The PNW has been beautiful the last couple of days. My spring break started
this week so I've been busy cleaning up the yard. Pond were opened up
Friday and Sunday took the flow off of by-pass. Going over the waterfall
again.

Frogs showed up last night. We've had temps 10 degrees higher than the
norms, so it has been really nice and is suppose to stay warm for the next
several days, though it will be a few degrees lower. I won't complain.

Hope you're Easter and spring are starting out as wonderful. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On 4/3/2013 11:01 AM, ~ jan wrote:
The PNW has been beautiful the last couple of days. My spring break started
this week so I've been busy cleaning up the yard. Pond were opened up
Friday and Sunday took the flow off of by-pass. Going over the waterfall
again.

Frogs showed up last night. We've had temps 10 degrees higher than the
norms, so it has been really nice and is suppose to stay warm for the next
several days, though it will be a few degrees lower. I won't complain.

Hope you're Easter and spring are starting out as wonderful. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


My fish are becoming active and getting hungry. Did a couple of feedings
of Cheerios and now they're on to the good stuff. Going to place another
order for some high dollar Koi food. Anyone care to have that discussion
again? You know the one where we debate the merits, or lack of, in
feeding one type of fish food over another? ;-)

JB

On Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:47:21 EDT, JB wrote:

On 4/3/2013 11:01 AM, ~ jan wrote:
The PNW has been beautiful the last couple of days. My spring break started
this week so I've been busy cleaning up the yard. Pond were opened up
Friday and Sunday took the flow off of by-pass. Going over the waterfall
again.

Frogs showed up last night. We've had temps 10 degrees higher than the
norms, so it has been really nice and is suppose to stay warm for the next
several days, though it will be a few degrees lower. I won't complain.

Hope you're Easter and spring are starting out as wonderful. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


My fish are becoming active and getting hungry. Did a couple of feedings
of Cheerios and now they're on to the good stuff. Going to place another
order for some high dollar Koi food. Anyone care to have that discussion
again? You know the one where we debate the merits, or lack of, in
feeding one type of fish food over another? ;-)

JB

I'm sticking with what has worked and that is Sho Koi. That I too will get
ordered this week. I got to feed one day the 1st few days of April and then
dang if it hasn't gone below normal temps since. Not happy! ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On 4/15/2013 9:47 PM, JB wrote:
On 4/3/2013 11:01 AM, ~ jan wrote:
The PNW has been beautiful the last couple of days. My spring break
started
this week so I've been busy cleaning up the yard. Pond were opened up
Friday and Sunday took the flow off of by-pass. Going over the waterfall
again.

Frogs showed up last night. We've had temps 10 degrees higher than the
norms, so it has been really nice and is suppose to stay warm for the
next
several days, though it will be a few degrees lower. I won't complain.

Hope you're Easter and spring are starting out as wonderful. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


My fish are becoming active and getting hungry. Did a couple of feedings
of Cheerios and now they're on to the good stuff. Going to place another
order for some high dollar Koi food. Anyone care to have that discussion
again? You know the one where we debate the merits, or lack of, in
feeding one type of fish food over another? ;-)

JB


I'm not going to debate...would love to hear more about how much, when
and what to feed.

This is my first spring with a pond, inherited with our new home. Six
koi, est. about 6-8" each.

I've only had a few warmish days (north central Indiana) to clean and
make repairs to water lines. I seem to have water loss in a buried line
between the pump and the waterfall....is there a general guide (or
tables?) that estimate normal evaporation? My pond is about 6x10', egg
shaped and about 18" deep at the center.

Water is too murky to visualize fish clearly, but there seemed to be a
little dark colored (koi, I hope) chasing a golden one the other day.
Mating behavior? Hungry bass?

When I went to Lowes few days ago, the clerk shared that he had been a
ponder in Ohio, and used barley straw in mesh bags to control algae and
that it worked very well. I have some products, food and water
treatment, left by the previous owner, so I am in relatively good shape.

