Benign Vanilla wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote:
I've got to agree with Ingrid on this one. Yeah, they love what gets
stirred up from the bottom, because it's full of little invertebrates,
but
if it's bubbling, it's not healthy. Koi ponds don't tend to get to that
stage easily, because the koi themselves root about in the muck enough to
keep it from developing gas pockets, but if you neglect a pond long
enough,
it'll happen.

Whoa nelly...I am not saying let your ponds go stagnant an grow a creature
from the black lagoon. I am just saying that you do not need to be
paranoid about it. It seems like many people recommend managing pond
bottom muck as if it's uranium. I disagree. It's not good to let it go,
but you don't need to worry about it, is all I am saying. In my experience
a bit of muck stirred up will not kill your fish dead like a can of raid
on a bee's nest, and mine are not in a sewer pipe, so I am not worried
about that extreme.

Well, if _that's_ what you're saying, I agree with you :-) Ingrid's next
point is pretty good too - I do try to get the majority of the muck
vacuumed out before the pond freezes over. I certainly don't keep the
bottom spotless, even in Winter, but I do try to limit the muck to an
amount that can't develop serious anaerobic pockets.
--
derek