Wildlife Pond & Hosepipe Ban

[Wendy G]

Hi. I've just joined this community and would really appreciate some advice. I have a small lined pond (5ft across, shallow around edges & 2ft deep in centre) which I made myself to attract wildlife. I don't get any frogspawn but by late Spring my pond is teeming with frogs, newts, snails etc and its also filled with marsh marigolds & water lilies (its overcrowded at present but I'll thin out once marigolds have finished flowering). My problem is that its about 100ft from my house & suffers from evaporation during warm weather and there's a hosepipe ban in my area from 5 April unless there are fish in it ! I've never kept fish before as I live by a river and don't want to attract herons ... are there any small fish that would survive alongside the frogs etc but wouldn't attract herons or require much feeding? Any advice or suggestions would be very welcome.

[Aeonflame]

There might be some small native creek fish you would be able to keep. It depends on your local laws and species

[magicmed]

maybe a labrynth fish? youll have to get expert advice but if you live in a warm climate maybe a few gourami?

[UncleWillie]

Go to the local bait store and see what they have. That way you'll get native (sometimes) and there won't be a huge risk if your pond ever overflows to that nearby river. Fish in a pond is a most if you want to keep mosquitoes down. The most common fish you'll see in there are either golden shiners or the Pimephales sp (fathead/bluntnose/bullhead minnows), both of which do well in ponds. There are numerous other species that you'll find in bait shops (depending on where you live), like red shiners, bullheads, etc. This is a very cheap alternative to catching your own native fish.

[smaug]

Rosy red minnow. They are very hardy and do exceptionally well in ponds like yours.

[UncleWillie]

In my experience, the fatheads / rosy reds are in generally better shape in bait shops than they are feeder tanks. Around here, bait shops also tend to have larger fish when you get them as opposed to the small, young, emaciated ones in the LFS.

[Crispy]

as stated above, most local baitfish will work. as would small mosquitofish.

ever think of collecting rainwater to keep the pond from evaporating so much? they sell multiple styles of rain barrels and such.

[wijnands]

I was thinking just that. I got a 120 liter barrel with a lid on it for next to nothing. Prop it up on a few stones so it allows easy access to the tap. Whenever it really pours I set out buckets and pails and whatnot and empty those in the barrel.

All depends on your garden of course but you could install 2 or three of these barrels and camouflage them with ivy

[ElizabethJKR]

Really random question, is there a way to make the pond a little deeper and larger to perhaps help slow the amount of evaporation? I feel like with the pond so shallow, it's allowing the water to warm up quicker and evaporate more.

Then again, just a random question that I thought might help. I don't know if there are size/depth limits for ponds in your area.

[ScottishFish]

+1 to the above, shallower water can heat up faster and therefore increase evaporation rates. Ah I love living in Scotland, never any need for a hosepipe ban. Unlike England at the moment (tries not to giggle)