Cheerios?

On 4/16/2013 2:57 PM, ~ jan wrote:
On Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:47:21 EDT, wrote:


My fish are becoming active and getting hungry. Did a couple of feedings
of Cheerios and now they're on to the good stuff. Going to place another
order for some high dollar Koi food. Anyone care to have that discussion
again? You know the one where we debate the merits, or lack of, in
feeding one type of fish food over another? ;-)

JB

I'm sticking with what has worked and that is Sho Koi. That I too will get
ordered this week. I got to feed one day the 1st few days of April and then
dang if it hasn't gone below normal temps since. Not happy! ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


Ouch on the price change for Sho Koi. Up around $1.00 per pound over
last year for the 10 lb bag. Tried to compensate for this by buying the
two lb bags because it was cheaper this way.

On 4/16/2013 2:58 PM, Norminn wrote:

I'm not going to debate...would love to hear more about how much, when
and what to feed.

This is my first spring with a pond, inherited with our new home. Six
koi, est. about 6-8" each.

I've only had a few warmish days (north central Indiana) to clean and
make repairs to water lines. I seem to have water loss in a buried line
between the pump and the waterfall....is there a general guide (or
tables?) that estimate normal evaporation? My pond is about 6x10', egg
shaped and about 18" deep at the center.

Water is too murky to visualize fish clearly, but there seemed to be a
little dark colored (koi, I hope) chasing a golden one the other day.
Mating behavior? Hungry bass?

When I went to Lowes few days ago, the clerk shared that he had been a
ponder in Ohio, and used barley straw in mesh bags to control algae and
that it worked very well. I have some products, food and water
treatment, left by the previous owner, so I am in relatively good shape.

Cheerios?


Norminn,

Congratulations on becoming a ponder! You ask several questions:

I'm guessing that from the measurements you've provided that your pond
is around 600 gallons, maybe a little less.

There shouldn't be much evaporation this time of year so what period of
time has elapsed between when the pond was full and now?

Most ponds get murky from algae bloom in the spring. They'll clear
eventually; and sometimes in a matter of a few hours dramatically. Some
people use the in-line U/V lights. I've read about the barley but I do
neither in my 3,000 gallon pond. I do add a second pump with filter to
help remove the algae bloom. I have to clean it almost every day when
it's really thick.

Cheerios - sometimes fed in cooler weather as it doesn't produce as much
waste which in turn can produce ammonia which in turn can be harmful.
Others can tell you the chemistry behind all this.

JB

On 4/16/2013 2:58 PM, Norminn wrote:

I'm not going to debate...would love to hear more about how much, when
and what to feed.

This is my first spring with a pond, inherited with our new home. Six
koi, est. about 6-8" each.

I've only had a few warmish days (north central Indiana) to clean and
make repairs to water lines. I seem to have water loss in a buried line
between the pump and the waterfall....is there a general guide (or
tables?) that estimate normal evaporation? My pond is about 6x10', egg
shaped and about 18" deep at the center.

Water is too murky to visualize fish clearly, but there seemed to be a
little dark colored (koi, I hope) chasing a golden one the other day.
Mating behavior? Hungry bass?

When I went to Lowes few days ago, the clerk shared that he had been a
ponder in Ohio, and used barley straw in mesh bags to control algae and
that it worked very well. I have some products, food and water
treatment, left by the previous owner, so I am in relatively good shape.

Cheerios?

My usual water loss is in the waterfall, either a rock has fallen or the
rubber has been pushed down. If you can by-pass the water fall and keep
things running, thereby using process of elimination will help. Next turn
off the filter if you can separate it from the pond, see if the leak is in
the pond or somewhere in the filter/pipes.

Not a fan of many koi foods or human foods that are often filled with
fillers that pass right through. And old saying is, you're not keeping koi
you're keeping quality water. Fillers feed the filter, which is okay if the
filter can handle it, most can't.

