Stocking Your Pond - AnimalsGreat pond snailYour newly-made pond will act like a magnet to all sorts of pond-life. Very few animals need to be specially introduced. Dragonflies, pond skaters and beetles arrive on the wing amazingly quickly. Try to resist the temptation to introduce animals for about a year - it's fun to wait and see what turns up! If you have obtained water plants from another pond for stocking yours, you will probably find that several small animals came with them. The jelly-like snails' eggs almost certainly arrive this way and you could beg a few adult snails from a friend's pond. Snails are essential if you want clear water - they eat the algae which grows quickly in a new, still-unbalanced pond. In a new pond there is a shortage of dead plant material -essential food for tiny aquatic animals. A good way of rectifying this problem is to float chopped-up lengths of clean straw on a pond's surface. These sink to the bottom after a day or two and before long the invertebrates will increase quite dramatically. Frogs, toads and newts may find their own way to your new pond. It is useless, and cruel, to transplant adults - they will try to return to the pond they were born in. Don't take the spawn from a wild pond - beg it from someone else's garden pond. Goldfish are bad news for natural inhabitants - they eat them! If you like the idea of fish and your pond is fairly large, then introduce a few sticklebacks. Read More: Pond Management