Southern Spirit Hunters
Gardening => Ponds => Topic started by: landofoz on Mar 03, 2008, 07:23:30 PM
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What does your pond look like in the Spring? This is my first year with a pond and my first wintering. Everything was peachy until the Ice storm and we went a week without power - and by then the pond had frozen over quite completely. In fact, Adam could stand on it without it even sinking. It would thaw partially and we'd see our little goldfish and clean out the leaves that had blown in and frozen to the top. Well, we finally got a good thaw on Saturday and Adam cleaned out the leaves and the pond STANK something HORRIBLE. :yikes: And the water looks like very, very strong tea. I did see a big, fat snail crawling along the top of the water but no fish. We tried to get the pump started but apparently the power outage fried the motor (along with other misc. electrical stuff). Is this nastiness normal? :SmileyNailbiting: We did buy a new pump on Saturday and have that running - it seems to be helping clear up the water a little bit. Cleaning the filter daily, too.
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Well, the nastiness you are smelling is bacteria, and decay. If I were you, I would drain at least half of the water, and refill, being sure to treat the new water if you are on city water.
In the future, it's very important not to let the ice freeze solid on top, keep an airhole open, both for the fish, and because the bacteria living in the pond constantly releases CO2, and without a way out, it builds up to dangerous levels and kills off good bacteria, anomg other things.
My pond water is far from clean by the time spring rolls around, but does not smell, as long as I make sure to keep good airflow.
:thgoodluck-vi:
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ive herd snails were good for a pond?
mine always freezes over, every spring i clean the hole thing out, i do it a few times in the summer as well. but then i like messin with the ponds :nutz: :grinnnn:
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Snails are really good for ponds. The ones I have like to eat algae and decaying leaves. You just need to make sure that you don't get the ones that eat plants. Those aren't so great for the waterlilies and whatnot.
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:shock: i always thought snails were snails :Wacko: whats the diffrence between good snaild n bad?
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good snails eat algae and decomposing organic matter. Bad snails will eat all the pretty plants that you put in the pond.
Adam removed and replaced (with a bucket) about 50 gallons of water from the pond last week. That helped it a bit but I think keeping the filter running has really helped. Yesterday we were able for the first time to see down to the bottom of the 3 foot side. There was about a foot of leaves down there. So while the neighbors had a lovely argument in their front yard about drinking and ... uh ... not being faithful and while the cops showed up, my darling hubs stayed out there, slowly and methodically cleaning out the leaves. He said that if the neighbors wanted some privacy they could take their fight inside! :laugh1: We found our fishies in the muck of leaves. :Crybaby2: So we'll have to splurge and spend another 1.28 x2 for 2 more fish.
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:shock: :giggle: one thing i dont miss bout livin in town! corse you can have that here but would strain your brain n ears to hear the neighbors, :giggle:
awwwww sorry bout your fishies, a 1.28 aint bad for fishes, sometimes you can get younger ones for cheaper.
least ya got your pond cleaned :ThumbUp:
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Yeah - the itty-bitty, run-down rental next door is getting on my last nerve. A certain someone was drinking and almost took out our tree last night. Drunk people really, really disturb me.
BUT on the positive side, our pond is looking better than ever! It's very clear - I can see the water lilies, they are no longer covered in dirt/leaves. :yay_jump:
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I thought I replied to this yesterday. Oh, well.... ::)
Sarah, we bought our fish from WalMart for just .28 each. They sure have grown from the little bitty things they were.... :grinnnn:
Jim built us an Adam's Filter (http://rodandjenn2.home.mchsi.com/Adam_s_Filter/adam_s_filter.html). It really keeps the puddle looking great!
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We were going to make an Adam's filter but Adam's boss has a pond that he doesn't filter - just runs the water over some rocks - and doesn't have any problems. So hopefully we won't have any either.
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We got some fish yesterday. Although I think that 2 is the perfect size for our small pond, Adam thought we needed "at least" four. So I picked up a fan tail gold fish, a shubumkin, and 2 calico fan tail goldfish. The two calico gf went straight to the bottom of the shallow water, I think it may still be too cold for them. The other 2 are swimming around and biting on anything that gets near the surface of the water. The water has finally cleared up completely thanks to Adam repeatedly changing out the water.
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That's great Sarah! I hope it stays clean for you. Do you have plants in it?
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I have a canna lily in the basement that will go back in there and 2 waterlilies which overwintered in the pond. One of the waterlilies already has about 5 leaves unfurling underneath the water.
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True to form, my husband poked a hole in the pond somewhere during one of his many excessive cleaning expeditions. I'm hoping he just dislodged the waterfall thing and we're loosing water from that but it's likely that we have a hole. :SlapSelf:
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Holes can be patched. But you may need to empty the whole thing to do that. That is a bummer, Sarah.
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Is your pond a preformed pond or a liner, Sarah? Sure would love to see a picture! :grinnnn:
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Mr. Otto (aka cheapo Adam) did not want to purchase a liner for the pond - so he bought a tarp instead. We'd been concerned that our newly acquired fish had possibly been victim to the neighbor's cat, Fisher. Yes, that is his real name. Adam is out there again cleaning the pond tonight and low and behold all our little fishes come swimming up from the bottom! I'm so happy they aren't dead!