How is your fresh water? If it is in good shape the best chemical you can
use to reduce murkiness & algae is water changes. Other wise plants, but
often plants wake up slower than algae. Don't get too excited by algae
though, it is really your friend and shows one to cut down on feeding, do
more water changes or upgrade the filter system.

I never have used UV. I get some string algae in the spring, but never
murky. I do water changes weekly, unless one of the water falls is helping
out by letting it leak elsewhere. Then I'm adding more.

One product I swear by is BZT sold by UnitedTech.com. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Ouch on the price change for Sho Koi. Up around $1.00 per pound over
last year for the 10 lb bag. Tried to compensate for this by buying the
two lb bags because it was cheaper this way.

Ordered mine today, it has the old cart and according to it said the price
was only a $2-3 rise. Hmmmm, I do remember though when I first ordered it
from Western Pond that is was only $59, but that might have been a few
years ago. Since I have aquariums of goldfish I also order shogold at the
same time to hit that magic $100 free shipping price. That's gone up too,
but hasn't everything except our paychecks? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Moderator VACANCY INVESTIGATION (MVI)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Investigation (MVI), begun because
moderated newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated is not functioning, and may
have been abandoned by its moderator(s).

This investigation will attempt to verify the reasons for non-function,
and may result in the removal of the group or the selection and
installation of a new moderator. In practice, the Big-8 Management
Board considers the third alternative -- changing the status of the
group from moderated to unmoderated -- as likely to cause more harm than
good.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

(expanded from ): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, also in April of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

CHARTER:

C01 Description and Purpose

Rec.ponds.moderated is a moderated newsgroup that provides a friendly,
respectful forum for the discussion of all aspects of ponds and water
gardens. The rec.ponds.moderated newsgroup appeals to a wide range of
people involved in both the recreational and professional aspects of
establishing and maintaining a pond or water garden. Participants
range from novices to persons with many years of experience, from
amateur hobbyists to professional botanists and ichthyologists, from
students wishing to get help with science projects to retired persons
seeking a quiet, pleasurable pastime. All interested persons are
welcomed to share ideas, ask questions, or simply to lurk and learn.

C02 Permitted Content

Discussions appropriate to a ponding community including, but not
limited to:

* Building a pond/water garden
* Establishing an ecosystem
* Plant life
* Fish
* Amphibians and reptiles
* Aquatic environmental concerns
* Discussions of large, unlined natural ponds

C03 The Following Is Prohibited

All posts containing these items are rejected, and returned with
explanation if permitted by the automated software.

* Obscenities
* Implied or direct threats, slander, insults, bigotry, prejudice
or harassment
* Flaming, trolling, flooding, and personal verbal attacks
* Frequent petty criticism of another poster
* Posts advocating violence or containing physical threats
* Attacks on others based on gender, race, sexual orientation
or religion
* Commercial posts
* Excessive cross-posting, although limited, on-topic cross-posting
is permitted
* Chain letters
* Posts written in HTML
* EMP spam
* Binaries, other than pgp signatures, x-face headers, and other
ancillary article meta-data
* Forgery of names, valid email addresses and/or approval headers
* Excessive morphing/nym shifting ("excessive" is undefined but is
at the discretion of the moderators)
* Excessive quoting of old material, with little new content
(these will be judgment calls made by the moderators)
* Personal identification information associated with anyone other
than the poster (e.g. residential addresses, phone numbers and
government identifications)
* Content advocating acts that would be intrinsically illegal
in most places
* Copyright violations. (However, pointers to news articles,
blogs, etc. that are on-topic are welcome. They must comply with
fair use standards.)

C04 Charter Implementation

The charter of this newsgroup is implemented by a group of moderators.
Their task is to develop and carry out the methods and means necessary
to insure that the stated purposes of the group charter are accomplished.
Their methods shall be defined as Moderation Policy and Practices. (MPP)

Moderators make use of whatever tools and discussion processes they deem
necessary to carry out their responsibilities. One such tool may
include the use of automated moderation software.

