Behold: A Pond

To the surprise of both Adam and myself, the pond was built and the fish stocked! This has been in my dreams for a very long time but I was never able to fully realize it because I had very little confidence that I could pull it off–it was new and scary but a combination of downtime and having dipped my foot into using a bunch of power tools to help the husband unit build our new deck from scratch (also another project that had been in my dreams for a while), I decided to jump in, learning a whole lot in the process!

First we had to level where it was going to be–debating back and forth whether it should be in the ground or not, stock tank or wood or paver blocks and liner, shape, and how many gallons, I finally settled on a 300 gallon, 8 feet long by 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall metal stock tank from Tractor Supply because we saw some wood ones at the local koi pond store that were bowed out in the center from the water pressure. I also didn’t want to be hauling blocks of pavers and hating myself every step of the way.

To prevent the tank from sinking into the ground and rusting from moist soil contact, I built a frame with drainage rocks for it to sit on. Because I didn’t want the gravel to sink into the dirt, I attached leftover hardware cloth under the frame and then a layer of weed barrier cloth on which the gravel would cover.

However, because the stock tank is metal, I was worried about rust and leaking (some reviews mentioned the seams were not always secure), I decided to purchase pond liner anyway and placed it inside. Other options I researched included rubber pond sealant, but read about flaking on the edges so decided against it. Much to my amusement, folding the liner was very similar to pleating hakama and I joked that all those years of doing so was just preparing me to pleat pond liner. To secure it to the outside I used a metal pipe strap (although in hindsight it wasn’t necessary.)

Originally I wanted to just build a top for it to hide the edge of the liner, but quickly realized the stock tank would heat up in the sun. In order to hide the liner which I chose not to cut since it has an insulating effect doubled over, I built a pressure treated wood facade over it.

For the filter system, this was going to be an aquaponics system where the water would be filtered through a grow medium to absorb both excess fish waste and process the nitrogen waste produced. I built a box around a waterfall feature and chose a 550GPH 30watt pond pump, and had it dump into a concrete mixing box into a mesh pond basket lined with coconut planter fiber and gravel for medium. My sister helped me jump start the cycling process by giving me some water and filter media from her tank, so that it could establish more quickly.

We have problems with raccoons and herons eating pondfish in our neighborhood, so I added a hinged slat cover that I could look into and it can let light through, but not allow predators to reach in. I soon realized that it would bake in the sun, so I created a shade structure over it and sewed a noren style curtain cover out of outdoor cloth, found some adorable goldfish patches and put them on to give a pop of color.

For this year I just took some clippings of basil and tomatoes from the garden and stuck them in to see if they’ll do anything and I’m happy to report they’re already growing roots! As far as pond plants go, I chose hardy lotus, pickerel rush, and arrowhead–all of which are native edibles.

Now onto the fish part! I was waffling back and forth between channel catfish and tilapia, but it would’ve costed way too much (over $100) to ship them to me and defeated the purpose of a self sustaining low cost fish production pond. I agonized and then one day wondered if carp, specifically common goldfish, was edible. I knew they could overwinter and breed outdoors here in our climate, and after winning one from a festival in my childhood knew they grew at an alarming rate, my curiosity was piqued. The consensus on the internet was that they are but unpalatable due to the amount of bones they have–however, growing up in an Chinese household meant that lots of bones in fish was not a problem as we learned early on how to eat around them!

We went to the local pet shop (Adam being resigned that this is really happening) and picked up a bunch–I requested they be the dark gray/brown ones so when it came time to process them, it wouldn’t quite feel so much like eating actual goldfish. I planned to smoke them come Christmas time, as I knew smoked carp is a delicacy in Eastern Europe. Adam started warming up to the idea and called them carp rather than goldfish to overcome his ick factor.

Then a few weeks later, I had lunch with my sister and my mom and my mother mentioned a carp species they used to eat back in Taiwan… that had a lot of bones and didn’t grow very big, maybe 8-12 inches. However, she said it was delicious and one of her and my grandmother’s favorite fish that was often served during new years.

The fish would be fried until the bones shatteringly crisp, and then dumped into a sauce to steep. It was a side dish eaten cold. She also said it’s the traditional fish used in Sichuanese fish sauce with bean paste, but since it cannot be found in supermarkets here (neither the Asian ones nor American ones), another species of carp is used. She knew the Chinese name (鲫鱼) for it, but not the English, so we broke out Google translate.

Crucian. Carp.

The common name for both Carassius carassius–true Crucian carp, and Carrasius auratus–Goldfish. The two species are very, very close and often difficult to tell apart. The first of which is found in Eurasia, the second from East Asia so more than likely the fish of my mom’s childhood is, in fact, our common goldfish. We had a good laugh and I explained I’ll bring some over this winter when they’re ready to harvest. In optimal conditions they can grow 1-2 inches a month! The general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per ten gallons of water–so I can support a maximum of thirty full sized ones at any given time!

So now that I know this, it’s full steam ahead–I can’t wait to complete a full cycle of this project from start to fin(d)ish! I’m already dreaming of them salted and smoked and stored, and also to try a taste of the dish my mom remembers.