Southern Spirit Hunters
Gardening => Ponds => Topic started by: landofoz on Jun 10, 2010, 04:10:03 PM
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So I have a pond at my old house. My old house is for sale and no one wants it. :Crybaby2: :Crybaby2: This grieves me (and my pocketbook) deeply. :crying: The old house has a pond that, obviously have been neglected since we moved out. It is a small pond but we've kept the pump running. My husband lacks the ability to follow directions and froze my $30 water lily. It was smush and goo when I found it. So the pond has been empty. I added some fish a few weeks ago. So now the pond has 3 fish and well over 200 snails in it (the "good" kind of snail). It was full of algae, so the girls and I went over and cleaned it out. Pulling out the algae and picking out all the snails 'cause Lindsay couldn't bear to have a single one die. The pond is still dirty. I don't know what to do. There are bits of algae stuck to the side - big bits! And the water is gross looking. I have a filter/pump running and I cleaned it all out. I don't have a lot of faith that it's going to clean up the water. I also brought 4 water hyacinths and a couple horn worts to toss in the water. Any suggestions for getting it cleaner or do you think the pump will do the job? :unsure:
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I think there is something that Laura (loz) puts in hers to clear it up but I'm not sure what it is called. Maybe somebody will come along with more info.
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I do not have your answer, Sarah. I did want to say that water hyacinths are one of my wet favorites. But every time I have put them in my pond the raccoons have come and fished them out and eaten them. Apparently they are a favorite for them too. (food)
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sarah, the water hyacinths and the pump combined should clear it up pretty good. when i had water hyacinths, i had a nice clean, clear pond. now, i have a muddy puddle but my water lily survived the snow and is growing nicely! :giggle:
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I went and checked on the pond while picking up a prescription for Adam. The water is definitely more clear but now I can see all the junk at the bottom of the shallow end. How do you guys get the gunk out?
The water hyacinths are lovely plants. I love how thick the leaves and kinda bulby at the base. I bought 4 of them 'cause i knew they spread fast. I'm wondering just how fast is fast though... :ScratchHead:
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I don't know. Mine never got a chance.
To get stuff out of the bottom of my pond, I take off my shoes and......
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And you crunch 200 snails between your toes? (mine isn't big enough to stand in anyway...)
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Mine is pretty large. And deep but not as deep as it used to be. The rocks on the bottom are slimy and need care to tromp on. But mostly when we cleaned it well, it was completely drained and we put the fish in temporary holding. Then bleached and scrubbed the crud out of all the rocks before replacing. And the plastic lining too. I can reach in from the sides to grab up most of the stuff on the bottom. It is best to skim anything off the surface before it gets saturated and sinks.
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shop vac.
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I climb into the muck and bail mine out twice a year, but mine is 5' deep, and I have ducks. I catch the fish and put them in a tub while draining, then treat the water and dump them back. Only have non-spendy snails here, so if they are in the wrong place, they die.
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You make me glad I live on a hill. I can drain mine fairly easily by syphoning. No snails.
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I can use a pond pump for all but the last one or two hundred gallons...but that is a lot when you are bailing. :)
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What's up with the pond at your other house Sarah?