Yet another update of my new pond

[joeski]

Well I thought I would share some more new pictures of my new pond. The pond is getting better and better, the plants are growing nicely the fish are doing great, and even some frogs came over from somewhere made a home in my pond and are keeping us awake at night from all the croaking.

[Sarge_857]

beautiful! absolutely beautiful!!!! makes me want to go dig a pond!

[nx2ured]

That is one of the prettiest ponds! How long did it take you to do it?

[Reddog80p]

Sweet! Love the marginals!!

[joeski]

Well I started building the pond last fall, mid September and I had everything done by mid November and I planted all the plants this spring and I also put the fish in at the beginning of May and now I am just kicking back and watching the plants grow and fish swim.

[Easydoesit]

looks awesome!

[Rbishop]

Very nice! Thanks for the update!

[finsNfur]

Gorgeous!

[DAVIDFBT]

Sweet!

Use a tall plant to cover the bald spot in the 3rd picture that shows the liner.

[Lupin]

Nice!

[joeski]

I took some pictures of one of the visitors that won't let me sleep at night

[joeski]

Today I was checking out my pond and I noticed there is a lot of tadpoles in my pond they are everywhere. I know I have toads in there I herd them every night, are they going to create a problem for the pond or is it OK to just let them be and let mother nature to take its course.

[Lupin]

I'd let nature take its course. Only problem is I hate the loud croaking sounds.

[DAVIDFBT]

They would provide extra food for your fish. :lipssealedsmilie:

What is the bullfrog sitting on? It looks like water lettuce.

[Lupin]

They're Pistia stratiotes, David.:)

[Rbishop]

Nice pics. We also have a noisey back yard from the bullfrogs down at the lake.

[DontPetTheWater]

Joeski, that pond great. How does it look at night with the lights that are around it on. Any chance of a night shot??

[joeski]

the pond looks nice at night but I don't have any night pictures yet I will try to take some soon, I think that is a bull frog in my picture but I also have toads in there, I know toads come there every day I see them on the grass all the time but how did a bull frog get in my pond is what puzzles me. do frogs travel long distances, because the lake I live by is about a 200 yards away from my house.

[joeski]

the pond looks nice at night but I don't have any night pictures yet I will try to take some soon, I think that is a bull frog in my picture but I also have toads in there, I know toads come there every day I see them on the grass all the time but how did a bull frog get in my pond is what puzzles me. do frogs travel long distances, because the lake I live by is about a 200 yards away from my house.

I am posting a few night pictures of the pond the pictures are not that good because my camera doesn't take good night pictures.

[DAVIDFBT]

Forgs can travel up to 2 miles in 1 day, if it is a cool wet day. That frog probably came from that lake. Nice night pics BTW.

[Fishy_Fun]

great shots thanks for sharing

[DontPetTheWater]

nice

[Lindtball]

Totally sweet pond!!!

[1happymommy]

That is a beautiful pond

[jm1212]

awesome job! keep up the good work

[jpappy789]

Your pond is amazing!

[joeski]

I want to thank everyone for the kind words about my pond all that hard work payed of I am pleased with the way it turned out, I am still not finished with it I still have some miner stuff I have to do before it is complete

[Lindtball]

Are we ever really finished? :grinno:

[joeski]

What do you guys think of this hansom guy in my pond.

[Lindtball]

Did he just show up on his own for the party or did you invite him?

[247Plants]

Awesome pond!

[joeski]

there is actually 2 of them and allot of babies, they came on their own I also have toads in there and they also came on their own. I also have alot of baby fish I don't know if they are koi or goldfish I think they are goldfish because some of them are black and others are various colors.

[DAVIDFBT]

That's a big fatty male you have there. Male bullfrogs have an eardrum about the same size as their eye, while females have an eardrum half as big as their eye.

[FISHSHROD]

Love it :grinyes:

[Lindtball]

Seems to be everybody is lovin it in your pond. You may have to start culling the bullfrogs before you know it. ;) Signs of a successful pond adventure.

I have recently found several more - no longer dinner size - babes in my pond, am starting to wonder what to do with the extra goldies.

[DAVIDFBT]

^ You can eat the legs of the bullfrogs. I heard it really does taste like chicken.

[joeski]

I actually did eat frog legs at a restaurant they did actually taste like chicken or even better, but I am not going to eat my pets,

[Catpicklesdog]

Looking good!

