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#1
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FINALLY!
Hi Gareee!
Good to see you again! It's exciting to see so many old friends come back! kathy :-) ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com. |
#2
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
wrote in message ...
Hi Gareee! Good to see you again! It's exciting to see so many old friends come back! kathy :-) Yep, it is. My combo uv and filter system failed dismally last year, and I had greenwater almost the whole season. I'm *so* glad I bought everything I thought I'd need. (NOT!) We've seen a TON of frogs thio sear already and of course a huge number of frog eggs.. the fish will be eating well and free for some time. Plants are already springing up, about 3 weeks early, and the fish are showing up from time to time.. the pong is also already pea soup green. I'm also guessing we are overstocked, with probably 35-45 goldfish now, ranging from almost a foot long to tiny ones, and th epond is 12x12x2-4 feet deep.. fortunately the local pet store will buy the overstock. The waterfall last year was problematic, so not sure what I'll do with the whole thing this year. last year it was a buttload of work, with very little pleasurable return. -- Gareee (Gary Tabar Jr.) |
#3
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"Gareee©" wrote in message ... brevity snips Yep, it is. My combo uv and filter system failed dismally last year, and I had greenwater almost the whole season. I'm *so* glad I bought everything I thought I'd need. (NOT!) ============================ Make sure the sleeve the bulb is protected by is CLEAN. Even a light film will keep it from working properly. -- RM.... Frugal ponding since 1995. rec.ponder since late 1996. My Pond & Aquarium Pages: http://tinyurl.com/9do58 Zone 6. USA ~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö |
#4
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
... Make sure the sleeve the bulb is protected by is CLEAN. Even a light film will keep it from working properly. Yeah it's clean, I checked the waterflow amount, and I think the problem is too much sun, and never enough plants. I bought about $70 worth of pont plants last year,and I can never get more then 20-30% coverage. Someone sent me water lettuce late in the season year before last, and that did ok, but still never grew enough to give me enough coverage to reduge the algae. There are very few stores here that carry any pond supplied, and I've never been able to get enough fast growing cover foliage.. the fish gobb;le it up faster then it can propagate. Might try a uncovered filter this year, with some water lettuce in it, if I can find any. I might just plant the waterfall area with plants, instead of dicking around with it this year. -- Gareee (Gary Tabar Jr.) |
#5
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:27:15 CST, "Gareee©"
wrote: I might just plant the waterfall area with plants, instead of dicking around with it this year. Hey Gareeeee, so good to see ya! Waterfall is a great place to plant watercress. ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State |
#6
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"~ jan" wrote in message
... Hey Gareeeee, so good to see ya! Waterfall is a great place to plant watercress. ~ jan Might try that since the fish just gobble it up.. and the only place I can get watercress is be special ordering it at a local grocery store, and paying premium prices for it. You'd think it was a gourmet delicacy here... -- Gareee (Gary Tabar Jr.) |
#7
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"Gareee©" wrote in message ... "Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... Make sure the sleeve the bulb is protected by is CLEAN. Even a light film will keep it from working properly. Yeah it's clean, I checked the waterflow amount, and I think the problem is too much sun, and never enough plants. I bought about $70 worth of pont plants last year,and I can never get more then 20-30% coverage. Someone sent me water lettuce late in the season year before last, and that did ok, but still never grew enough to give me enough coverage to reduge the algae. There are very few stores here that carry any pond supplied, and I've never been able to get enough fast growing cover foliage.. the fish gobb;le it up faster then it can propagate. Might try a uncovered filter this year, with some water lettuce in it, if I can find any. I might just plant the waterfall area with plants, instead of dicking around with it this year. ========================= There are a few things you can try. First is to thin out the fish drastically. Keep only a handful of the prettiest fish with the nicest fins and sell or give away the rest. Make sure all the detritus is netted off the bottom and removed. For cover nothing beats the water lily. If water lettuce and water hyacinth doesn't grow well you can try adding some potassium to the water. I buy it at a garden center and use 1 heaping tablespoon per 800 to 1000 gallons. I learned about this on rec.ponds. My koi will eat the roots off these floaters but the goldfish don't touch them. They're a good hiding place if you don't net your pond and they soak up the nutrients and help starve the algae. I have one inground 150g pond that I clear up rapidly with a major water change in the spring, then use Potassium Permanganate, do a 50% water change and that's it. It stays clear until the following spring. It's home to about 6 goldfish - they're culled every year to keep the population stable. It's the only un-netted pond we have. If the large ponds don't clear on their own I use the UV lights. They work every time. -- RM.... Frugal ponding since 1995. rec.ponder since late 1996. My Pond & Aquarium Pages: http://tinyurl.com/9do58 Zone 6. USA ~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö |
