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

The fish pond accessories you require will be a pond liner to hold the water, and a pond pump to keep the water circulating, plus you will need a biological pond filter to keep the water clean and provide a healthy environment for your fish and your pond plants. 

When building your fish pond it would be a good idea to make sure your pond is big enough and deep enough to accommodate those extra fish you might add at a later date, you should also try to incorperate some ledges around your fish 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 your fish some where to hide when they need to.

 I would suggest at least 4 foot deep as a minimum for your fish pond, this will also give your fish the ability to get out of the way of predators and is also a great way to control temprature during the summer months. Also try to make sure you situate your fish pond away from over hanging trees, as the falling foliage would sink to the bottom of the pond and create unwanted bacteria which could harm your fish.

There are much better ways of providing shade for your fish like installing water lillies and some marginal plants, 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 plants in your fish pond, is that they will add oxygen to the water and help to keep your fish pond healthy by removing excess nitrates and phosphates as well as making your fish pond look beautiful.

The shape of your garden fish 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 your fish pond. If your pond is going to be reasonably small to start with, then one of the fish pond accessories i suggest getting is a preformed liner that is already shaped with curves, this makes the job of installing a fish pond slightly easier. If you are looking to build a medium sized fish pond, then you should deisgn your pond with soft curves around the edges, then use a flexible liner made from rubber or pvc to follow the shape of your pond.

When you decide to purchase your fish pond accessories always make sure you get good quality items, a good quality pond pump and a good quality biological filter will go a long way to giving you a good healthy enviroment for your fish. The biological pond filter is one of the more important  accessories in my opinion, a good quality one will remove the impurities from your fish pond, including ammonia and nitrates which are not good for the health of your fish.

Once the fish pond is built and you have installed the neccesary fish pond accessories, it would be a good idea to give the pond around a week to settle down before you add your fish. Choosing the right fish to start your pond with is entirely up to you, a suggestion would be to start with the more affordable types of fish while your fish 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 a fish pond in your garden is a wonderful way of enhancing your property, but remember there is maintenance to consider when keeping a fish 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 your fish pond for years to come. 

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