Pond life.

Water looks pretty clear as well but the flash will change the way the water looks and so will the rain drops but not too bad looking , just remember to keep dead brown leaves out of the water over winter , and I am on about ones that have blown off trees , make sure there are no dead Hedgehogs in there . Anything that can or is decaying in there needs to be removed . The actual pond plants that have turned a bit off colour due to the Winter may not necessarily need this but anything that you deem as not being from the very near vicinity of the pond should be removed . Oh and watch out when fertilising that lawn in the summer , some fertiliser may seep into the pond area and cause water issues .

The liner hasn't, the wood pond outer has split/given way, causing the pond and liner to bow out. It's been reinforced on the outside now (though I will do a proper job in the summer) so isn't likely to move.

The only reason the water is that high, is because it was half empty when I moved in, so last night, I left the hose trickling water into the pond. That along with the torrential rain we had last night sent it over the top! I filled the other pond up this morning.

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

Water looks pretty clear as well but the flash will change the way the water looks and so will the rain drops but not too bad looking , just remember to keep dead brown leaves out of the water over winter , and I am on about ones that have blown off trees , make sure there are no dead Hedgehogs in there . Anything that can or is decaying in there needs to be removed . The actual pond plants that have turned a bit off colour due to the Winter may not necessarily need this but anything that you deem as not being from the very near vicinity of the pond should be removed . Oh and watch out when fertilising that lawn in the summer , some fertiliser may seep into the pond area and cause water issues .

Gonna get all the crap and toys out when I get some waders, will the fish mind me being in there too much, or is it better to do it all with a net from the outside?

Fertiliser??? Just cuz I'm from the west country, doesn't mean I'm a farmer! I shall be mowing the lawn, and chopping down trees and bushes this year, not growing potatoes!! lol

See the leaves , they will decay , just whip em out with a net mate , no need to get in there . You will disturb the bottom of the pond which will release a lot of pent up gasses that are normally sorted out by nature . With regards to fertiliser , anything like Fisons Levigrow , Green lawn Care products and any such lawn boosters can have a bad effect .... I`m not on about tipping a huge pile of horse Manure on there and forking it around with a peg on yer nose

Originally Posted by phil24_7

The liner hasn't, the wood pond outer has split/given way, causing the pond and liner to bow out. It's been reinforced on the outside now (though I will do a proper job in the summer) so isn't likely to move.

The only reason the water is that high, is because it was half empty when I moved in, so last night, I left the hose trickling water into the pond. That along with the torrential rain we had last night sent it over the top! I filled the other pond up this morning.

Yeah , definately a summer job when the water is lower , you could help matters by using the pond pump to pump out some of the water into water butts . Do the required work and then pump the water back into your pond

By the way , these pics are of the smaller pond yes ?

The pics were of both the ponds, they are all around the decking area. The pic taken from above shows them, and if you start from 6 o'clock, working your way anti-clockwise, you have the water feature, then the tiny pond with no fish, then the smaller of the populated ponds and then finally, the big pond. The one with the leaves on is the smaller pond, fed by the water feature, and the clear one is the larger pond. The large pond is about 5ft deep!

I shall remove the leaves today, buy a water test kit and some trace elements.

Test kit bought, I shall post the results here once I have completed them. Leaves removed, but there are quite a few sitting on the bottom of the ponds. Trace elements and a net will be bought tomorrow.

No one (that I've read has mentioned blanket weed. in the Spring your pond will start to fill with a green filamenous algae which can cause problems if left unchecked. But don't remove it. treat with with a blanket weed treatment or put some bundles of barley straw or even more effective, bundles of lavender stalks in there. these will reduct the nutrients the algae needs to grow.

Also, the koi will breed on the algae so leave some in there. The smaller black fish are likely the next generation of koi and these will change colour at about 1 year old.

Watch out for Herrons during the winter as they'll be able to clear out your pond in a night. Herrons won't visit a pond where another herron is already fishing so a model herron is a good investment. Won't stop the mink getting them though.

On warmer winter days you can feed the fish but just a small amount. you don't want excess food contaminating the pond.

Take the coins out (it looks like there are coins in one of the photos) the copper dissolves and the fish suffer from heavy metal poisoning (Motorhead, AC-DC etc)

And most importatly, don't mess with it too much. Ponds find their own balance quite quickly and yours looks to be in excellent balance. additions of large amounts of tap water casues algae blooms and other unwanted occurences. Always let tap water stand in buckets for 24 hours before adding tot he pond so the chlorine has a chance to evapourate.

and buy are you going to have some frogspawn to watch in the spring!

C

Originally Posted by Berlin

No one (that I've read has mentioned blanket weed. in the Spring your pond will start to fill with a green filamenous algae which can cause problems if left unchecked. But don't remove it. treat with with a blanket weed treatment or put some bundles of barley straw or even more effective, bundles of lavender stalks in there. these will reduct the nutrients the algae needs to grow.

Also, the koi will breed on the algae so leave some in there. The smaller black fish are likely the next generation of koi and these will change colour at about 1 year old.

Watch out for Herrons during the winter as they'll be able to clear out your pond in a night. Herrons won't visit a pond where another herron is already fishing so a model herron is a good investment. Won't stop the mink getting them though.

On warmer winter days you can feed the fish but just a small amount. you don't want excess food contaminating the pond.

Take the coins out (it looks like there are coins in one of the photos) the copper dissolves and the fish suffer from heavy metal poisoning (Motorhead, AC-DC etc)

And most importatly, don't mess with it too much. Ponds find their own balance quite quickly and yours looks to be in excellent balance. additions of large amounts of tap water casues algae blooms and other unwanted occurences. Always let tap water stand in buckets for 24 hours before adding tot he pond so the chlorine has a chance to evapourate.

and buy are you going to have some frogspawn to watch in the spring!

C

Cheers on the Algae info, I would have removed that ya know!

I've been told some are likely to be young Koi and others could be Ghost Koi, guess I'll just have to wait and see!

I've been warned about herrons by my dad, the previous owners never had a problem, but I might get model to be on the safe side. As a back up, I have a male British Blue, that is built like a tank! Never heard of Mink where I am, so should be safe.

I've heard anything under 8 degrees water temperature, and I shouldn't be feeding, others say under 4 and others say not between Oct and Feb!

I haven't seen any coins, but I will check this morning, and remove if I find any.

Wish you'd told me about the tao water before I added shed loads to each pond! Gonna have to get some water butts for the spring.

We have already been warned about the frog spawn, we were told there was ridiculous amounts this year!

I've been told by a friend of mine (who keeps Koi, and has done for 5 years) to get some more plants in the big pond, for the Koi to lay their eggs in, this also means that the baby Koi, will have somewhere to hide from the adults, until I have a chance to fish them out to the smaller pond. But then I've also been told not to bother as the adult Koi will eat the plants. What should I do? Also, at what size do I move fish from the small pond to the big pond?

[keith_d]

When I was young my friend's parents kept koi. They had one neat trick for keeping the water clean - a sand bed filter. Basically, a big box with fine sand on the bottom and sharp sand on the top. A small (unfiltered I assume) pump took water from the bottom of the pond to the top of the filter. The water passed through the filter and back into the pond.

Their view was that by removing most of the fine organic material (fish poo, decaying leaves etc) from the bottom of the pond they limited the scope for anerobic conditions to develop, and the algae in the sand bed did a fine job of mopping up the nitrates/ammonia.

I don't know if they were right, but the fish seemed to like it. Anyone else tried this??

Keith.