Adding Fish to your Pond

Fish complete a pond for most people. It’s great fun to watch your fish grow over the years and for many they are as much a part of the family as a dog or cat.

It pays to think about whether you want to have fish at the design stage of your pond. A depth of 3’ (0.9m) or so is necessary to keep fish in the UK since we need to protect them from the worst of the winter weather. If you plan to keep koi then you should have at least part of the pond 4’ (1.2m) or more in depth.

The type and number of fish that you plan to have will make a difference to the capacity of the pump and filter that you need. A pond with no fish will need a smaller pump and filter to achieve water clarity than one where there are lots of fish.
Click here to see our guide on choosing the right size of filter and pump.

When you add fish to your pond, you need to be careful that you don't add lots at one time. This can cause something called 'new pond syndrome' and your fish could die. Click here to see our article on friendly bacteria  which goes into this in more depth.

Or click here to see a list of all our pond building guides