A pond brings so much life to your outdoor space! Beautiful aquatic plants, all sorts of useful insects, and sometimes even fascinating wildlife like frogs, toads, and newts. But what if you don’t have the space for a full-sized pond? That’s where the mini pond comes in.
Although most fish grow too large to keep in a mini pond, you may be surprised to know that you do actually have some options in terms of livestock. Below, let’s have a look at 6 small pond fish that will help liven up your very own micro aquatic ecosystem.
What is a ‘mini pond’?
Although definitions can vary, we’d consider any water feature with a volume between 20-200 gallons to fall into the “mini pond” category. This means that mini ponds can range from large planters and barrels to small in-ground backyard systems.
A mini pond is a fantastic way to enjoy most of what’s awesome about ponds in general without sacrificing a lot of space. They’re perfect for a city balcony, deck, or tiny suburban backyards! You’ll be surprised at how much small wildlife a well-placed and well-planted mini water feature attracts.
Setting up your tiny pond is very easy, and you don’t have to be a pond expert to do it. The most important thing to keep in mind that small bodies of water are more prone to swings in temperature and water quality. It helps if you’ve already got some aquarium or pond experience.
Our tips for a successful mini pond:
- Place your pond in the shade. It will heat up too quickly and become prone to algae explosions in full sun, looking like pea soup throughout summer.
- Consider your climate. Unlike large, deep in-ground ponds, mini ponds easily freeze over. You may have to run yours only in summer, use a heater, or move it to an indoor space like a garage during winter.
- Use lots of aquatic plants. They provide shade, offer hiding places and foraging spots for bugs + beasts, and help keep the water quality high. They even combat algae!
- Make sure wildlife like frogs and insects can get in and out of the pond. Stacking rock “stairs” in and around it allows critters to swim in and drink from your pond.
- Keep your pond lightly stocked and choose appropriate fish. Abundant fish sounds fun, but adding too many or going for species that are too large can upset the balance of your mini ecosystem — which is not fun at all.
Below, let’s have a look at our top 6 of best small pond fish, the tiniest of which are suitable for water features as small as 20 gallons!
Did you know? Sometimes, you don’t even have to introduce any livestock into your mini pond. It’ll appear by itself! Frogs in particular will gladly flock to your pond if the conditions are right, and they might even choose to reproduce there. Truly a tiny slice of nature.
Small pond fish for your mini pond
Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
One of the most popular fish for small ponds is the fathead minnow, or specifically, its golden color morph: the rosy-red minnow. Growing to a maximum length of up to 4″, this species is actually a North American native. It’s also one of the most commonly sold feeder fish species.
Feeder fish are kept in large numbers in cramped conditions. Only hardy species can survive this, and that’s good news for us pond keepers! Fathead minnows are able to withstand both poor water quality and low oxygen levels. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should keep them in dirty ponds, but it does mean they’re forgiving of the occasional beginner mistake or unexpected parameter swing.
Fathead minnows are lively and fun to watch. If you keep the water quality in your pond high and temperatures aren’t too hot or cold, you may even find them reproducing. You can encourage spawning by placing objects like caves in your pond, as the minnows like to lay their eggs on the undersides of these.
| Name | Fathead minnow, rosy-red minnow, tuffy, Pimephales promelas |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 40+ gallons |
| Temperature range | 40-85 °F |
| Diet | Omnivore |
Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
If you live in North America or Europe, there’s a good chance the three-spined stickleback is a native fish for you. This teeny tiny (up to 4″) species, which can survive in waters ranging from brackish to fully marine, has a very wide natural range. For us and many others, it brings back memories of going out into local streams to catch fish and bugs when we were little!
As its name suggest, you can recognize the three-spined stickleback by the three spines on its back, in front of the dorsal fin. These are extremely hardy little fish that can do well in ponds. Do keep in mind that due to their territorial nature, it’s best to make them the only fish in smaller bodies of water.
Unfortunately, despite their suitability for pond life, it’s not easy to find three-spined sticklebacks for sale . It seems folks just aren’t that excited about keeping them, which is a pity! True, they need cooler water (max. 77 °F, and that’s for short periods of time) and they’re not very colorful, but their courtship behavior is fascinating and they make a great choice for a little biotope pond.
| Name | Three-spined stickleback, tiddler, Gasterosteus aculeatus |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 40+ gallons* |
| Temperature range | 39-77 °F |
| Diet | Micropredator |
Mosquitofish (Gambusia sp.)
Here’s a really cool little fish that has proven exceedingly useful to humanity: the mosquitofish or gambezi, which belong to the genus Gambusia. As their common name suggests, these small livebearers are mosquito control champions. They eat mosquito larvae for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Gambusia have historically been introduced into the wild outside their natural ranges to help control malaria outbreaks and other mosquito-borne diseases. This practice is now considered outdated because these fish do have invasive potential and can damage local ecosystems, but they still work well in our private ponds. We just have to make sure they don’t end up in waterways they’re not native to.
There are two species of mosquitofish that are native to the USA, Gambusia affinis (Illinois to Texas) and G. holbrooki (Pennsylvania to Florida). Both of these make excellent choices for your mini pond and will help prevent it from becoming a mosquito breeding ground. Add plenty of water movement and the larvae won’t stand a chance!
