ahhh... guess I have built up good killfile s cause I dont get that many anymore.
anyway.. ask a question and there will be plenty of answers... then find that thread.

Ingrid

wrote:

???
I just dropped by rec.ponds
4 of the 1st 6 new posts are crap.
It looks the same to me..... what a shame.

There are still good people there but many are lurking in the
background.
And you can use google groups search feature to find lots of good info.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

there are excellent up to date pond chemistry sites online. the rec.ponds people
know where to find them. and rec.ponds does not regurgitate the same old stuff found
in the typical books written by somebody looking to make a buck. people on rec.ponds
arent making any money with their advice. I remember back when I started thinking
about a pond and the books advice would have cost me somewhere in the area of 5-10K
what with all the bottom drains and settling ponds and extra ponds for filtration.
right off the bat they will tell new ponders to NOT put in any fish until the pond
has gone thru is green stage and stabilized. there are many kind of HOMEMADE and
cheap filters, including veggie filters that require ALMOST NO work at all.
as for those "gardening" magazines, they are full of incorrect or downright silly
information too. rec.ponds is the place to get the BEST information
Ingrid


- At some point, a pond owner may have to very quickly understand the
chemistry of the water, in order to solve a problem that's going to kill the
fish beginning tomorrow, or later today. It's good to have the knowledge and
resources instantly at hand.

- Regurgitated info: Newsgroups are as likely to exhibit this as any book
you might find.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

Are you saying that information which is not free is worthless?



wrote in message
...
there are excellent up to date pond chemistry sites online. the rec.ponds
people
know where to find them. and rec.ponds does not regurgitate the same old
stuff found
in the typical books written by somebody looking to make a buck. people
on rec.ponds
arent making any money with their advice. I remember back when I started
thinking
about a pond and the books advice would have cost me somewhere in the area
of 5-10K
what with all the bottom drains and settling ponds and extra ponds for
filtration.
right off the bat they will tell new ponders to NOT put in any fish until
the pond
has gone thru is green stage and stabilized. there are many kind of
HOMEMADE and
cheap filters, including veggie filters that require ALMOST NO work at
all.
as for those "gardening" magazines, they are full of incorrect or
downright silly
information too. rec.ponds is the place to get the BEST information
Ingrid


- At some point, a pond owner may have to very quickly understand the
chemistry of the water, in order to solve a problem that's going to kill
the
fish beginning tomorrow, or later today. It's good to have the knowledge
and
resources instantly at hand.

- Regurgitated info: Newsgroups are as likely to exhibit this as any book
you might find.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

wrote:

what with all the bottom drains and settling ponds and extra ponds for filtration.
right off the bat they will tell new ponders to NOT put in any fish until the pond
has gone thru is green stage and stabilized.

This I know from my aquarium days. Get the water conditions right, get
the plants growing, then add the fish. And when you first add fish
only put in a couple. Once you can get a couple to survive then slowly
add others a couple at a time until you get the correct amount. The
"correct amount" being determined by the amount of gallons, surface
area of the water, strength of the filteration, and size of the fish,
keeping in mind that it's much better to add fewer fish than too many.


there are many kind of HOMEMADE and
cheap filters, including veggie filters that require ALMOST NO work at all.

What is a veggie filter"?

Thanks to all those who have reponded to my post!

Patrick

Pat wrote:

Questions 4 , 5 & 6: Best to stay with local creatures, right? What do
you think about adding some African Cichlids (in place of the local
fish), from a tropical fish store? Cichlids are tough little fish,
surely they could survive in my pond, right?

Cichlids would probably survive in Florida. I like cheap goldfish. You
don't mind replacing them when they get eaten. Koi tame easily. Colored
fish help you see them. You may never see your cichlids again after adding
them.

Cichlids can be quite colorful. Well... at least the dominate ones in
the tank. The problem I see with them is their aggressiveness. If
they have room to develop territories, once they get to breeding size,
the dominate mating pair will kill every other fish in the tank, and
then after laying her eggs she'll chase the male until he is
battered/bruised/in a deathly state. I found this true after adding
with three to a tankful (100 gallon) of tropical fish. They are one
mean species of fish!

Patrick

basically, it is an area where plants are grown with their roots directly in the
water ... the plants remove the wastes. Some people use a large shallow area to
grow water hyacinths and water lettuce.
my filter is above the pond, http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/2000/details.htm
I put a combination of plants in baskets (which dont really contribute to the
filtering) and those set in bare root.
http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/changes/changes2.htm
the filter is at a right angle and the silt and mulm falls out of the stream of water
when it hits the roots of the plants. I only clean the filter in fall when I take
the plants out to move them inside. in areas with no winter the filter continues
year around. maybe trimming the filter plants as they get too big.
Ingrid

wrote:
What is a veggie filter"?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

wrote:
To add interest to my little pond, and to keep the bug population in
check, I figured I'd add some inhabitants. I figured the best thing
to add would be some local tadpoles, minnows (little bluegills/panfish
or whatever they're called in this part of the country) a couple
adult frogs, and maybe a turtle or two.

