How to Make a Goldfish Pond for Bait
- 1). Dig a giant hole or find a suitable large waterproof container to house your pond. Use your shovel, pick axe and iron bar to create your pond hole and make it at least a foot deep and whatever circumference you think is needed to hold the amount of fish you want to keep in it at all times. Consider whatever you are using to line the pond when you conceive the ultimate design of the hole you dig.
An old water-bed skin is perfect material, but any kind of plastic that could double as a pool liner will do. Lay your plastic material in the finished hole, and if you are overlapping strips, keep the area as clean as possible while you are applying glue to overlap each strip. Keep the overlaps and seams to a minimum if you can. It's also better to use too much glue than not enough to ensure a tight seal. - 2). Pack the plastic into every empty space within the hole once all seals are dry. Use a few large rocks and all your smaller rocks to line the bottom. A few bags of fish tank gravel will create a nice surface on the bottom and keep the plastic tightly in position once water is poured on top of it. The edges of the plastic should be sticking out over the top of the hole at least 6 inches to a foot all around.
- 3). Flatten the plastic around the hole and keep it weighted down with large rocks. Like you would ring a campfire with rocks, build a tight perimeter around the pond by building a mini stone wall to contain it. You could also use the dirt from the hole to make a hybrid stone and earth barrier that will make the edge of the pond look even more natural. Fill the pond with water when your edging is complete.
- 4). Place the aerator stone connected to your battery powered aerator at the bottom of the pond and turn it on. These are sold at virtually every pet store and bait shop, but don't buy one made for a bait bucket. Get a more durable model made for being left outdoors for long periods of time.
If you are in a climate that gets cold or will require you to leave the fish outside in colder temperatures, get a heater you can leave plugged in for whenever you might need it.
Arrange the aquatic plants and grasses before you put your bait in. To promote a natural environment, get some brine shrimp to colonize the pond and to provide a continuous feed supply.
Your pond will be able to support a variety of small fish and other aquatic creatures in a self-sustaining ecosystem if you introduce all the right elements. Be careful to research the species you plan to raise and what they prefer to have in their natural habitat. Depending on where you live, you might even get some squatters from the natural surrounding environment that will invite themselves to live in your pond. Turtles, bugs and frogs are the most likely to appear out of the blue with time. Frogs and bugs may be harmless, but snapping turtles could make a quick meal of your bait fish, so shoo them away or drop them off at another pond if you can catch them. - 5). Wait a few weeks for the pond to season. Then place your store-bought or naturally caught bait in a large plastic bag full of water before dumping it in the pond. Let it float in this water bag for at least 30 to 40 minutes first, and then dump all the water and bait from the bag into the pond. The more fish you place in the pond, the better the odds of having sufficient male and female numbers for reproduction to be optimal. Find a good salesperson at a pet store to help you sex your starter fish and get you set up with an even amount to accomplish your pond stocking.
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