Fish ponds do require up keep and maintenance as well as fish pond accessories to keep them looking good and healthy for your fish, obviously the bigger the pond the more maintenance will be required.

The accessories you require will be a liner to hold the water, and a pump to keep the water circulating, plus you will need biological filters to keep the water clean and provide a healthy environment.

When building a pond it would be a good idea to make sure you know what accessories you need, this will help to make sure the pond is big enough and deep enough to accommodate those extra fish you might add at a later date, you should also try to incorporate some ledges around the pond when excavating the hole. 

The reason for this is that it will give you some where to install your marginal plants, and also give the fish some where to hide when they need to.

I would suggest at least 4 foot deep as a minimum for the pond, this will also give them the ability to get out of the way of predators and is also a great way to control water temperature during the summer months. 

Also try to make sure you situate it away from over hanging trees, as the falling foliage would sink to the bottom and create unwanted bacteria which could harm your pets.

on the buy fish pond accessories page you can find covers that can catch this falling debris and protect your fish from predators for a very minimal cost.

There are accessories which will help with providing shade for your pride and joy like installing water lillies and some marginal foliage, not only will this give them some shade it will also give them some cover from predators such as herons and kingfishers and not forgetting cats.

One great advantage of installing accessories like aquatic plants in a garden pond, is that they will add oxygen to the water and help to keep fish healthy by removing excess nitrates and phosphates as well as making your pond look beautiful and healthy.

The shape of your garden pond should also be a consideration before starting work on it, try to stay away from having any sharp corners in the design, curves are a much better idea when designing.

If the pond is going to be reasonably small to start with, then one of the accessories i suggest getting is a preformed liner that is already shaped with curves, this makes the job of designing slightly easier. 

If you are looking to build a medium sized fish pond, then you should design it with soft curves around the edges, then use a flexible liner made from rubber or pvc to follow the shape of the hole.

When you decide to purchase your fish pond accessories always make sure you get good quality items, a good quality pump and a good quality biological filter will go a long way to giving you a good healthy environment for your fish.

The biological filter is one of the more important items in my opinion, a good quality type will remove the impurities, including ammonia and nitrates which are not good for the health of your pets.

Once the pond is built and you have installed the necessary accessories, it would be a good idea to give it around a week to settle down before you add your fish.

Choosing the right types of fish to start the pond is entirely up to you, a suggestion would be to start with the more affordable types while the pond settles down, then you can move up to the more exotic types such as the wonderful varieties of koi carp there is available.

Keeping fish in your garden is a wonderful way of enhancing your property, but remember there is maintenance to consider when adding a pond.

By using good quality fish pond accessories the maintenance should be kept down to a minimum level, giving you plenty of time to relax and enjoy a great hobby looking after it for years to come.

Click the link to find a great video and more fish pond design advice

If you are thinking of keeping koi fish and would like some guidance and great advice then click on link to find a great e-book "koi fish for beginners" it has a step by step guide on keeping koi fish and the fish pond accessories needed.

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