Dianna, I just put in this pond last year. It was my first ever garden-overhaul project. These are pics from last year, clickables as always:
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FNew%2520Garden%2520Area%2Fth_IMG_6503.jpg&hash=abac59e706ccb326e187ce9d1f8ccb47973e2d4b) (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/LandOfOz/New%20Garden%20Area/IMG_6503.jpg) (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FNew%2520Garden%2520Area%2Fth_IMG_6422.jpg&hash=f5f1a74608f4f43c47a0815d11a32c5589dbe7e2) (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/LandOfOz/New%20Garden%20Area/IMG_6422.jpg)
Before and after pics of the overhaul project are right here (http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/LandOfOz/New%20Garden%20Area/).
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That is one cute pond, Sarah. And I like the situation it is in. My son would be throwing all of those lovely stones that are around it, into it.
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Nice pond, Sarah! I sure hope Adam can patch up the hole and keep it going for you... :grinnnn:
You really did a lot of work out there, didn't you, to get your pond area together? I seem to remember the overhaul from another forum.... :wink5:
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Yeah, you might remember it from somewhere, Dianna!
We worked a lot out there to fix it up and it looks sooo much nicer. I hope that we can find the hole and patch it too. It's supposed to be rainy and chilly for a few days but I think the weekend is supposed to be nice maybe we can ... oh nevermind - I'm baking a cake for my nephew's bday party on saturday and Adam's off doing something on SUnday. I've got no idea when it will get fixed. :giggle: :BigGrin:
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I am sure you will have it fixed in time, Sarah Loo. :grinnnn:
Yes, there is a lot of difference in the before and after pics. The pond makes a good focal point for that area. Is the cat in the pictures Fisher? :BigGrin: Looked like he was doing some fishing when you caught him on camera....
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Naw, the cat in the picture is Blackie, my cat. Although he considers himself one-bad-kitty, he's a baby and won't even potty outside. :rofl1: Blackie is extremely picky about his water - he doesn't want it running but he wants it fresh. The pond works good on the occassion he sneaks outside--it's running but too far from him for him to care. In Blackie's self-deluded world I would get up and get the cold filtered water from the fridge and pour him a bowl of it then get on my hands and knees and bow to him and his perfectness. :laughmao: For Christmas we bought him a fancy-shmancy water dish that circulates the water. Now he focuses his time on meowing about not being constantly fed instead of freshly watered. :SlapSelf:
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(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FClipart%2Fbanghead.gif&hash=134d780b0759f7560b7ed1dde5d3e96438f10ffc)An interesting little something happened to my pond recently:
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2Fth_IMG_8085.jpg&hash=06df5c1546d4d382c3150d82810ce438d3a4ec3c) (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/LandOfOz/IMG_8085.jpg)
This look like frightened-wet-kitty-trying-to-get-out-of-pond-after-trying-to-eat-my-fishies scratch marks? (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FClipart%2Fthsmiley_acbt.gif&hash=c1ffa36fe504e8e175af251456c574ceae2690f4) (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FClipart%2Fcensored1.gif&hash=4fa0e2841ae1d3dd6ace41d297703b98183f7eb7)
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2Fth_IMG_8086.jpg&hash=5e3fb3bd0a3c941557839a14002895006635aa4c) (http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g294/LandOfOz/IMG_8086.jpg)
I really didn't need another reason to despise my neighbors. (https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi59.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg294%2FLandOfOz%2FClipart%2Fththrant.gif&hash=b9a6a81ff2a3fb4521bd277165527831146c5a33) The cat knocked a ton of large rocks into the pond, pulled over my other waterlily into the deep end, and generally pissed me off. On the plus side, I did get to lean clear over into the pond and pull out all the rocks, getting my hair and arm covered in stinky, smelly pond water. After a thorough coating in that, I went ahead and scooped out the spring collection of rotting leaves and 'helicopters' from the bottom. And the reason why it was low: the cat knocked the end of the pump for the waterfall half-way out of it's spot, so half the water was thoroughly watering my hosta.
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Oh i would be so pissed too Sarah!
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I would be having a chat with my neighbors about why I called the pound on their cat. That is so not right, Sarah Loo. Your hard work doesn't need to be destroyed by a straying animal. If people are going to be pet-owners, they need to be held responsible for any damages. :mad2: I would be furious! :tickedoff:
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To be honest, Dianna, I am scared of the neighbors. They are not exactly high-quality people and I know that they would REALLY make life miserable for us. I've seen them beat and threaten each other and even damage one another's vehicles. I'd really rather not have to deal with anything like that. We're moving in a year anyway. And they've started having arguments about cocaine - in their front yard.
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It is probably best for you not to have any interaction with them with that going on then, Sarah. Drugs bring out the worst in people...
Maybe you could adapt some of the ideas from this (http://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/index.php/topic,2140.0.html) topic to make the pond area less appealing for the cat...
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Yesterday I found what I think attracted the cat, while pulling a big rock off the bottom, a lovely dead baby bird floated up to the top of the water. Talk about disgusting.
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Yuck! Wonder if the cat may have put it in the pond? :tickedoff:
That is so sad. :Crybaby: Poor baby bird...
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Baby birds are very strongly attracted to our pond. I'm not sure why but it isn't unusual to see a babe wondering around it, hiding in the tall, red bee balm or the garden phlox.