C05 Moderation Policy Objectives and Practices

Moderation policy adheres to and carries out the stated goals and
purposes of the group. Moderation policy & practices (MPP) may be
changed by the moderators to meet the ongoing needs of the newsgroup
charter.

Proposed changes are announced by the moderators in the
newsgroup, and newsgroup readers are invited to share and discuss
their views of the proposed changes. Passage of the changes is by a
2/3 majority vote of the moderators. Changes are published in the
newsgroup.

C06 Moderator Standards

Moderators approve or reject posts based upon content as listed in C02
and C03 above. Moderators maintain a standard of neutrality and
non-bias. Moderators do not add, delete, or edit anything within a
post. Tags are not added.

Decisions of the moderation team are final. Moderators permit posts
that may contain technically incorrect information, provided that the
post is not deemed to be deliberately deceptive. Any approved post
that is forwarded to the newsgroup, and contains incorrect information,
may and should be followed up by posts that attempt to correct the
misinformation. Such corrective posts may be made by any interested
person/s in the newsgroup.

All personal posts made by moderators go through the same complete
process as posts made by the general readership of the group.
Moderators do not review their own posts, nor those of a relative.
Moderators who fail to abide by the charter and current moderation
policy may be warned and/or removed by the other moderators.

C07 Moderator Accessibility and Accountability

The moderators provide options for both private and public
interaction with the readership of the newsgroup. An email contact
address is provided for complaints, appeals, reviews and suggestions.
The receipt of emails to the contact address is acknowledged by a
return email, provided a valid return address is given.

In addition, the Charter provides for limited public discussion
of the general issues of moderation policy, group operation and other
matters that affect the group.

Moderators shall create and occasionally publish FAQ and other
documents that promote the functionality of the newsgroup.

C08 Readership Participation & Responsibility

All participants in the group may:

* Request changes to moderation policy and participate in the
discussion of changes.
* Privately ask for all moderators to review a specific rejected
post (within practical numerical limits determined by the
moderators.)
* Nominate new moderators.

END CHARTER.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be created

The Last Call for Comments on 28 Feb 2007 initiated a five-day period for
final comments. Following this comment period, the Big-8 Management Board
has decided by a vote to create the newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The vote was 8 in favor and 0 opposed. 1 active member did not vote.

This group will be created on 09 Mar 2007.

The group was created shortly afterwards, and continued activity until
April of 2013, after which no further approved articles appeared.

PROPONENT: Paul W. Schleck

PROCEDU

Those who wish to comment on this moderator vacancy investigation should
subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the relevant
threads in that newsgroup. To this end, the followup header of this MVI
has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the MVI process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/m/o/d/...tigations.html

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated (remove)

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove the moderated
newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

(expanded from ): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

In response to the original Moderator Vacancy Investigation, no followup
to news.groups.proposals or rec.ponds has been posted after 15 days,
suggesting that no one is reading rec.ponds.moderated, no one wishes to
volunteer as moderator, or no one objects to its removal, or some
combination of all three.

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

CHARTER:

C01 Description and Purpose

Rec.ponds.moderated is a moderated newsgroup that provides a friendly,
respectful forum for the discussion of all aspects of ponds and water
gardens. The rec.ponds.moderated newsgroup appeals to a wide range of
people involved in both the recreational and professional aspects of
establishing and maintaining a pond or water garden. Participants
range from novices to persons with many years of experience, from
amateur hobbyists to professional botanists and ichthyologists, from
students wishing to get help with science projects to retired persons
seeking a quiet, pleasurable pastime. All interested persons are
welcomed to share ideas, ask questions, or simply to lurk and learn.

