why not leave them out - no risk of them dying then, and your amphibian, dragonfly/damselfly population amongst the other aquatic invertebrates will do a lot better.


Amphibious bistort is a nice plant, pretty to look at and versitile as it will grow both in the pond and around the edge.

Your proposed stream area sounds good but quite narrow, perhaps don't plant it up too much as it might become quickly overgrown and clogged - maybe consider low growing stuff like water forget-me not, or some water mint or perhaps sedums (sedum album or Sedum reflexum - bees seem to like these), put lots of rocks along the edge and mosses should grow eventually (check the source of rocks or pebbles though local stone is best).

Don't fertlise your wildflowers and remove as much topsoil as you can (you could put any topsoil on top of a pile of logs or rubble to provide suitable shelter and hibernation sites for amphibians or reptiles). Rich soil wil mean that grasses will out-compete your flowers within a couple of years.

Choose water plants with care, check they are native species unless you are certain they won't ever reach a natural water course.