Emily's Pond Build Log

[rainbowcharmer]

No potting soil used. So I doubt that's the issue. I used sphagnum moss, sand, and the aquatic soil that they sell at the store (little bits of clay). Zero potting soil for that reason. It's really about the sunlight that the pond gets - 8+ hours a day right now.

 

[fshfanatic]

Hmmm. The pot scrubbies might be more economical than the $125 worth of floor scrubbing pads that I bought from the Skippy's web site. I'll have to check into that. I bought pot scrubbies for my canister filters, but just never thought about that for the pond. The 100 gal filter is so large that I don't know how many it would take to fill it... a LOT for sure... but it's a thought anyway. Something worth investigating.

And yes, the pond gets too much sunlight. I have a small tree planted that eventually will help with that, but at the moment it's like 3 feet tall and 5 feet away from the pond and well... you do the math - it provides zero shade. LOL. Eventually when it grows in, it should help keep the pond shaded pretty well. It will take care of the late afternoon sun anyhow. But that is probably a few years away... In the meantime I may have to redneck something to make shade. Any suggestions on what to do there? I have lots of floating plants, but not nearly 70% of the water is covered. Probably more like 30%. And I'm betting that it's too opaque at this point for anacharis or hornwort. Also - how do those do in the winter?? Can they survive or do they turn to slime that just makes a mess come spring?

Thanks for the input!! I definitely appreciate it!

I used crushed lava rock for my pond filter. You can get the 50lb bags are Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes. for about $3 - $4 a bag. The lava pieces are quarter sized. They work great.

Barley Straw, Extract and Pellets will remove algae and its a lot cheaper than UV
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...aps&hvadid=11410325387&ref=pd_sl_3jh1odqe24_b

 

[rainbowcharmer]

Tried the Barley Straw twice so far with zero luck.

May give it a third whirl... but so far I've been completely unimpressed by it.

And I may check out the lava rock, but that sounds harder to maintain... What is your maintenance schedule like with it?

 

[rainbowcharmer]

Just thought I'd do a quick update. All is well in the pond. We winterized it yesterday - took all the potted plants out, trimmed them down, and put back the ones that will be OK over the winter. I have a few irises that the nursery I bought from said to remove from the pond altogether for the winter, so those 4 are out of the pond. I also removed all the lettuce and celery floating plants as a lot of it had frost burn. Didn't want that sinking when it died and making a mess of my pump and filter. So the pond is looking pretty naked right now. So far I still have a kazillion minnows (yes, I counted), and 4 goldies (2 shubunkin, 1 common, 1 sarassas), all at about 5-6" long. They're not growing nearly as fast as I anticipated. Some of them I believe were stunted though as they came from a 75 gal tank (there were at least a dozen 5"+ goldies in there with a turtle). I haven't had the luck I'd have liked with goldies. Beyond something scarfing down a bunch initially, I lost most of the rest when I had the filter failure that pumped most of my water out of the pond. So in the spring I may add a few new goldies to the mix. But for now I'll leave things as they are. Still have some frogs that I see on occasion, although they may abandon me now that I've eliminated their cover.

Just wondering, does anyone know at what temperature (overnight, not extended for days) should I worry about my filtration pipes freezing? These are 2" PVC with a pretty fast water-flow, and the water is coming from 4' down, which I know will never freeze solid here in GA. Last year we had ice (maybe 1/2" thick) on the pond for about a week after a snow/ice storm, but beyond that the pond stayed ice free. Since my filter is above-ground (i.e. above frost level), should I worry about it freezing at some point? With the moving water, I'm wondering if that will be an issue or if it will be OK since it is so fast moving. At night we MIGHT hit teens on occasion, but that's not common. Days are typically well above freezing.

Thanks for any input there.

 

[pbeemer]

was the pump running when you had the ice on the pond last winter? this is not a problem where i live, but i would have expected that the moving water at the bottom of the waterfall would have kept at least some of the water uncovered.

i believe that with the high speed that you're pumping the water (few 100 gal/min ?) there's no way the filter itself can freeze. on the other hand, the system will probably increase the rate at which the deep water cools down, so maybe you could dial it back some?

 

[rainbowcharmer]

No, there was no pump or filter in the pond yet during that ice storm. We had just put the liner in and filled it up a few weeks prior, but done nothing beyond that when the ice storm came through. We were still in the building stage. Hadn't even laid the rocks or anything else yet. So I am not sure if it would have frozen over if the water had been moving. This pump moves 3400 gallons per hour. And it's not adjustable. Unless you have other thoughts on how to dial it back? The pump pushes water both into the filter (the bulk of the water goes there) and some is also pushed through a small fountain in the center of the pond. So there will be moving water in two places. Will this help or hinder? I could turn off the fountain (I included a valve in the construction of my plumbing in the event that I needed to adjust the flow or turn off the fountain altogether). But I'd imagine that would push the water faster through the filter since it wouldn't have that outlet.

Typically things don't freeze here either. The ice storm was something of a fluke, and I do still wonder if the water had not been stagnant if it would have frozen over like that. There are pictures on this thread I believe of that storm in the even that those would help you. But again, the pond was not yet finished at that time.

Thanks for repsonding! I'll check back later.

 

[Dburgess1231]

THE PLANTS ARE AWESOME! (yes the caps were needed.) cant wait to see big gold fish in there!

 

[rainbowcharmer]

Thanks. I need to post some of the pictures from this summer/fall that I've taken of the pond with the aquatic plants doing really well. My potted plants around the rocks didn't do as well as I would like, so I may have to re-think some of those, and many of the plants around the edge of the pond were eradicated by my dogs... Ah well. More planting will happen in spring, so I'm not worried. It will always be a work in progress I think. And I enjoy it, so that's what matters. Yes I am hoping to see big goldies too, but so far mine are still pretty small. But they'll get there I hope!

 

[cockroach]

Any updates yet?

 

[jennibee]

Next week I'm planning on starting work on a pond and your thread has been a HUGE help. Could you please link me to the plans for your DIY filter/waterfall?