C02 Permitted Content

Discussions appropriate to a ponding community including, but not
limited to:

* Building a pond/water garden
* Establishing an ecosystem
* Plant life
* Fish
* Amphibians and reptiles
* Aquatic environmental concerns
* Discussions of large, unlined natural ponds

C03 The Following Is Prohibited

All posts containing these items are rejected, and returned with
explanation if permitted by the automated software.

* Obscenities
* Implied or direct threats, slander, insults, bigotry, prejudice
or harassment
* Flaming, trolling, flooding, and personal verbal attacks
* Frequent petty criticism of another poster
* Posts advocating violence or containing physical threats
* Attacks on others based on gender, race, sexual orientation
or religion
* Commercial posts
* Excessive cross-posting, although limited, on-topic cross-posting
is permitted
* Chain letters
* Posts written in HTML
* EMP spam
* Binaries, other than pgp signatures, x-face headers, and other
ancillary article meta-data
* Forgery of names, valid email addresses and/or approval headers
* Excessive morphing/nym shifting ("excessive" is undefined but is
at the discretion of the moderators)
* Excessive quoting of old material, with little new content
(these will be judgment calls made by the moderators)
* Personal identification information associated with anyone other
than the poster (e.g. residential addresses, phone numbers and
government identifications)
* Content advocating acts that would be intrinsically illegal
in most places
* Copyright violations. (However, pointers to news articles,
blogs, etc. that are on-topic are welcome. They must comply with
fair use standards.)

C04 Charter Implementation

The charter of this newsgroup is implemented by a group of moderators.
Their task is to develop and carry out the methods and means necessary
to insure that the stated purposes of the group charter are accomplished.
Their methods shall be defined as Moderation Policy and Practices. (MPP)

Moderators make use of whatever tools and discussion processes they deem
necessary to carry out their responsibilities. One such tool may
include the use of automated moderation software.

C05 Moderation Policy Objectives and Practices

Moderation policy adheres to and carries out the stated goals and
purposes of the group. Moderation policy & practices (MPP) may be
changed by the moderators to meet the ongoing needs of the newsgroup
charter.

Proposed changes are announced by the moderators in the
newsgroup, and newsgroup readers are invited to share and discuss
their views of the proposed changes. Passage of the changes is by a
2/3 majority vote of the moderators. Changes are published in the
newsgroup.

C06 Moderator Standards

Moderators approve or reject posts based upon content as listed in C02
and C03 above. Moderators maintain a standard of neutrality and
non-bias. Moderators do not add, delete, or edit anything within a
post. Tags are not added.

Decisions of the moderation team are final. Moderators permit posts
that may contain technically incorrect information, provided that the
post is not deemed to be deliberately deceptive. Any approved post
that is forwarded to the newsgroup, and contains incorrect information,
may and should be followed up by posts that attempt to correct the
misinformation. Such corrective posts may be made by any interested
person/s in the newsgroup.

All personal posts made by moderators go through the same complete
process as posts made by the general readership of the group.
Moderators do not review their own posts, nor those of a relative.
Moderators who fail to abide by the charter and current moderation
policy may be warned and/or removed by the other moderators.

C07 Moderator Accessibility and Accountability

The moderators provide options for both private and public
interaction with the readership of the newsgroup. An email contact
address is provided for complaints, appeals, reviews and suggestions.
The receipt of emails to the contact address is acknowledged by a
return email, provided a valid return address is given.

In addition, the Charter provides for limited public discussion
of the general issues of moderation policy, group operation and other
matters that affect the group.

Moderators shall create and occasionally publish FAQ and other
documents that promote the functionality of the newsgroup.

C08 Readership Participation & Responsibility

All participants in the group may:

* Request changes to moderation policy and participate in the
discussion of changes.
* Privately ask for all moderators to review a specific rejected
post (within practical numerical limits determined by the
moderators.)
* Nominate new moderators.

