You may well be asking yourself, why are we discussing fish choices on a swimming pool website? Well, that’s an easy one. You see, because we both supply and help you to maintain garden ponds as well as the other fabulous products and services that we offer, and we’d like to make your life a little easier.

If you are one of the many South African families who are planning on creating (or refurbishing) a pond in your garden, then it’s very likely you will want to populate it with a gorgeous selection of fish life.

Adding a few finned friends to your pond adds interest, aids the environment, assists in keeping your pond healthy, and helps to keep mozzies at bay. However, an outside fish pond requires a little more management know-how than a goldfish bowl. And if we want to ensure that we aren’t consigning our new pets to a watery grave, we’d do well to start with the right fish.

What Fish For A Starter Fish Pond?

If you’re just getting started on your fish pond adventure, then we recommend you consider the following:

Local Climate

Choosing indigenous fish species over exotic ones will give your new friends the best chance of survival. Our local climate can experience temperature extremes, environmental challenges and native predators which can easily wipe out your little scaly friends in a day.

Fish Variety

Some fish are pretty placid on their own but will turn aggressive when in a closed environment with other species. It’s always best to start with one fish type until you learn more about how to care for them than to create an unstable political arena in your garden and find your investments floating belly up for no good reason.

For example, if you are mixing Koi and Goldfish, especially in a smaller pond, the larger fish may (inadvertently) eat the smaller fish, or their eggs and babies

Pond Maintenance

Some fish species will take some of the cleaning duties off your hands as they feed off the algae in the pond. Both Koi and goldfish eat string algae for example. Bottom feeders can also pick up the slack by cleaning up after their roommates which saves on Saturday pond vacuuming duty.

Cost

Start with a cheaper fish. No, really. Some of those massive, gorgeous Koi will set you back a few thousand Rand – and will be incredible to watch until a passing Heron decides to stop for a snack.

For a full list of indigenous South Africa fish which would make good addition to your garden pond, take a read of this article which offers a more detailed breakdown of what you can expect from each species.

For all your garden pond and pool supplies, we’re here for you! Chat with one of our friendly team today.