Like I stated before there is NOTHING that yu can actually plant in a
mud bottom pond especially in your local and not expect it to become
envasive, be it lotus, lillies and certainly cat tails.......Its
virtually impossible to keep any plant constrained within the limits
of a pot or container when its in a natural pond...


Maybe you did not say anything about algae blooms, but its inevitable
yur gonna get them its the nature of the beast so aeration and
baraclear and keeping run off minimixed is the solution to future
problems, once spring/ summer kicks in. A lot of the stuff thats
floating will settle and sink, and become biological filter material,
so don;t get concerned with it. Make the floating fountain and set
back and watch.......There is not much yu can do to stop natural
occuring things from happening nor is there much yu can do to solve
your questions without spending a heap of money for equipment and also
exhorant operating expenses...which I gather from your prevous posts
your barely able to run or afford some items which were
suggested.......Just take a look at a pond in that area where lilys
are growing wild and its just solid surface cover, no water at all and
within a year ro two it will be one masive heavily infested
pond....with whatever you planted...

Koi-lo has about as much experieince with a natural poknd and what to
plant in it as I do performing brain surgery as a profession......

Perhaps a few lilys ina large wash tub near the edge that you can tend
to properly and keep an eye on and aeration in the form of a floating
fountain.........is about it....The rest thats gonna happen is gonna
happen with or without your intervention as to algae, critters, debri,
runoff etc etc...
Baraclear P80 is a aluminum sulfate mix in a sodium bentonite pellet,
that locks up phosphates which are key to algae growth.......There is
no reason not to expect good water visibility if aeration and
nutrients are taken care of......I can readily see 4 to 6 feet deep in
relatively clean clear water in my natural ponds here without a
problem any time of the year, and my zone is what your zone is in
regards to temperatures and environmental issues........I would even
dose the pond with a strong dose of potassium permangante to oxidize
or basically sterilize any crap that may still be in there and
eliminate anay nutrients you already have....It certainly does not
take much runoff to gain a heap of nutrients, and I am sure you have
some runoff around that pond coming from sonewhere expeicially with
the gulley washers this area receives, and the crap hurricanes and
winds all carry in as well, as winds are just about as bad as lots of
water runoff when it comes to adding nutrients to a pond.....YOur
against the odds without filtration, so you have to make do with whats
been proven. YOur water is not all that deep so its gonna get warmed
up quicker, yet another reason for aeration.......

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 13:47:18 -0500, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:51:45 GMT, (Roy) wrote:

Your ****ing in the wind if your going to even think about filtering a
natural mud bottom pond especially when you consider whaty a mud
bottom pond is......the mud in y our pond is the key to your ponds
naturally occuriing biological filter system all proovided by naature
nothing else other than aeration needs to be done. .Aerate it like
many other have posted, keep excessive nutrient loads from runoff to a
minimum or non existent, and let it go at that.

Maybe "filtering" isn't the exact word. There is stuff that I can see
floating in the pond -- no amount of aeration or something like that is
going to get rid of it -- ever. This isn't just your typical
hole-dug-in-the-ground type of pond, there was junk in it before, and now
some of it is floating. I know that several many cities take in their
water from a river or lake, use it, treat it (often involving settling
tanks), and then return it to the body of water they drew it from. In many
cases the "treated" water is actually much cleaner than it was when it was
withdrawn. I was wondering if I might do something similar, although on a
much smaller scale. I have no expectation of getting rid of the mud at the
bottom, and this is a far cry from anything like a natural pond.

There is no plants
your gonna be able to plant aorund or in the pond that will not take
over and become invasive in a natural pond

On one web page I visited they recommended something like cattails,
although they suggested growing them in pots to keep them from spreading.
I have three ponds on the property here, the front one has a fair number of
cattails growing naturally, I could easily get them from there. They have
not spread to the back pond, nor do they appear likely to spread to the
"pond" I'm working on, I just wondered if looking into plants was at all
worthwhile. Again, I think you may have overlooked that I have said this
is NOT a "natural" (whatever that is) pond.

......If you need something
for algae, then you have excessive nutrients.......probably from
runoff water

I have very little runoff water, as far as water that drains directly into
the "pond." However, I do have a fair amount of water that gets into the
"pond" from underground. The hole is below the local water table, if I
don't constantly pump it out, it fills up from just the ground water. I'd
say it gets about 90% full in about a week, and then within two weeks it
tracks the level of the local water table fairly closely. If I have a
puddle 20 feet from the pond after a rain, I can pretty much guarantee that
most of the water will wind up in the "pond," although it doesn't drain
into it above ground. I've been a cave explorer for some 40 years now, and
know a little bit about underground hydrology. (The whole Suwannee River
valley and its tributaries are among the finest areas for underwater
speleology in the entire world.)

.......or lack or or insufficient aeration.......or
both.....

How much aeration do you consider sufficient for this size pond?

.ALgae blooms in this sectin of the o****ry is the norm, so
every bit yu can do to knock down nutrients and provide aeration will
be iportant....

I don't think I have ever said anything about algae blooms.

YOur wasteing money with the barley crap, get some
Baraclear and be done with it...

"Baraclear" sounds like a trade name. Is there a generic name or are there
some special ingredients?

Just what did you do with all this info you were provided previously
on numerous accounts ......eat it or?

I've only made a few posts to this group since this summer, a few people
have responded and I have appreciated it. I've been posting as work
progresses and when I have been unable to find any answers to my questions
through my own research. I'm sorry you find these so irritating.

You make the same posts asking the same questions over and
over........evidently the answers you were given does not fit your
budget or desires or you would have implemented them by now.

sheeeeeeesssssssssssh

A technique I have found helpful in my years on Usenet is to sit on my
hands when I see a posting in a group that I find silly or offensive. If I
feel I need to say something personal to a person I generally use their
email address, which I always provide. Assuming that is my intent, of
course.

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA
We are the CroMagnon of the future

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The original frugal ponder! Koi-ahoi mates....