Soldato
Thanks
So the sponges should be rinsed in a bucket of pond water and then emptied around the garden.
***The Pond Discussion Thread****
- Thread starter easyrider
- Start date
Thanks
So the sponges should be rinsed in a bucket of pond water and then emptied around the garden.
Well the four hungry hippo's metabolism is going strong - they've already eaten through the 1.75kg of Medikoi.. so and additional 3kg purchased today.
The water cress is going crazy providing some shade, the lilly pads are going strong adding some surface shade and flowering. Water params good.
Water looking clear but with some tannin tint, I can see right to the bottom of the lilly pads.
The water cress is going crazy providing some shade, the lilly pads are going strong adding some surface shade and flowering. Water params good.
Water looking clear but with some tannin tint, I can see right to the bottom of the lilly pads.
Anyone recommend a treatment for blanketweed? Been told that me scooping it out with the net is making things worse and causing seeds to drop etc...So looking for some kind of eco friendly solution. Im sure im not the only one with this problem so hoping you guys can advise.
Soldato
I trust you are using a Butyl liner?
I made a 28ftX14 pond where I lived before and had a rustic bridge across one end and learned a lot of lessons of what can go wrong.
Be very aware of what plants you put in, many garden centres sell water plants that are common in the UK, many are unbelievably rampant and even if planted in baskets will send out runners that quickly take root in the silt on the bottom. Never be tempted to collect nice looking bog plants such as Irises etc from your local river, you will likely introduce the eggs of parasites which can attach themselves to your fish.
Although soil will seep from the planting baskets the biggest culprit is probably rain! It washes the airborne dust out of the sky and deposits it on everything below, including your car so before you know it the bottom of the pond has a thick layer of silt. This is good for the fish as they will find Gnat larvae to eat within a few days.
I made a 28ftX14 pond where I lived before and had a rustic bridge across one end and learned a lot of lessons of what can go wrong.
Be very aware of what plants you put in, many garden centres sell water plants that are common in the UK, many are unbelievably rampant and even if planted in baskets will send out runners that quickly take root in the silt on the bottom. Never be tempted to collect nice looking bog plants such as Irises etc from your local river, you will likely introduce the eggs of parasites which can attach themselves to your fish.
Although soil will seep from the planting baskets the biggest culprit is probably rain! It washes the airborne dust out of the sky and deposits it on everything below, including your car so before you know it the bottom of the pond has a thick layer of silt. This is good for the fish as they will find Gnat larvae to eat within a few days.
Cloverleaf Blanket answer and loads more plants.
Soldato
Put a small bale of straw in the water, this is what professionals use to get rid of algae as the straw starves the water of nutrients that algae thrive on
No it doesn’t...the straw does not starve the water of Nutrients....Plants do...the Barley straw releases hydrogen peroxide as it rots and takes weeks if not months to work...I tried it and the only cure for blanket weed is more plants...
There's no 'seed' to drop, it may have spores at the service but most is simply is a cellular regrowth.
Blanket weed loves sun and Nitrates. Reduce one/both of those and it will find it impossible to grow as strongly.
My pond is in full sun with some hungry koi. I pull great swaths of it out, like candy floss, if there are any free cells caused by ripping it out in the water a large number go through the filtration and the UV clarifier. I found that the mains water had more Nitrates in than the pond water when I tested it!
Cutting down light will help, however it means then something is not removing the nitrates in the water. Hence the Nitrate level will rise. Adding a veggie filter/plants with nitrogen fixing bacteria in the roots will help reduce the amount however they aren't mega fast in soaking up spikes. Changing water helps remove a percentage but isn't a solution for a balanced pond.
Another way is to not feed the fish for a week or two .. then there will not be as much ammonia going into the water to drive up the nitrite and then nitrate.
I have come to the conclusion that allowing the blanket weed to grow uses up nitrates, then removing it from the pond then removes the nitrates in a solid format.
You can use barley straw bales - the straw releases chemicals that help slow the blanket weed, but then they also release tannin into the water as it decomposes turning the water brown.
Soldato
My goldfish are spawning today, I noticed there are lots of little eggs around the edge of the pond and attached to various plant life. A lot is attached to some green algae that grows on the side of the pond.