END CHARTER.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be created

The Last Call for Comments on 28 Feb 2007 initiated a five-day period for
final comments. Following this comment period, the Big-8 Management Board
has decided by a vote to create the newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The vote was 8 in favor and 0 opposed. 1 active member did not vote.

This group will be created on 09 Mar 2007.

The group was created shortly afterwards, and continued activity until
April of 2013, after which no further approved articles appeared.

PROPONENT: Paul W. Schleck

PROCEDU

Those who wish to comment on this request to remove this newsgroup
should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the
relevant threads in that newsgroup. To this end, the followup header of
this RFD has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/p/r/o/...ewsgroups.html

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation
10 May 2015: 1st RFD (remove)

2nd REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated (remove) - LAST CALL FOR COMMENTS

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove the moderated
newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The B8MB plans to begin voting on this proposal after five days. Please
offer any final discussion or comments before the end of this waiting
period. Voting may take up to one week (7 days); a result will be
posted following the end of the voting period.

All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/p/r/o/...ewsgroups.html

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

(expanded from ): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

In response to the original Moderator Vacancy Investigation and the 1st
Request for Discussion, no followup to news.groups.proposals or
rec.ponds has been posted volunteering to serve as a replacement
moderator or moderators, or inquiring about volunteering.

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

CHARTER:

C01 Description and Purpose

Rec.ponds.moderated is a moderated newsgroup that provides a friendly,
respectful forum for the discussion of all aspects of ponds and water
gardens. The rec.ponds.moderated newsgroup appeals to a wide range of
people involved in both the recreational and professional aspects of
establishing and maintaining a pond or water garden. Participants
range from novices to persons with many years of experience, from
amateur hobbyists to professional botanists and ichthyologists, from
students wishing to get help with science projects to retired persons
seeking a quiet, pleasurable pastime. All interested persons are
welcomed to share ideas, ask questions, or simply to lurk and learn.

C02 Permitted Content

Discussions appropriate to a ponding community including, but not
limited to:

* Building a pond/water garden
* Establishing an ecosystem
* Plant life
* Fish
* Amphibians and reptiles
* Aquatic environmental concerns
* Discussions of large, unlined natural ponds

C03 The Following Is Prohibited

All posts containing these items are rejected, and returned with
explanation if permitted by the automated software.

* Obscenities
* Implied or direct threats, slander, insults, bigotry, prejudice
or harassment
* Flaming, trolling, flooding, and personal verbal attacks
* Frequent petty criticism of another poster
* Posts advocating violence or containing physical threats
* Attacks on others based on gender, race, sexual orientation
or religion
* Commercial posts
* Excessive cross-posting, although limited, on-topic cross-posting
is permitted
* Chain letters
* Posts written in HTML
* EMP spam
* Binaries, other than pgp signatures, x-face headers, and other
ancillary article meta-data
* Forgery of names, valid email addresses and/or approval headers
* Excessive morphing/nym shifting ("excessive" is undefined but is
at the discretion of the moderators)
* Excessive quoting of old material, with little new content
(these will be judgment calls made by the moderators)
* Personal identification information associated with anyone other
than the poster (e.g. residential addresses, phone numbers and
government identifications)
* Content advocating acts that would be intrinsically illegal
in most places
* Copyright violations. (However, pointers to news articles,
blogs, etc. that are on-topic are welcome. They must comply with
fair use standards.)

C04 Charter Implementation

The charter of this newsgroup is implemented by a group of moderators.
Their task is to develop and carry out the methods and means necessary
to insure that the stated purposes of the group charter are accomplished.
Their methods shall be defined as Moderation Policy and Practices. (MPP)

Moderators make use of whatever tools and discussion processes they deem
necessary to carry out their responsibilities. One such tool may
include the use of automated moderation software.

C05 Moderation Policy Objectives and Practices

Moderation policy adheres to and carries out the stated goals and
purposes of the group. Moderation policy & practices (MPP) may be
changed by the moderators to meet the ongoing needs of the newsgroup
charter.

