"StOrEcRaFt" wrote in message
...
Here are a few things I would add.

For the size of the pond you may have too many fish.
I qualify this because you didn't say the total length of the fish.

I see that the pond is aprox. 1200 gal. The actual size of the pond would
help is it deep enough and circulating the water properly .

---- Bog --
The "bog" is a good idea. But.
There are some things you will want to check on.
Size, water flow, amount of water, soil, plants, etc. There is a major
difference in the acid/ alkaline levels.
Do you want a "bog", "fen", or "marsh"?
There is a definite difference between these three. For example;
A bog is acidic and over time turns into peat and then turns into coal.
(none of us will be around to see this)

I have a 1700+ gal. pond and filter it through two different marshes.
There is 7 fish for a total of 55 inches. I have hardy plants that come
back up in the spring. Cattail, Japanese Iris, Papyrus, etc.

---- Barley grass --
It's true, throw away the barley grass. It takes too long to 'activate'.
By then the fish have eaten at it, or it's broken down and gets in the
pump or waits for you to clean it out come fall.

---- Salt --
I have not seen and good or bad points about salt use. Using a marsh may
have something to do with this. I will be doing more chemical research on
this.

---- Tea Tree ---
I like natural cures so I use Tea Tree extract. People use it on
themselves and animals.
There is a caution here. http://www.messybeast.com/teatree.htm


Remember. We are all first timers and none of us was born with the
information.
I'm sure that everyone that has worked a pond has sent their fair share
of fish and plants onto their next life.
Hang in there.


So I broke down and got a new pomp today. My old pump 1200GPH seemed to not
follow so hot, especially with that 6-foot rise to the top of my setup; I
don’t think that it was turning my pond over at an acceptable rate. I also
recalculated the total water volume of the two ponds and it seams to be
closer to 1600 gallons plus barrel, bog, and waterfall. So I put in the new
pump at 3000GPH and it really moves some water. In fact it moved so much
that the barrel at the top over flowed, so I tried to put another 2-inch
drainpipe on it to go to the bog. But it leaked and I was losing daylight
fast so I just shut the whole thing down for the night. Made up my mind to
put in one of those Skippy filters. (If I can find some of thoughts scrub
pads).



That filter that came with the old pump had way too much backpressure so I
think I may leave it out of the loop. Do you think that I need some kind of
pre filter if I ad a veggie filter in the Skippy?



Also the one pond has no fish in it so I plan to put a lot of plants in it
like a veggie filter but sense the shelf space is limited dose it mater that
it is four feet deep? Or will plants like watercress just grow in deep
water, or do their roots need to be able to reach button? How will they do
in more still water? Any hardy plants you could recommend.



Oh and by the way I have about 80 to 90 inch of fish. If I lose the two sick
ones 10 inches less. The one has now lost its skin on one side about 1 inch
X 1.5 inches. Got some med’s from Wall Mart that should cure 7 of 9
funguses. Not better nor worse in the last two days.



I didn’t get the meaning of you comment about the bog. Should I be looking
at some things there?



Do you or anybody else know how to get read of those frogs?



My water test is as follows; Nitrate 5-20 safe, Nitrite the color the test
strip isn’t on the chart of the test strip bottle, Hardness hard, PH 8-8.4



I better stop now I’m rambling again, Thanks for all your help. Rick