If you have a new pond or even an existing pond, most owners will realise the difficulties found when stocking the pond with fish. If you are adding fish to an existing pond or starting from scratch, you should make sure the pond is ready for the new additions.

If you have a new pond then you should make sure the pond pump and pond filter have been running for at least a week. The pond should have already been planted and if you have time, the pond should be allowed to mature so the water has passed through the filter a number of times. Tap water contains chemicals that are harmful to your fish so if you can, always use collected rain water when filling the pond.

If you have an existing pond and you are adding more fish, you need to make sure you are not going to overstock the pond. Make sure your pond can accommodate the extra fish; an overstocked pond is an unhealthy pond. If you are replacing fish that have recently died you need to determine why the fish died in the first place. Did the fish die of a disease, old age or due to poor water quality? All these things need to be looked at so new fish that are added to the pond do not face similar problems.