"Victor M. Martinez" wrote:
=

animaux wrote:
comets (ordinary goldfish) in the pond. They grow to 12 inches. Ther=
e used to
be a rule of thumb one inch per gallon of water, but I would go much l=
ighter on
=

That rule of thumb applies only to tropical slender fish.
The rule of thumb
for goldfish is 10 gallons per inch of fish.

My outdoor pond is 4'X3'x14" and it has six goldfish. Three are are 6
inches long and are 4 years old.

the fish load than that. Our 4 fish and the few bottom feeder fish, t=
he pond is
=

Which bottom feeders do you have? Do they survive the winter?
=

Our pond is allowed to develop algae, etc. It's all part of a natural=
element.
We don't try to make our pond look like a swimming pool with clear wa=
ter.
=

There is a natural way to prevent string algae (which robs nutrients th=
at
could otherwise be used by the lillies and the bog plants). Submerged b=
arley
bale helps reduce (or eliminate) unsightly string algae. Give it a shot=
=2E

Yes, there is is a plant grower in my area that has a large pond and
uses barley bale. There is also a straw that accomplishes this. My guess
is this lady wants that the algae in her pond and in my opinion, I don't
think its that big of a deal. True, it may divert some nutrients from
bog marginals but not that much. Some people demand a clear pond. In a
balanced pond in nature, you will find this. But its all in the
preference of that person's taste. The fact that there is a water
feature is sufficient, regardles of whether its clear or not.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

-- =

J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com
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