[Sweetheart]

wow:jaw: Awesome tank, it's soooo pretty:) Good luck

[joeski]

disaster in my pond. today we returned home from a 4 night camping trip my daughter went to see the pond and we had a big gray bird walking around in it, she scared it away. when I got there it was already gone I started checking out the fish and I noticed several of my fish are gone including my favorite koi a blue butterfly koi it is on one of the picktures that I posted, and the frogs are also gone I spoke with my neighbor and he also chased the same kind of a bird away 2 days in a row. I think it is a heron it was very tall with skinny legs and a long beak.

[Lindtball]

What you described sounds definately heron like. Unfortunately we put ponds with fish out in our yards and they need to eat too. I had to put lattice over my pond for a while to discourage the night heron (smaller than the great blue your described, but big enough to do damage) that was stalking my fish.

I am sorry about your favorite koi and the others he may have eaten.

Keep us updated on how it is going.

[Dangerdoll]

man that sucks... once they find the gold(fish) mine though, they never forget it..... time for some netting...

[THE V]

http://landscaping.about.com/od/helpforconsumers1/gr/scarecrow.htm

Warning.. This acts as a repellent to almost all birds and mammals, except human children where it acts as a attractant.

[Dangerdoll]

that's pretty cool and not as unappealing as a net... have you used this, V?

[joeski]

I think I am going to use a net because fall is coming and it also will keep the leaves out.

[MudskipperFan]

That pond looks really swell. Drew pickles would love to swim in it.:grinyes:
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd56/Cetacean007/MUDSKIPPER20.jpg
http://th274.photobucket.com/albums/jj265/panicpagoda/th_bdrew.gif (http://media.photobucket.com/image/drew%20pickles/panicpagoda/bdrew.gif?o=3)

[THE V]

that's pretty cool and not as unappealing as a net... have you used this, V?

Yep to keep the neighbors dogs off my yard. I don't own a dog so why should I step in poop when I go in my yard.

[finsNfur]

What a shame! So far I haven't had any herons at my pond. *knocking-on-wood* Hopefully you can get a net or motion-activated deterrent of some kind.

[DominionDesign]

Birds of prey and other assorted hungry animals are a huge problem in Florida. The best thing I have found, other than deep ponds with straight sides, is to have plenty of hiding places for the # of fish you have. This can be rock caves, large diameter PVC or anything else that provides cover. I've used overturned heavy plastic planters with access cut out and used slate or fieldstone on top to weight them down. I,ve never used the scarecrow but have heard it is effective. The pond looks awesome, hope the preds stay away.

[joeski]

I finally managed to take some pictures of the big bird that keeps coming over and steeling my fish, he is a big guy. LOL

[Dangerdoll]

WOW!!

[hankn]

Wow! That is some bird!

[rainbowcharmer]

Beautiful pond!!

So sorry to hear about the Heron though. :(

Hopefully the rest of your fish will not be his dinner.

[dixienut]

those are protected so no killing,.. :nono:

also that beak is long and strong put the net higher above the water so he cant reach through, and use heavey posts to hold it up that bird is not light,.. the love koi, and spear them and keep cutting till they get it swallowed,..if the can reach through net,

[Virtuoso2K12]

what a birdie.

[mrchillman]

You could try shooting him with a very low powered airsoft gun.... maybee that will scare him away.

[DAVIDFBT]

Shoot him with a hand powered water gun, works on all types of birds.

[joeski]

I haven't seen the bird now for over a week it is getting cold here in CT so I think he flue south for the winter. I lost 8 koi.

[Virtuoso2K12]

Don't you mean you lost money $$$?

[finsNfur]

I haven't seen the bird now for over a week it is getting cold here in CT so I think he flue south for the winter. I lost 8 koi.

He must have been to my house in Ct. a few weeks ago, I lost my koi and a goldfish. *sigh* This was after I previously posted on your thread that the herons hadn't found my pond yet, I guess I jinxed myself. I've got the pond covered with bird netting now. I was also hoping the darn things have all flown south by now.

[H3D]

SWEET POND! :drool:

[Virtuoso2K12]

now why would you want them going south :) Keep us updates on pics.

[James0816]

Question on your pond/fishies? What do you do with the fish in the winter time? Do you heat the pond or take them inside?

[joeski]

the fish stay in the pond they go into a hibernation state, the pond freezes over but I put in a special small pond heater just to keep a small opening in the ice, so the gasses from decaying matter escapes, so it wont poison the fish.

[gid]

Do you have any snails in your pond?

[joeski]

No I only have koi and goldfish I also had bullfrogs but I think the bird got the frogs cause I don't see them anymore.

