Ask any individual to describe what they imagine when asked to picture a pond, and most people will have a very specific idea of what a pond is. Ask many different people and you will probably get many different views on what a pond could be.

This broad spectrum of ideas stems from the fact that ponds do represent many different things to many people. Ponds can be temporary water pools that do not even survive the warmer summer months, to the ornate formal garden pond of a stately home or even the humble back garden fish pond. There are a multitude of other varieties that could probably populate a full page if every possible variety were listed. To emphasise the variety, it is almost impossible to find agreement on what actually defines a pond. There are many water holes that can be happily classified as ponds with little chance of dissent. However, as you approach the extremes of size there can be much discussion and clearly no absolute boundaries for what constitutes a pond, as opposed to a lake for example.

To compound the confusion further, there is not even clarity for naming the humble garden pond, or should I say, water garden. The beauty of all these vagaries and inconsistencies is that ponds do come in almost limitless form, and as such, it is always possible to appeal to many different tastes and also create something that is that little bit unique. Nobody could ever tell you that your pond doesn’t fit the dictionary description of a pond.

Fish belong to a group of animals that are commonly referred to as cold blooded. The scientific term for these types of creatures are ectotherms or poikilotherms. These are creatures whose body temperatures are dependent on the environmental temperature.

As the body temperature of such creatures is directly linked to the environmental temperature, fluctuations in water temperature will have a direct impact on your fish. Temperature fluctuations outside of a the limits of tolerance for your particular fish will result in health issues.

Additionally, the temperature of the water in your fish pond can affect the health of your fish through the impact of temperature on the dissolved oxygen content in pond water. As the temperature of water rises, its capacity to hold oxygen decreases. As oxygen is essential for your fish health, a decrease in oxygen levels can have a profound effect. To compound issues with a decrease in oxygen, the exact warmer conditions that created this reduction, also prompt increased physiological activity in your fish. This increased activity creates an increased demand on oxygen at the worst possible time. When fish do suffer as a result of an oxygen shortfall, it will be larger fish who fare worse due to their greater oxygen demands.

Over winter, when the water is particularly cold, the fish metabolism slows right down and there is a prolonged dormant period. As water warms in spring, the fish become increasingly more active as their metabolism comes to life. During this period, the immune system of your fish will be re-establishing itself and for a period of possibly weeks, their health can be compromised by an underperforming immune system.

With the possible exception of some Koi ponds, plants are an essential element to any pond or water garden.
The need for pond plants is accepted and understood but not all aquatic planting is performing the same task, so a variety of plants should generally be utilised to provide the best possible environment, be this for fish or purely wildlife.

Water lilies are a group of plants frequently purchased for their visual appeal. Throughout June to October, lilies will provide beautiful flowers. These are not solely decorative plants though. The shade provided by the leaves of the lilies provide shelter for your fish from the sun and predators, they also help to limit algal growth by restricting the sunlight reaching the water’s surface.

Marginal plants form a useful food source and habitat for many insects and other wildlife. This contribution to the bio-diversity of your pond will help to ensure that contaminants and pond life is well balanced which ultimately means less maintenance for the pond keeper in addition to a broader spectrum of interest within the pond.

Oxygenators are the plants that really do help to promote a healthy environment. All of the plants introduced to your pond will provide oxygen but these plants, such as Lagarosiphon major(Elodea Crispa), are very efficient at performing this function.

Floating pond plants add to the function of providing shade in addition to utilising excess nutrients and keeping algae at bay. These plants have the added advantage of not requiring planting although they may need thinning out if they become too pervasive.

Oxygen, oxygen and more oxygen. Quite simply you cannot have too much of the stuff, or more importantly, your fish can’t have too much of the stuff.

Whilst fish inhabit a very different environment to land based animals and their bodies work in different ways, some of their basic physiological needs are exactly the same as yours and mine. Fish need food and oxygen is essential for them to turn food into energy that enables them to function.

A significant difference is that fish obtain their oxygen from the water in which they live. Unlike land based mammals who will always be surrounded by an abundant supply of oxygen, your fish in their self contained pond will be using what can be a limited supply of oxygen.

Nature very cleverly achieves balance and generally a natural pond will only populate to a level that can be sustained based on a complex array of factors. Bearing in mind that even nature gets this wrong sometimes, it is easy to see how a poorly conceived pond could leave its inhabitants struggling for sufficient supply of a basic need such as oxygen.

Oxygen that is used by your fish is replaced in the water by absorption at the water’s surface and through the process of photosynthesis in your pond plants. Oxygen shortages commonly occur in ponds that are heavily stocked as the oxygen is simply used more quickly than it is replaced. This effect can be overcome by creating water movement using waterfalls and fountains powered by a pond pump and also ensuring that sufficient plant life is present.

If you choose to have a pond with the intention of having wildlife inhabit it, it is most likely you will need to choose between either a wildlife pond, OR a fish pond. Whilst fish and other wildlife are not mutually exclusive (as proved by nature) the confines of the typical garden pond may simply provide rich pickings for your fish, should you introduce frog spawn or similar wildlife.

If you are fortunate enough to have sufficient space, careful planning in elements such as choice and quantity of fish will enable wildlife and fish to inhabit the same pond in balance (if not necessarily harmony). An alternative solution is to have two ponds, one for wildlife and one for fish. Whilst this will obviously make its own demand on space, the overall area required to successfully have both a wildlife pond and a fish pond will potentially be less than that required to have one pond doing both jobs.

The difference between the two types of ponds is quite straightforward, the wildlife pond, in its purest form, should be a very low maintenance entity that largely populates itself and establishes its own balance. Whilst a wildlife pond should be conceived intelligently, it will largely be self supporting and will not actively require stocking to attract local wildlife. A fish pond is essentially a creation of your own making that will be essentially an artificial environment. Again, a well conceived fish pond should still only require minimal management but there will undoubtedly be greater demands on cleaning, husbandry and water treatments than in the wildlife pond.

Needless to say, no matter how patient you may be, unlike the wildlife pond, your fish pond will most certainly not populate itself with fish without some form of intervention somewhere along the line (not in your lifetime anyway).