Did you know? Like other livebearers, such as swordtails, Gambusias breed quickly. You may be able to sell the offspring yours produce to other pond enthusiasts, or use them as live food for predatory fish in your other ponds or aquariums.
| Name | Mosquitofish, gambezi |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 20 gallons |
| Temperature range | 40-100 °F |
| Diet | Micropredator |
White cloud mountain minnow (Tanichthys albonubes)
If you’re an aquarist, you’ll probably know the white cloud mountain minnow as a popular freshwater aquarium fish. But did you know it can also make a good addition to small ponds thanks to its exceptional temperature resistance?
White cloud mountain minnows hail from mountainous regions in the Chinese Guangdong province, where they’ve evolved to adapt to strong seasonal temperature swings. As a result, you can keep these little schooling fish outdoors down to around 50 °F. According to a study on potentially invasive species in Canada, in fact, they can withstand temps as low as 41 °F for short periods of time. High temperatures are no problem either: they should be able to survive up to 104 °F temporarily.
This peaceful species gets along with similarly inoffensive fish. It likes a meaty diet and particularly appreciates frozen or live foods, including any mosquito larvae it may come across. Happy white clouds kept in groups (preferably 10+) may even spawn in your pond!
| Name | White cloud mountain minnow, Tanichtys albonubes |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 20+ gallons |
| Temperature range | 50-80 °F |
| Diet | Micropredator |
Japanese ricefish (Oryzias latipes)
Also commonly known as the medaka, the Japanese ricefish (Oryzias latipes) is indeed naturally found in Japan. A tiny (max. 1.5″) but hardy species, it occurs in rice paddies, ponds, and slow-flowing streams in its natural range. Given this affinity for shallow waters with minimal flow levels, it’s not surprising this little fish also does well in our garden ponds!
Because bugs are their favorite food, Japanese ricefish are often used to prevent mosquito infestations in ponds. They also make for a fun breeding project for the beginning pond keeper, as they reproduce readily and often.
As a result of selective breeding, a wide range of different ricefish color morphs now exists (with some fetching dazzling prices). Keep an eye out for medakas in shades of orange, silver, black, blue, and more. Heck, there’s even a fluorescent transgenic version, although obviously there’s still some discussion about whether it’s ethical to genetically modify fish with jellyfish DNA.
| Name | Japenese ricefish, medaka, Oryzias latipes |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 20+ gallons |
| Temperature range | 40-95 °F |
| Diet | Micropredator |
Weather loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)
Another popular aquarium species, the weather loach (also known as the dojo loach) is named after its ability to predict the weather. Well, kind of anyway — like many animals, they can sense the drop in barometric pressure that precedes a storm. Their response is to start swimming around frantically!
These unusual loaches have several adaptations that make them extra-hardy. For starters, they can breathe air if the water oxygen levels are too low. And if that’s not enough, they also possess the ability to burrow, allowing them to find relief from high or low temperatures whenever necessary. They’re also unusually tolerant to low water quality.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should keep your weather loaches in a dirty pond, but it does help. A water feature of at least 50 gallons (preferably more) should work well for this species. Freezing temperatures may be a bit much for your weather loaches, but they will do alright in waters as cold as 40 °F, at least for short periods of time.
Tip: Check the legal status of the weather loach in your region before acquiring one. They’re not legal everywhere anymore due to their invasive potential. If you keep this species, you should be absolutely sure it can’t escape into the wild! Depending on your location, you can consider alternatives like the European weather loach (Misgurnus fossilis) or spined loach
| Name | Weather loach, dojo loach, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Minimum pond size | 50+ gallons |
| Temperature range | 45-85 °F |
| Diet | Mostly carnivorous |
Bonus: Cherry shrimp (Neocaridina davidi)
Ornamental dwarf shrimp in a pond?! It’s a concept that might seem odd to aquarists used to keeping shrimp in their indoor tanks, but it can actually work well. Shrimp of the genus Neocaridina, including the super-popular cherry shrimp, hail from some of the same regions as white cloud mountain minnows. This makes them hardier than we tend to think — pond life actually suits them quite well.
Consider: the sunlight that hits a pond on a daily basis stimulates the growth of algae and biofilm. These happen to be the cherry shrimp’s favorite foods in the world.
Cherry shrimp work well in ponds that don’t contain larger fish, as any species that can fit them into their mouths will eat them. White cloud mountain minnows or ricefish can work as cherry shrimp pondmates, though be sure to use plenty of live plants so juvenile shrimp can hide until they’re large enough to avoid being eaten.
You can keep cherries outdoors year-round if temperatures in your area don’t drop much below 50 °F; otherwise, it’s best to bring them inside in winter. In large and deep ponds (not mini ones as we’re discussing here), they’ve actually been reported to survive frost.
| Name | Cherry shrimp, Neocaridina davidi ‘Red Cherry’ |
| Difficulty level | Intermediate (relatively fragile) |
| Minimum pond size | 10 gallons |
| Temperature range | 50-85 °F |
| Diet | Omnivorous, mostly plant matter |
Conclusion
Setting up and stocking a mini pond with some small pond fish is easier than you might think, and you’ve got a good few options in terms of livestock.
Need help setting up your mini pond, or even a full-sized one? Whether you just want a few white cloud mountain minnows or big, beautiful koi fish, FantaSEA Aquariums is here to help. Contact us with your pond ideas and we’ll make your dream water feature a reality!
Gertzen, E., Familiar, O., & Leung, B. (2008). Quantifying invasion pathways: fish introductions from the aquarium trade. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 65(7), 1265-1273.