Proposed changes are announced by the moderators in the
newsgroup, and newsgroup readers are invited to share and discuss
their views of the proposed changes. Passage of the changes is by a
2/3 majority vote of the moderators. Changes are published in the
newsgroup.

C06 Moderator Standards

Moderators approve or reject posts based upon content as listed in C02
and C03 above. Moderators maintain a standard of neutrality and
non-bias. Moderators do not add, delete, or edit anything within a
post. Tags are not added.

Decisions of the moderation team are final. Moderators permit posts
that may contain technically incorrect information, provided that the
post is not deemed to be deliberately deceptive. Any approved post
that is forwarded to the newsgroup, and contains incorrect information,
may and should be followed up by posts that attempt to correct the
misinformation. Such corrective posts may be made by any interested
person/s in the newsgroup.

All personal posts made by moderators go through the same complete
process as posts made by the general readership of the group.
Moderators do not review their own posts, nor those of a relative.
Moderators who fail to abide by the charter and current moderation
policy may be warned and/or removed by the other moderators.

C07 Moderator Accessibility and Accountability

The moderators provide options for both private and public
interaction with the readership of the newsgroup. An email contact
address is provided for complaints, appeals, reviews and suggestions.
The receipt of emails to the contact address is acknowledged by a
return email, provided a valid return address is given.

In addition, the Charter provides for limited public discussion
of the general issues of moderation policy, group operation and other
matters that affect the group.

Moderators shall create and occasionally publish FAQ and other
documents that promote the functionality of the newsgroup.

C08 Readership Participation & Responsibility

All participants in the group may:

* Request changes to moderation policy and participate in the
discussion of changes.
* Privately ask for all moderators to review a specific rejected
post (within practical numerical limits determined by the
moderators.)
* Nominate new moderators.

END CHARTER.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be created

The Last Call for Comments on 28 Feb 2007 initiated a five-day period for
final comments. Following this comment period, the Big-8 Management Board
has decided by a vote to create the newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The vote was 8 in favor and 0 opposed. 1 active member did not vote.

This group will be created on 09 Mar 2007.

The group was created shortly afterwards, and continued activity until
April of 2013, after which no further approved articles appeared.

PROPONENT: Paul W. Schleck

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation
10 May 2015: 1st RFD (remove)
25 May 2015: LCC

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be removed

The Last Call for Comments (LCC) on 25 May 2015 initiated a five-day
period for final comments. Following this comment period, the Big 8
Management Board has decided by consensus to remove the group
rec.ponds.moderated.

RATIONALE FOR REMOVAL:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

(expanded from ): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

There here has been no discussion of the merits of the group and no
posts in support of retaining it or opposed to removal.

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

CHARTER:

C01 Description and Purpose

Rec.ponds.moderated is a moderated newsgroup that provides a friendly,
respectful forum for the discussion of all aspects of ponds and water
gardens. The rec.ponds.moderated newsgroup appeals to a wide range of
people involved in both the recreational and professional aspects of
establishing and maintaining a pond or water garden. Participants
range from novices to persons with many years of experience, from
amateur hobbyists to professional botanists and ichthyologists, from
students wishing to get help with science projects to retired persons
seeking a quiet, pleasurable pastime. All interested persons are
welcomed to share ideas, ask questions, or simply to lurk and learn.

C02 Permitted Content

Discussions appropriate to a ponding community including, but not
limited to:

* Building a pond/water garden
* Establishing an ecosystem
* Plant life
* Fish
* Amphibians and reptiles
* Aquatic environmental concerns
* Discussions of large, unlined natural ponds

C03 The Following Is Prohibited

All posts containing these items are rejected, and returned with
explanation if permitted by the automated software.

