A backyard pond filled in with clear water and some aquatic plants is quite a beautiful decoration to a garden area by itself, but if you add fish to it, it will certainly get another amazing dimension, thanks to their effortless movement and the calming effect they have when you look at them.

But, adding fish in the pond makes the ecosystem much more complex, since they are living organisms that eat, breath, and discharge waste products in the pond. This waste is nutrient rich and, if the pond is not regularly maintained, it will contribute to the growth of algae, or in worst case deprive the fish of needed oxygen and kill them. You must consider this before you decide to put fish in your pond.

If you are really serious about raising fish in your pond, you must install an elaborate filtration system that will extract large quantities of the nutrients and other chemical byproducts that are produced by the fish.

To even think of keeping fish in the pond, your pond must be at least 18 inches deep. Shallow water easily changes its temperature, which is very stressful for the fish. The deeper the water, the better, since the temperature changes would be moderate, fish will be able to better get through the winter in a deeper pond, and different animals, like raccoons or herons won’t be able to that easy catch the fish for a snack.

There is no easy answer to the question how many fish you can put in the pond. There are different generalizations, but these are not always true, and you need to consider the depth of the pond and the filtration system you can install, together with how big is your willpower to take care of them, in order to determine the quantity of the fish you can raise in the pond. However, it is very important to make sure that the fish is adapted to the temperature of the water in the pond when you put it inside. Thus, it is recommended to first put them together with their bag, allowing them about 15 minutes time to accommodate, and the temperature between the bag and the pond to equalize, and then release the fish into the pond. If it is sunny outside, it would be better to cover the bag to protect the fish from overheating.

These are just some considerations you need to be aware of before deciding to add fish to your pond. If you are ready to raise them with devotion, you will certainly have one more beautiful place in your backyard to enjoy and relax at.