Daily Log of Constructing a Tropical Fish Pond
- Thread starter lousybreed
- Start date
Whats the current and future stock again?
The current stocking is one page back on this thread. Future, not sure because the pond didn't get as warm as I thought it would so my orginal plan didn't go thru.
I know for sure I am going to dump 4 rosy barbs in the pond soon. I am stocking a 55 gallon at the same time so I am going to put anything that is going into the 55 and can handle cooler temp in the pond. In september I will pull out the aquarium bound fish. I am going to leave the barbs and white clouds in the pond all year. I will probably throw in a heater for the winter month and cover it with plastic to hold in the heat in. Before people yell at me about keeping them in the pond during winter, please remember that the average high in Fremont during January is still 60 degrees.
Hope this makes sense.
Oh my, finally finished with the pond
Well the moons aligned today and I actually got motivated to finish my pond. At first I hooked both powerheads up to the waterfall to see how it would do. The waterfall filled the overflow and sounded good. Then I realized that there was no circulation in the pond! The water basically fell over the waterfall and by the time it hit the water line it was almost vertical. All the energy went down into the pond instead of outward to circulate the pond. I then detached one of the lines going to the waterfall. The overall appearance of the waterfall changed little with the reduced flowrate and from the sound of the waterfall didn't change at all. So the current setup is one powerhead supplies the waterfall and the other powerhead provides circulation current. From the pics you will notice that the water is quite clear. The sponge filters really pull out the crud in the water. I squeeze the sponges out in some pond water and the junk that came out of the sponges was amazing. It was peasoup green! I dumped that sludgy water on my tomatoe plants.....
There are some poor quality pics of the plants in the pond. There are two pots of anachirs, a bunch of hornwort, the california native lily things (they are rising to the surface still), and the california native reeds (only little signs of life right now but they are alive). On the wood is java fern and java moss. The water hyacthincs are growing slower than expected but they are sending runners now. Their roots almost reach down a foot and really provide nice habitat for the fish. To keep the water hycanthis in place I used fishing line. You just loop the line around the shoot stems and secure to the pond frame. Before they kinda drifted around all the time. Sometimes they would shade the other plants. Now they stay put and its impossible to see the fishing line unless you are looking for it.
The last pic of the waterfall is with only one powerhead, I don't think you can see a difference from that pic to the first one which has both powerheads suppling it. The first pic has some fish in it, can you see them????
My question is, will the sponge filters rob the pond of little bugs? I am worried that when the fish decide to spawn, there will be nothing to eat for the little guys. And this green soup might also provide food for the adult fish too... Usually the greener the water, the more microscopic life there is for fry to munch on. I would say the water is now twice as clear as before. Now you can see down to the bottom no problem, two weeks ago you really couldn't even see the bottom. The upside to the clarity is I can observe all the fish very easily now.
Well the moons aligned today and I actually got motivated to finish my pond. At first I hooked both powerheads up to the waterfall to see how it would do. The waterfall filled the overflow and sounded good. Then I realized that there was no circulation in the pond! The water basically fell over the waterfall and by the time it hit the water line it was almost vertical. All the energy went down into the pond instead of outward to circulate the pond. I then detached one of the lines going to the waterfall. The overall appearance of the waterfall changed little with the reduced flowrate and from the sound of the waterfall didn't change at all. So the current setup is one powerhead supplies the waterfall and the other powerhead provides circulation current. From the pics you will notice that the water is quite clear. The sponge filters really pull out the crud in the water. I squeeze the sponges out in some pond water and the junk that came out of the sponges was amazing. It was peasoup green! I dumped that sludgy water on my tomatoe plants.....
There are some poor quality pics of the plants in the pond. There are two pots of anachirs, a bunch of hornwort, the california native lily things (they are rising to the surface still), and the california native reeds (only little signs of life right now but they are alive). On the wood is java fern and java moss. The water hyacthincs are growing slower than expected but they are sending runners now. Their roots almost reach down a foot and really provide nice habitat for the fish. To keep the water hycanthis in place I used fishing line. You just loop the line around the shoot stems and secure to the pond frame. Before they kinda drifted around all the time. Sometimes they would shade the other plants. Now they stay put and its impossible to see the fishing line unless you are looking for it.
The last pic of the waterfall is with only one powerhead, I don't think you can see a difference from that pic to the first one which has both powerheads suppling it. The first pic has some fish in it, can you see them????
My question is, will the sponge filters rob the pond of little bugs? I am worried that when the fish decide to spawn, there will be nothing to eat for the little guys. And this green soup might also provide food for the adult fish too... Usually the greener the water, the more microscopic life there is for fry to munch on. I would say the water is now twice as clear as before. Now you can see down to the bottom no problem, two weeks ago you really couldn't even see the bottom. The upside to the clarity is I can observe all the fish very easily now.
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I watched my fish for about an hour today at feeding. I saw all my fish today including the dojo loaches. I believe that fish take on a whole different personality when they are in more natural settings. The paradise fish are very timid, contrary to many people's beliefs. They are the last to feed, the first to hide and any hint of movement from above. The pinneapple swords are not shy at all. From above you can barely even see them though. When they do go sideways you get a flash of color. And the are always together. They school with the gold barbs usually. The gold barbs are getting obese. I would say they are 2.5" long and almost 1/2" thick! They look like someone pumped them full of air. The white clouds get the vote as the best pond fish. They are always out and swimming. They will eat little bugs that land in the water when they get a chance. The two females are full of eggs, they should be spawning soon. The dojo loaches are very hard to find, today marks the second time I have saw them. They are easily twice as big (both lenght and width) as when I bought them. They do a great job of cleaning up the pond so I would say they are another must have species for the pond. I will be dropping my 4 rosy barbs from my 55 gallon aquarium into the pond as soon as I get some fish for my 55. Hopefully that will happen today.....
As for feeding, I only feed flake 1-2 times a day. Sometimes the fish don't eat that much, I am assuming because there is a bunch of food in the pond to eat.....
Another new inhabitant are the snails. There aren't that many and they help eat the scum on the pond liner so I really dont want to get rid of them. As a bonus the fish eat the little ones.
As for feeding, I only feed flake 1-2 times a day. Sometimes the fish don't eat that much, I am assuming because there is a bunch of food in the pond to eat.....
Another new inhabitant are the snails. There aren't that many and they help eat the scum on the pond liner so I really dont want to get rid of them. As a bonus the fish eat the little ones.
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well this is great stuff! congrats!
had any trouble with birds or other critters trying to steal fish out of the pond?
had any trouble with birds or other critters trying to steal fish out of the pond?
No birds or critter stealing fish....cats do get a drink every so often....Its too deep for birds at 26", no wading birds will stand in water that deep and they are the main ones you need to be aware of.....
Looking Great Lousy! I think You should get one more water lily, and some oxygenators like ancharis(elodea) or parrots feather and mare's tail. Water Lily is the best kind of cover for protecting your fish from the sun. Be careful about who you tell locally I believe water hyacinths are Illegal in Cali. or maybe it's just Illegal to ship them there. IDK. Great looking. It will look even better when the lily pads are hoovering on the surface. Great Job!!!
I bought the water hyacinths from a LFS and he assured me about their status. He told me water lettuce is illegal but hyacinths are ok. With all the crazy california laws I am always worried about doing something wrong....... I have two bunches of elodea in the pond and based on their growth rate, I will have a pond full by the end of summer. I plan on getting some true water lilies, but I don't know if my budget can take it right now. Getting much more might send my wife off the deep end!!!! I won't consider the pond complete until I have a water lily, it just might have to wait till next year!