* Obscenities
* Implied or direct threats, slander, insults, bigotry, prejudice
or harassment
* Flaming, trolling, flooding, and personal verbal attacks
* Frequent petty criticism of another poster
* Posts advocating violence or containing physical threats
* Attacks on others based on gender, race, sexual orientation
or religion
* Commercial posts
* Excessive cross-posting, although limited, on-topic cross-posting
is permitted
* Chain letters
* Posts written in HTML
* EMP spam
* Binaries, other than pgp signatures, x-face headers, and other
ancillary article meta-data
* Forgery of names, valid email addresses and/or approval headers
* Excessive morphing/nym shifting ("excessive" is undefined but is
at the discretion of the moderators)
* Excessive quoting of old material, with little new content
(these will be judgment calls made by the moderators)
* Personal identification information associated with anyone other
than the poster (e.g. residential addresses, phone numbers and
government identifications)
* Content advocating acts that would be intrinsically illegal
in most places
* Copyright violations. (However, pointers to news articles,
blogs, etc. that are on-topic are welcome. They must comply with
fair use standards.)

C04 Charter Implementation

The charter of this newsgroup is implemented by a group of moderators.
Their task is to develop and carry out the methods and means necessary
to insure that the stated purposes of the group charter are accomplished.
Their methods shall be defined as Moderation Policy and Practices. (MPP)

Moderators make use of whatever tools and discussion processes they deem
necessary to carry out their responsibilities. One such tool may
include the use of automated moderation software.

C05 Moderation Policy Objectives and Practices

Moderation policy adheres to and carries out the stated goals and
purposes of the group. Moderation policy & practices (MPP) may be
changed by the moderators to meet the ongoing needs of the newsgroup
charter.

Proposed changes are announced by the moderators in the
newsgroup, and newsgroup readers are invited to share and discuss
their views of the proposed changes. Passage of the changes is by a
2/3 majority vote of the moderators. Changes are published in the
newsgroup.

C06 Moderator Standards

Moderators approve or reject posts based upon content as listed in C02
and C03 above. Moderators maintain a standard of neutrality and
non-bias. Moderators do not add, delete, or edit anything within a
post. Tags are not added.

Decisions of the moderation team are final. Moderators permit posts
that may contain technically incorrect information, provided that the
post is not deemed to be deliberately deceptive. Any approved post
that is forwarded to the newsgroup, and contains incorrect information,
may and should be followed up by posts that attempt to correct the
misinformation. Such corrective posts may be made by any interested
person/s in the newsgroup.

All personal posts made by moderators go through the same complete
process as posts made by the general readership of the group.
Moderators do not review their own posts, nor those of a relative.
Moderators who fail to abide by the charter and current moderation
policy may be warned and/or removed by the other moderators.

C07 Moderator Accessibility and Accountability

The moderators provide options for both private and public
interaction with the readership of the newsgroup. An email contact
address is provided for complaints, appeals, reviews and suggestions.
The receipt of emails to the contact address is acknowledged by a
return email, provided a valid return address is given.

In addition, the Charter provides for limited public discussion
of the general issues of moderation policy, group operation and other
matters that affect the group.

Moderators shall create and occasionally publish FAQ and other
documents that promote the functionality of the newsgroup.

C08 Readership Participation & Responsibility

All participants in the group may:

* Request changes to moderation policy and participate in the
discussion of changes.
* Privately ask for all moderators to review a specific rejected
post (within practical numerical limits determined by the
moderators.)
* Nominate new moderators.

END CHARTER.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be created

The Last Call for Comments on 28 Feb 2007 initiated a five-day period for
final comments. Following this comment period, the Big-8 Management Board
has decided by a vote to create the newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The vote was 8 in favor and 0 opposed. 1 active member did not vote.

This group will be created on 09 Mar 2007.

The group was created shortly afterwards, and continued activity until
April of 2013, after which no further approved articles appeared.

PROPONENT: Paul W. Schleck

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation
10 May 2015: 1st RFD (remove)
25 May 2015: LCC
7 June 2015: RESULT - group will be removed