[fwiffo]

wow, nice pics of the bird and frog!!!

im sorry about your koi being eaten by the heron. i live next to a wetlands, and there is a family of herons (ive seen the one parent and two smaller guys). after seeing this, i think i wont start that pond i was thinking of!!!

[Darkness9876]

If you have a dog then they shouldnt bother you. You can also buy several products which will deter them. Or most of the time when we have predators around here we buy a small low wattage radio and leave it on to deter them, I live in the country though I don't know how you neighboors would feel about this.

[finsNfur]

If you have a dog then they shouldnt bother you.

Our two Border Collies didn't deter our heron one bit. :headshake2:

Now we only have one Border Collie (the other died last month from kidney disease), and our heron returned yet again. But the netting over the pond kept him out. Those birds just don't seem to scare easy.

[Darkness9876]

yeah, they are probably familiarized with you area, around here (south Central Kansas) they are still very wild and if you get within an 1/8Mile they will fly.

Same principal as the blackbirds that live at walmart parking lots around the world, They have adapted and no longer fear us.

The netting is unatractive but its a needed hassle.

[Ganina]

Awesome photos of your pond. I love the marginals also. Are they winter hardy for your area and what do you have them planted in?


Rick

[joeski]

All my plants are winter hardy the only ones that are not are the water lattice and water hyacinth all my water plants are in plant soil mixed with some top soil they are in plastic planters.

[joeski]

I just got my pond ready for the coming winter here in CT also made several changes to the pond I have added a Laguna skimmer-filter that will help improve the filtration proses I enlarged the pond in one corner and raised the pond water level another 3 inched so now it is 45 inches deep in the deepest part and I am looking forward of restarting the pond again in the spring, here are couple of pictures.

[joeski]

Well spring is finally here in CT and the pond and the fish are ready for a new season, all my fish survived the New England winter not even one died. The problem I had last year with the heron, looks like I might have it this year also, I already seen it by my pond twice this spring, but he did not attempt to seal my fish.

[ChrisK]

Great looking pond :)

[Lupin]

Woo hoo! Breathtaking scene! I haven't seen this thread in ages.:)

[steamer70]

Hey Joe,
Nice looking pond.
I lived in Florida for 22 yrs and we had ponds and fruit trees...the fruit tree attract fruit rats and the ponds would attract birds and racoons...:(
But funny as it sounds some old man gave me a solution and it worked for me and has ever since...rubber snakes...we put them at the base of the trees and a couple around the pond,they only cost a few bucks a piece just get the black ones that are like 2 foot long,and no more birds or pest,sounds to simple but from the sky the birds cant tell its fake and they dont want no part of it.
Hope it helps.

[dirtydawg10]

Looks great!

[dixienut]

i want one,..lol very nice

[joeski]

well it is mid spring and all is well in my pond all my fish and the bull frogs have survived the winter here in CT and they are doing well eating like crazy and the toads are back also keeping us awake in the evening. I am hoping that the koi will spawn this year, that would be great as far as the big bird I only seen him 2 times this year and that was mid April I haven't seen him since, I hope he stays away, for good.

[joeski]

my latest pictures of the pond

[Lupin]

Neat!

[Tastey]

I'm soooooooooooooooooooo jealous!

[benzjamin13]

Beautiful!

[corrieberry]

Did the koi spawn this year?

[Moesmom]

Everything is growing really nice and it look like you have a million fish.

[joeski]

For some reason my fish did not spawn this year at all I don't know why because they did spawn last year and I have allot of fish from last year.

[Tastey]

over crowded? all the fry got eaten? hmm....

[Hairechest]

Great pond!

[Lexi_D]

Wow! That is beautiful! :thumbsup: How many gallons is it?

[dirtydawg10]

Gorgeous pond!

[Flaringshutter]

Absolutely stunning. What a great job you've done with the plants! They look wonderful.

[joeski]

Yet another season coming to close my pond did very well this year my gold fish spawned again this year next spring I will be giving some away again. the koi I have got much bigger but they did not spawn yet maybe next year.

[FallenAngel]

It's looking very good and healthy! Good job :thumbsup:

[FishOnABudget]

Wow its looking really nice!! Keep it up

[rainbowcharmer]

I sure hope mine looks this nice when it's complete! :) How big is this pond?

[FallenAngel]

Are you using fertilisers, if yes, what are they? Your plants are very lush.

[Rbishop]

Great looking! Thanks for the update!

[joeski]

The pond is about 4500gl it is about 42 inches deep in the deepest part of the pond, no I am not using any fertilizers for the plants I only used my garden soil in the planter I dont use any chamicales at all I try to keep this pond all natrual