Be careful with the turtle. Some varieties might find your minnows,
frogs, and tadpoles tasty.

wrote in
oups.com:

wrote:
To add interest to my little pond, and to keep the bug
population in check, I figured I'd add some inhabitants.
I figured the best thing to add would be some local
tadpoles, minnows (little bluegills/panfish or whatever
they're called in this part of the country) a couple adult
frogs, and maybe a turtle or two.

Be careful with the turtle. Some varieties might find your
minnows, frogs, and tadpoles tasty.

OTOH, we're building a pond specificly for my almost 2 year
old snapping turtle...
Gamera has no problem noshing down about two dozen 1.5"
minnows in less than 24 hours. sliders, red ears, & map
turtles grow much faster than snappers, so will eat more. if
you want fish & pollywogs, you don't really want a turtle.
you also need to consider hibernation if you have a turtle.
unless you're pond has a deep muck bottom, your turtle will
have to be hibernated inside in a refrigerator (or a spot that
stays at 38-40 degrees F) or it will freeze to death. it is
unhealthy to keep a hibernating species of turtle up all
winter. i hibernate Gamera for at least 6 weeks, but 3-4
months is better... i had a storage issue & his hibernation
tank iced over, so i had to pull him out early this past
winter. if he's awake & can't get to air through ice, he'd
drown.
lee
--
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the
guise of
fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison, fourth US president
(1751-1836)

If you like being outdoors with the sound of a waterfall and wildlife then
you will enjoy your pond after the hard work is over. (Digging the hole is
the hardest). Seasonal problems not bad for you in Florida. Here is a
hint....no matter what size people built, they usually wish they had made it
bigger, me included. Mine is a 1200 gal with the main waterfall which falls
into another level then the pond. By the time you add plants and fish,etc.
you run out of room quickly. I put it in last Spring and really loved it all
summer.

Keep your pump running 24/7. Here in Georgia it runs another $20 on the
electric bill per month but the fish need the oxygen and the filter will
kick in with the good bacteria after a few weeks.

Get a test kit to keep the ammonia,nitrates and ph in check and test it once
a week. There are allot of good advice from websites. You can built your own
filter system and save money. Do a google for a Skippy and read up on it.
It's made from a
Rubbermaid container. It's good but cheap.

Don't make the mistake I did and put pea gravel and small rocks on the
bottom to make it look nice. I just
had to get them all out due to not being able to clean out the bottom
properly. (Put in a bottom drain.) Got lots of muck from leafs and pine
needles even through I kept a
net over it.

More sun more algae. I have Spring algae bloom until the trees put out their
leaves. It goes away and the pond gets clear.
I get about 2-3 hrs sun then dappled shade.

Treat the hole with fire ant spray several days before you lay the liner. We
have fire ants here too. Don't think they
will/can eat through the liner.

Good luck and have fun with it.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Idea: I want to build a little (250-300 gallon) pond in the backyard of
my suburban north-Florida home.

Question 1: Will this little pond be a serious haven for mosquitoes and
every other nasty, winged insect (including fire ants that love black
plastic like my planned pond liner spread over the ground)?

Location: My backyard is fully fenced-in (5-foot high wood fence) and
is located in the middle of a residential area. The site I selected is
about 30-35 feet away from my patio area, and one end will be located
at the top of a hill the other end will be about 5"-6" lower. I
figured I can just berm up the lower end. Then drape the end of the
plastic pond liner over the top of the berm to hold the berm in place.
(The soil in my yard, like most of Florida, is very sandy.) There'll
be a small (8-foot high) Dogwood tree located on the south side and a
section of my backyard's fence will be located west side of the pond
and will shade the later evening sun. In all, the pond will probably
get about 6 hours of direct sun and a couple hours of semi-shaded.

Questions 2 & 3: Is this location okay? Or will it get too much sun...
and end up being green, algae-filled swamp in a matter of weeks?

To add interest to my little pond, and to keep the bug population in
check, I figured I'd add some inhabitants. I figured the best thing
to add would be some local tadpoles, minnows (little bluegills/panfish
or whatever they're called in this part of the country) a couple
adult frogs, and maybe a turtle or two.

Questions 4 , 5 & 6: Best to stay with local creatures, right? What do
you think about adding some African Cichlids (in place of the local
fish), from a tropical fish store? Cichlids are tough little fish,
surely they could survive in my pond, right?

I also want a little water fall on one end of the pond.

Questions 7, 8 & 9: How gallon-per-hour pump should I use? How many
hours a day should the pump run? Should my pond have some sort of
filtration system?

Question 10 & a bonus: Are ponds worthwhile or are they more bother
than they're worth?

Please give me your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Patrick