Whats the best way to protect the eggs, I've always just left them to there business in the past but I have never seen and baby fish, so I presumed they just got eaten by the bigger fish or frogs.
I can't see a way of removing the eggs carefully so should I just make some sort of caged in section where the majority of the eggs are.
I have another question as well, I need to replace the filter sponges in the filter box, but I was just wondering about the bio balls at the bottom of the filter box, Im not sure if I have too many of them, reason being is the water at the top is level with the overflow outlet and sometimes the water escapes via the overflow outlet if the sponges haven't been cleaned for a week or two.
The top filter sponge is about 2-3cm from the overflow outlet.
I'm guessing I should remove some bio balls so that the sponges sit lower down, I do seem to have a lot of the plastic bio balls in the filter box they perhaps take up about half of the box.
Thanks
Whats the best way to protect the eggs, I've always just left them to there business in the past but I have never seen and baby fish, so I presumed they just got eaten by the bigger fish or frogs.
I can't see a way of removing the eggs carefully so should I just make some sort of caged in section where the majority of the eggs are.
I have another question as well, I need to replace the filter sponges in the filter box, but I was just wondering about the bio balls at the bottom of the filter box, Im not sure if I have too many of them, reason being is the water at the top is level with the overflow outlet and sometimes the water escapes via the overflow outlet if the sponges haven't been cleaned for a week or two.
The top filter sponge is about 2-3cm from the overflow outlet.
I'm guessing I should remove some bio balls so that the sponges sit lower down, I do seem to have a lot of the plastic bio balls in the filter box they perhaps take up about half of the box.
Thanks
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Thanks for the responses.
Limiting sun isnt really practical given the position of the pond. I worry about pulling the stuff out because so much seems to get trapped in it. I will try the Blanketweed Answer product and see how that goes.
We are very new to having a pond so everything is new. Hoping to get it in a decent condition.
Limiting sun isnt really practical given the position of the pond. I worry about pulling the stuff out because so much seems to get trapped in it. I will try the Blanketweed Answer product and see how that goes.
We are very new to having a pond so everything is new. Hoping to get it in a decent condition.
Limit the sun by water Lily’s and plants...
i would be really grateful for advice about a natural pond. We dug the pond in 2013. Due to the rain in the november it filled naturally. in April 2014 we put in a mixture of common, crucian and mirror carp. 57 in total, although the heron has had some of them! being unable to see the carp, I added 6 goldfish! when the pond froze over Feb 2015 there were large schools of goldfish noticeable everywhere! we were advised to put in chubb 30 (predators)which wouldn't breed as there is no running water!
Moving on to 2019. The fish have taken to eating the pond!
The heron is still feeding, there are no dead fish, but for some reason this year there appears to be an algae starting to form on the pond.
The carp are about a foot long and are breeding with the goldfish
there are some lovely carp golfish crosses in the pond I think i have too many fish!
how do i get the fish out? and if i get them out, what do i do with them? i dont want them to die!
Moving on to 2019. The fish have taken to eating the pond!
The heron is still feeding, there are no dead fish, but for some reason this year there appears to be an algae starting to form on the pond.The carp are about a foot long and are breeding with the goldfish
there are some lovely carp golfish crosses in the pond I think i have too many fish!how do i get the fish out? and if i get them out, what do i do with them? i dont want them to die!
Soldato
Your vignetting has grown 
Good stuff - I see you have damsel fly too. I suspect you have Mayfly in there too. I takes a couple of years for ponds to mature enough. We have had a couple of dragonflies however they like a larger pond that's more exposed - ours is in a corner so they can fly easier. Also doesn't help I suspect the koi have the larger dragonfly larvae as Scooby snacks as they get quite big. This is where having a veggie filter works great and a lot of the lavae appear from there in the spring.
The annoying thing is I will have to clean out the veggie filter at some point given it collects the fines but try to keep some of the lavae if I see them.
The annoying thing is I will have to clean out the veggie filter at some point given it collects the fines but try to keep some of the lavae if I see them.
I’ve just upgraded my pump to 30,000 litres an hour from 10,000
I need more action in the main falls
Pics and videos incoming