fish for a wildlife pond

[Dan Salter]

Im NOT anti fish i was just highlighting that fish will munch spawn thats all..
Infact in the large wildlife pond i plan to build i am going to section an area off to have fish in for heron and kingfisher food.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

Im NOT anti fish i was just highlighting that fish will munch spawn thats all..
Infact in the large wildlife pond i plan to build i am going to section an area off to have fish in for heron and kingfisher food.

Newts will probably munch as many tadpoles as a smallish fish. Given the amount of spawn produced it's useful to have a few predators!

[Wild-Woman]

The trouble with netting a wildlife pond is that it's a danger to grass snakes. Twice I've rescued grassies that have got tangled up in it in my neighbours pond. They are attracted by the frogs and can end up in all sorts of difficulties. The last one had the netting so tight around it's head I thought it was too late but luckily made it.

[J S]

Hi chaps. If you want a true wildlife pond then fish are generally a nuisance. Sticklebacks are the worst!! If you would like to have any nexts in your pond, and for them to breed with a degree of success then i would avoid fish like the plague. This is more so with the great crested newt. The larvae of the GCN are a free floating larvae, unlike the other smaller 2, that hang about mid-water snapping at anything it can eat. This make the larvae easy prey indeed for any fish, sticklebacks more so. Apart from aesthetics,there is no reason for having fish as they do not help the ecosystem of the pond. But, its your pond...your decision. When i made my pond many years ago i did not introduce fish and its the best thing i ever did. Happy ponding!! JS

[Paul mabbott]

No problem eating some/most of the spawn but fish can be vacuum cleaners of all life stages. Problem is that 'smallish' fish, tend to become 'largeish' fish and a couple of fish become a lot of fishes .....

Insofar as ponds can be 'natural' they do not 'normally' have fish - that's a generalisation, of course, but generally true I would have no fish in a pond unless it were possible to compartmentalise them and leave an area free for wildlife.

I stress the 'pond' element of this - some of the people on here have what are effectively lakes: and that's a different matter for fish ....

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Newts will probably munch as many tadpoles as a smallish fish. Given the amount of spawn produced it's useful to have a few predators!

[tom00_uk]

if fish turn up after coming in as eggs on visiting birds feet then all the better

but i would not add any, if its a wildlife pond let the wildlife come in their own time

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by Dan Salter

See this is what i dont get?...your all nature lovers...then you fill a body of water with bright coloured highly visible non native heron food...then get annoyed when heron comes down to have a natural meal?....women

hi purplepixii i leave my waterfall outside the net have it on five foot canes tucked under rocks each side but both ends are open,birds still have baths in the waterfall all the time,i even had a blackbird flying under the net but he got out the other end,dragons and butterflys do the same,there not daft you know,never had a mishap yet,i think its because the net is raised 3 ft off the water,also there is a shelf all round the pond inside the net,works well and i havnt seen mr heron for ages.

[Paul mabbott]

Quite - a very good attitude! Let nature take its own course .... which surely is what we should be doing with any wildlife area?

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

if fish turn up after coming in as eggs on visiting birds feet then all the better

but i would not add any, if its a wildlife pond let the wildlife come in their own time

[yambang]

Hi, we have a fish/ nature pond and it is doing fine , it has tench ,roach and 5 coloured goldfish.
It also has a several frogs that inhabit the area,dont see alot of spawn but this has no bearing on the frog population in the garden but this could be due to neighbours having ponds too.
The best sighting because of the pond is very large green/blue dragon fly ,way bigger than the ones we got around here before the pond.I used to live in canada and the dragon fly we got hanging around our pool were of this large kind but i'm sorry I can't i d the type.
It also has a few water boatman that are a hit with my kids.

[coasty]

Originally Posted by nightshade

The existence of a pond (large or small) brings in all sorts of wildlife no
matter what occupies it,just get on and dig one you will never regret it

So well put, Absolutely right just go for it,,,,
In my humble opinion as a not particularly knowledgable nature lover there seems to be far to much worry as what is and what isnt suitable for a nature pond. I think if I had received some of the advice that I have seen on some threads here on the forum. I would have given up before I started.
I put in my pond 20 years ago and have thinned the weed out occasionally and keep a heap of wood that is to rotten to go on the woodburner in the bushes at the back of it. It has been emptied and cleaned twice and it supports goldfish frogs all breeding to excess, and all manner of insects, The birds bathe in it Hedgies feed around it and it even played host to a female mallard for a week or two from the local park. It gets visits from herons and the odd Mr foxy. Without doubt any pond / water feature will improve your enviroment. If the pond gives you pleasure and you want to see goldfish then put them in...