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Comment by chongli | Hacker News Reader

Get some White Cloud Mountain Minnows (usually just called White Clouds). These small fish love to eat mosquito larvae and tolerate cold water quite well (down to 41F/5C). If you later decide to remove them they shouldn’t be too difficult to catch. They’re also quite beautiful and come in a variety of colours.

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I have them, love them, and have kept them outside before. I've found their mouths are too small to eat fully-grown mosquito larvae, but as long as they get there before the mosquitoes do they will gladly eat the eggs and young larvae... they are top/middle feeders and will viciously nibble anything in the water column while completely ignoring anything on the bottom.

This year I'm hoping to try the variable platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus (though most just call them 'variatus'). They tolerate a similar temperature range to white clouds but they're slightly bigger and more likely to eat things off the bottom. They're livebearers, so they make more, but in fairness white clouds are among the easiest egg-scatterers to breed and will likely also make more in a pond.

I was thinking fish or frogs. I’d imagine little fish are easier? Do they just live on the “wildlife” or do you feed them ?

They are basically incompatible. Fishes eat frog eggs. Frogs eat small fishes. Ponds without fishes sustain a much higher diversity of invertebrates and amphibians (and this means more clear water).

If the pond is of a decent size and amphibians could hide in the margins, fishes could work. Yes. Native species are much better. In very small ones just toads and newts are a satisfying choice. Add frogs if you don't mind noise.

If you have a place for a mini pond my advice is, don't built it.

Go for a small pond instead. Miniponds look nice on yoputube but are really unstable, and much more difficult to manage long term. They "boil" in a few hours at full sun. Freeze in winter and water must be added all the time. Is the same mistake as starting aquaria with a too small tank. Most people just will quit the hobby in a few weeks.

What constitutes a small pond rather than a mini pond in your opinion? Like, what do you think is the minimum size for a stable pond ecosystem? Does depth or surface area matter more?

Less than 100 Liters is very difficult to manage but aim for 500-800 Liters at very minimum because you will want to make your pond bigger later. This can fit in any a little boring coin of a garden and will became the best part of the garden. Everything in a range of four to ten liters is not a pond, is a dog bowl and will became a mosquito nursery. I see those often adviced by youtubers that never tried to manage a pond seriously.

Beware. Ponds of all sizes are dangerous for toddlers and ponds must have a side with a gently slope so falling pets and animals can climb out. If you have children of less than five years, you --must-- cover the pond with a solid iron pond cover:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pond+cover&t=newext&atb=v411-1&iax...

Apart of this the "deeper" the pond the more animals will fit for the same price. More than 1 meter is normally unnecessary in a small garden

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