Outdoor Pond in Northern California

[SamJ]

Here are my adventures in stocking an outdoor pond in Northern California (South Bay). 
 

My parents have a ~4000 gallon pond in their backyard. I’m visiting them for the summer because of remote work (the one good thing about coronavirus; that and spending more time with my girls). We used to have some comets and goldfish in there when I was younger, but those got eaten by raccoons and herons, so now it’s just mosquito fish and tons of amazing water lilies. Since I’m around, I thought I spruce it up a bit for all the grandkids to enjoy. I ordered 20 golden white clouds (shout-out to Aqua Huna), which I added to the pond today, and I picked up two dozen red cherry shrimp from a local breeder on Craigslist which I will add tonight or tomorrow. I figure I’ll never see the shrimp unless they really thrive and reproduce into the thousands, but the white clouds are fantastic already, showing up like a beacon against the dark bottom. 
 

I’ll see if there is any increase over the next month and a half, but I’m really hoping to see a school of a hundred when I come back for Thanksgiving. And if I’m really lucky they’ll over-winter just fine and still be around next spring/summer. The local breeder keeps his shrimp in an outdoor tank all year round, and the winters here are mild enough (and the pond deep enough) that I’m hoping everything will cruise along. 
 

Just wanted to make a record of my experience, in case anyone else wants to give it a go. 

Edited July 22, 2021 by SamJ

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Excellent!  Following.  I grew up in the South Bay as well.  My experience is much like yours. 

I dug and cemented in a 14' diameter pond with a creek and water fall when I was in Jr. High.  We had comets and mosquito fish (Santa Clara county used to give those out for free).  Frogs found the pond soon enough.  Then so did the herons and egrets.  Once the raccoons found it...  Well, that's when the trouble started.  They had a blast trashing it repeatedly though!  My parents, tired of the constant battle to keep the plants and fish alive with the Ibiza levels of raccoon partying going on, finally filled it in a few years back.

I'm excited to get to hear your stories and think of what could have been going back to visit my folks today had my pond remained.

[Taco Playz]

I was thinking about getting a pond so I was wondering about raccoons I will be watching this thread closely!

[SamJ]

Two week update: 

The white cloud are still there and seem to be having a good time. They mainly hang out underneath a little footbridge by the waterfall. Not sure if that's because that is where I released them, or if they're getting bullied by the mosquitofish (some of which are pretty massive). When I throw in some Fluval Bug Bites (every few days or so), they're not really interested in it, so I assume they're eating other stuff in the pond. 

The cherry shrimp are, predictably, nowhere to be seen. My niece claims to have seen one, but she also says she saw a mermaid in there, so her testimony is a bit suspect. 

I'm also thinking of putting some pond comets in there, but there are a few things giving me pause. My parents don't run the pump most of the time (although I just bought them a timer, so it should get a consistent few hours each day), so filtration will be mostly non-existent. Also, I don't know how often they'll feed the fish. I can easily see weeks or months going by without feeding. They're all about minimizing upkeep. So could I put half a dozen in there to see how they do? It's a pretty big pond and covered with water lillies, so biological filtration should be ok, but there won't be much aeration most of the time. 

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/4/2021 at 1:04 PM, SamJ said:

When I throw in some Fluval Bug Bites (every few days or so), they're not really interested in it

So, I've found that all my fish, and even my snails, will not touch any foods that contain Black Solider Fly (BSF) as a significant ingredient.  It's unfortunate, because I really want them to like it as it's so sustainable!  I'm sure other people are not having this problem because the stuff is still on the market, but perhaps trying another food would help?

On 8/4/2021 at 1:04 PM, SamJ said:

My niece claims to have seen one, but she also says she saw a mermaid in there, so her testimony is a bit suspect.

Love it!  🤣

[ChemBob]

On 8/4/2021 at 2:04 PM, SamJ said:

The cherry shrimp are, predictably, nowhere to be seen. My niece claims to have seen one, but she also says she saw a mermaid in there, so her testimony is a bit suspect. 

Sounds like my house! I love how ponds and tanks inspire the young ones imagination. 

[SamJ]

One last post before leaving California for the summer. I've spent many of my office hours by the pond pounding on my laptop at a small card table, shifting to stay under the shade of a magnolia tree. I'm really going to miss this setup when I go back to New York. It's amazing being able to glance over to see the fish in the pond, the dragonflies perched on the lilies, and the hummingbirds dancing through the air. The white clouds are looking fat and happy, and counted 17 when I was feeding them so I think they'll do just fine. I'll be back in a couple of months, so I'm hoping to see a few more (unless the mosquitofish eat all the fry). No sight of the shrimp, but that's not unexpected. 

On a separate note, I set up a mini scape in an old 1.5 gallon vase in my dad's office (I caught him obsessing over the shrimp before I added them to the pond). I put a tiny 1w pump in there surrounded by coarse sponge and covered in a pile of pebbles. I had a couple of baby mosquitofish in there for several weeks, to help get the tank cycled with no problems. Last weekend I got half a dozen cherry shrimp, removed the fish (back into the pond with you!) and put the shrimp in there. They looked pretty happy, so I went to the bathroom to dump out the old water. When I returned, I found, to my horror, that most of the shrimp had somehow found their way past the sponge, into the intake and, sadly, through the impeller. My father now has a no-fert, no-filtration nano tank with anubias, hornwort, and two beautiful fire red cherry shrimp. We'll see how that goes. I think I may be haunted by the site of floating shrimp bits forever. Lesson number 1 - shrimp have a death wish. Lesson number 2 - maybe I should have siliconed the sponge around the intake. 

Thanks for reading, and hopefully everything will survive until Thanksgiving.