Thanks for your posts Peepaw and Esshup.
Our pond has rock and aquatic vegetation at this point, but I think I could put in some pipe left-overs from our French drain project to give them a place to swim into, and maybe some other hidey-hole type stuff, I'm creative - I'll figure something out.
The 4-5' deep hole is for us to swim in, so I don't want structure sticking up. If they want to go down there, that's fine - but the only structure that's there now is gravel and a vinegar bottle filled with rocks I'm using as an anchor for my plant island. The pond is shaded most of the day, but there are rock overhangs, the island, and trees that provide cover and shade.
Just so you understand, this is just a small backyard swim-pond - my fish will be (I hope this isn't a dirty word around here) pets. I'll only have a few, like suggested above, two sunnies and a bass. I figure they'll eat the goldfish I put in there, or at least most of them, so that will take care of the possible over population.
If you have access to FaceBook, look at my albums of my project. We dug it out of hard-pan clay by hand. It broke the Terramite we tried to use... so we had to use a pick axe. I did try to post pictures, but it didn't work before;- (
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http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150555274545922.376679.720390921&type=3#2
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150623892040922.386424.720390921&type=3#3
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150639229805922.388756.720390921&type=3Anyhow, I wish with all my heart I had a pond (and land!) like those I've seen from members on this forum. I am absolutely amazed at their sizes and how wonderfully done they are. Not only beautiful, but thoughtfully well-cared for. A source of recreation and food - just really impressive. I'd be jealous if I wasn't happy for you all. Someday, guys, someday...
PS, re O2:
I'm thinking of making a small windmill aerator for more O2 and in case of a power outage - right now we have the pump, two "waterfalls", and two periscope thingies sticking up from the circulation/plumbing/pipe that supplies the waterfalls, that sucks in additional O2.
