poor little fish, why not get him some pals.
the plant coverage looks good at the moment,fish from time to time come up to the surface to get a gulp of air for their swim bladder & anything underneath thats not getting any sun would get stagnant. give away your fish if you just want plants, fish are companion animals and love company.

Haha, I 'll add 1 more fish. This 1st one was put in the pond by a friend when I wasn't home. So if I have a few more fish, you wouldn't recommend any more plant coverage than what is there now?

Thanks,

looks about right to me here's a little inspiration
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its spring in australia, almost ready to spawn

the surface of your pond should be covered with approx 40-50% of pond plants
cheers mazela

With one or two fish the whole surface can be covered, esp. since you have a fountain stirring the water.

However, I will point out that there is such a thing as ONE fish, but to say there's no such thing as TWO fish is hardly an over-statement! Unless they are both boys, both girls, or differing species, they will reproduce. And their offspring will reproduce. And their offspring's offspring, and...

You get the picture.

Sharon,

I will give away extra fish when that happens. I've set my limit at 4.

Thanks,

You have to remember that plants give off oxygen during the day but deplete oxygen at night. So if you have more than 60% plant coverage that doesn't leave much room for oxygen. I see you do have a bubbler which will give some oxygen. Each goldfish needs at minimum 1 square foot of surface area from what I've read. Koi need much much more and will root your plants. So if you like lotsa plants and few fish go for the plants. If you like fish less plants but make sure you have oxygenating plants like hornwort.

OMG... Mazela your fish are stunning! Are they regular goldfish? or are they fantails... How long have you had them? How big where they when you got them?
That is what I want in my pond... Instead I have a trillion mosquito fish :(

And Newgen 9 how did you get your Water Hyacinths to multiply like that? I have a few yellowish looking one floating forlornly in my pond...

hi annaca
why thank you for your comments.some are fantails , I think some are veil tails, and i have what i think is one wakin plus a baby wakin.
some of the bigger ones i have had for a couple of years, they started in water barrels with bio filtration and did well till my husband built the pond , they get fed hikari lionhead sinking pellets peas & live worms from time to time. lots of plants floating & below the water (eel grass, a big UV for clarity & a large biofilter they just seem to do fine.
Its lovely when others comment on your babies, I love just watching the pigs with fins(they love to eat)
i sometimes buy a smaller one if i think they might have potential (nice tails, deep bodies, good colourings)
i know that some people just have normal comets but fancies seem to do so well in ponds why not have them.

cheers mazela

Hi Mazela,

How big is your pond? I have a 10 x 6, with a depth of 18 inches. I would love to have water cover like you do, but somehow my water hyacinths didn't do well at all. This is my first year as a ponder and some day I hope to have fish like yours :)... Now if only I could get rid of those darned mosquito fish :(

hi annaca
its approx 10ft x 7. but its nearly 3 ft deep. the reason being that in qld here. its get quite hot (104 in summer) so i thought that being a bit deeper helps with the fishes being able to escape the heat of summer, so far so good.
i would think the same would work for the cold.

a few more pics

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a wise man said once when you keep fish you will become a water keeper, that i have found is so true. get the water right and everything will follow.

you too will become one of the addicted. I also have a large UV light to help with the clarity, i think you will agree it helps.

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regards mazela

OMG... I am in love...and insanely jealous at the same time ;)