#8
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "Gareee©" wrote in message ... "Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... Make sure the sleeve the bulb is protected by is CLEAN. Even a light film will keep it from working properly. Yeah it's clean, I checked the waterflow amount, and I think the problem is too much sun, and never enough plants. I bought about $70 worth of pont plants last year,and I can never get more then 20-30% coverage. Someone sent me water lettuce late in the season year before last, and that did ok, but still never grew enough to give me enough coverage to reduge the algae. There are very few stores here that carry any pond supplied, and I've never been able to get enough fast growing cover foliage.. the fish gobb;le it up faster then it can propagate. Might try a uncovered filter this year, with some water lettuce in it, if I can find any. I might just plant the waterfall area with plants, instead of dicking around with it this year. ========================= There are a few things you can try. First is to thin out the fish drastically. Keep only a handful of the prettiest fish with the nicest fins and sell or give away the rest. Make sure all the detritus is netted off the bottom and removed. For cover nothing beats the water lily. If water lettuce and water hyacinth doesn't grow well you can try adding some potassium to the water. I buy it at a garden center and use 1 heaping tablespoon per 800 to 1000 gallons. I learned about this on rec.ponds. My koi will eat the roots off these floaters but the goldfish don't touch them. They're a good hiding place if you don't net your pond and they soak up the nutrients and help starve the algae. I have one inground 150g pond that I clear up rapidly with a major water change in the spring, then use Potassium Permanganate, do a 50% water change and that's it. It stays clear until the following spring. It's home to about 6 goldfish - they're culled every year to keep the population stable. It's the only un-netted pond we have. If the large ponds don't clear on their own I use the UV lights. They work every time. Tried adding potassium last year, and I do already have several water lillies.. they are getting larger each year, so maybe they'll offer enough coverage this year. I also added about 40 marginals last year of variosu types, and iris seem to do particularly well. I got a ph test kit, and other then adding some additional baking soda last year, everything look right.. the problem I think is just full sun exposure, and not enough plant coverage. Hopefull since I;'m getting an eary spring this year, the 3 year plants will have grown enough to finally bo doing thie rjob. My filter system was just way too small last year.. a rubbermaid storage tub. I'm considering a large rubbermaid trashcan system this year, possibly doubled, but since it's all in the middle of the yard, it becomes a tradeoff using those, and having that eyesore, or having a green pond instead. The filter worked last year, but it became almost solid muck after a few weeks, and th esame happened with the upper pondlet, with it's plants hardly doing anything at all to cut the greenwater. Over population is the issue this year.. we started out with 7 goldfish, and after the first year, had about 20... we sold off more then 1/2 of them, and last year ended up with a ballpark number around 35-40! In addition we have newts in the pond, and of course a ton of frogs as well. Obviously the life is thriving in the pond, just too much so. -- Gareee (Gary Tabar Jr.) |
#9
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FINALLY.. and dismal pond fileter system report on last year...
"Gareee©" wrote in message ... brevity snip Tried adding potassium last year, and I do already have several water lillies.. they are getting larger each year, so maybe they'll offer enough coverage this year. I also added about 40 marginals last year of variosu types, and iris seem to do particularly well. I got a ph test kit, and other then adding some additional baking soda last year, everything look right.. the problem I think is just full sun exposure, and not enough plant coverage. Hopefull since I;'m getting an eary spring this year, the 3 year plants will have grown enough to finally bo doing thie rjob. My filter system was just way too small last year.. a rubbermaid storage tub. I'm considering a large rubbermaid trashcan system this year, possibly doubled, but since it's all in the middle of the yard, it becomes a tradeoff using those, and having that eyesore, or having a green pond instead. You can buy several yards of that camouflage material hunter use or plain black and cover the filters. Just drape it over them and they'll be less obvious. The filter worked last year, but it became almost solid muck after a few weeks, and th esame happened with the upper pondlet, with it's plants hardly doing anything at all to cut the greenwater. My settling tank-veggie filter mucks up and must be flushed several times over the summer depending on the fish load. Over population is the issue this year.. we started out with 7 goldfish, and after the first year, had about 20... we sold off more then 1/2 of them, and last year ended up with a ballpark number around 35-40! Time to sell a few more........ ;-) We have to drain down both ponds and remove loads of koi fry from last summer. In addition we have newts in the pond, and of course a ton of frogs as well. Obviously the life is thriving in the pond, just too much so. It sure sounds that way. It must be a healthy environment for them. -- RM.... Frugal ponding since 1995. rec.ponder since late 1996. My Pond & Aquarium Pages: http://tinyurl.com/9do58 Zone 6. USA ~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö |
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