Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose New Pond under a year old

So I am a new pond person and excited to be here. I am in the US in New York and the pond is about 10ft by 12 ft and about 2 ft deep (no clue how many gallons that is) it also has a waterfall going into it, filter, sump, aerator. I do not want Koi but am looking for some interesting fish or creatures to keep in the pond that can withstand the winter and are somewhat self sufficient since sometimes I am gone for a couple months at a time. Right now I just have some tadpoles, red rosy minnows and some trapdoor snails. I was considering weather loaches and am open to any interesting fish that could do well. I have a built in cave. Not sure what else to add but hopefully can get a few suggestions here. I wouldnt mind some very small catfish that could survive the winter

I dont know how cold it actually gets there in NY but I would guess reasonably cold, that size pond could freeze into a solid block of ice in the winter I would guess, maybe not.
One problem that I know you will run into is predators, unless you can control it pretty close to full time, coons and Herons will completely empty your pond of fish, I have had them do that to mine, we built a little bait pond and put some goldfish into it while it was very shallow and small still, just starting to fill up, they cleaned out every single one of them in a short time.
I would guess you could put any variety of fish into it, at your preference, remembering that some species need colder water to survive, a cold water fish wouldnt be a good idea. Good Luck!

Welcome to Pond Boss!!

I echo Jake's comments.

You'd have to keep the water moving with an aerator, or even some kind of water heater. You'd also have to put a net or chicken wire over the pond to keep land-based predators out.

I have a neighbor who had a shallow koi pond near their house, and they do keep a few channel catfish in it, so that could be an option.

Thanks, I do have an aerator and a running waterfall during the winter. Kept it on all winter with 0 problems. I use a dosing system after the winter as well. How big do channel catfish get? I am looking for catfish under 2 inches so there are no problems in the ecosystem.

You can go to most pet/fish stores and buy baby channel catfish, but they will grow, generally, and eventually outgrow your pond, or die off.

Channel Cats can grow to well over 5 lbs and much larger, however, in your smaller pond, and depending on feed, maybe a few pounds, but it wont' be a great environment for the CC as they get larger.

yeah was hoping there are some smaller catfish that do well in the winters also