MattR wrote:


BenignVanilla wrote:

I tried a veggie filter before this and I just wasted a bunch of money



I am interested to hear more about this, as my VF is my only filtration.


Long story short: I built a 1300 gallon pond with 2 small koi and 4
shibunkin late one year.
sniped for brevity

People may tell you what works for them but it might not work for you
because, I suspect, people don't know what's going on in their own
ponds. However, pond store people know less so I'd stick with rec.ponds,
and add a grain of salt.

Matt


Mat
I have bought a bunch of plants on line and more here localy, on
line the y are much cheaper cost wise, yes

but they are also a lot smaller and have minimal roots, the ones I
have that survived (10 out of 100 plants) I had to put in the greenhouse
and nurse to growing size

I find its cheaper in the long run to pay more for a good healthy plant
that you can keep than the same for 10 or so that dont make it

my pennys worth
--





John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

K30a wrote:
MattR I don't know
what biological filters do

They turn fish waste into fertilizer for the plants *and* for the algae.

My point is they do more than that and everything on the net I read just
talks about removing ammonia. I had lots of green soup until I put in a
filter that supposedly only removes ammonia. I didn't have enough
ammonia because I had such small fish. But that filter is creating
something that kills, or inhibits, pea soup algae.

Our problem, we ornamental garden ponders, is that we usually get carried away.
More plants, more fish, more feeding the darling fish, more fertilizing for
more blooms. More, more, more!!

It's more complicated than that. I put in lots of plants and only had a
few fish, just like everyone says, and the water was green and the
plants yellow. My fish are much bigger and the green water is gone.
(We'll see about the plants.) The difference is the filter I added.

Matt

john rutz wrote:

Mat
I have bought a bunch of plants on line and more here localy, on line
the y are much cheaper cost wise, yes

but they are also a lot smaller and have minimal roots, the ones I
have that survived (10 out of 100 plants) I had to put in the greenhouse
and nurse to growing size

I find its cheaper in the long run to pay more for a good healthy plant
that you can keep than the same for 10 or so that dont make it

my pennys worth

I agree with everything you say. I won't buy plants on the internet
again. I did buy plants at my local pond shop and while they had much
healthier roots they they haven't exactly taken off. My shot at the pond
store owners is directed more at the fact that if you walk in and tell
them you have green water they'll try and sell you a lot of expensive
stuff. I asked them about a veggie filter and they thought I was nuts.
"you can't plant iris in pea gravel, it needs nutrients, and the algae
needs a big UV light to kill the algae that's living on the nutrients in
the water." On the other hand, the just-add-plants mantra I see on the
internet is missing something because I tried it and it didn't work. I'm
hoping that a filter and a lot of plants work.

Matt

"MattR" wrote in message
...
snip
I agree with everything you say. I won't buy plants on the internet
again. I did buy plants at my local pond shop and while they had much
healthier roots they they haven't exactly taken off. My shot at the pond
store owners is directed more at the fact that if you walk in and tell
them you have green water they'll try and sell you a lot of expensive
stuff. I asked them about a veggie filter and they thought I was nuts.
"you can't plant iris in pea gravel, it needs nutrients, and the algae
needs a big UV light to kill the algae that's living on the nutrients in
the water." On the other hand, the just-add-plants mantra I see on the
internet is missing something because I tried it and it didn't work. I'm
hoping that a filter and a lot of plants work.

This is exactly the mantra I have been living by, and so far it has worked.
Admittedly, I am in my first season, but aside from the clay issue my water
is clear and clean. I have nothing but plants. I do not have a prefilter,
and I do not have any artifical biofilter media. My VF is densely planted
with WH, frogbit, duckweed, iris, and watercress. Just about every square
inch is covered over. The mint growing behind the filter, is now sending
runners into the pond! FIltration from outside the pond, YES!!!

BV.

BenignVanilla wrote:

On the other hand, the just-add-plants mantra I see on the
internet is missing something because I tried it and it didn't work. I'm
hoping that a filter and a lot of plants work.


This is exactly the mantra I have been living by, and so far it has worked.

Which is great. But it works for you and didn't work for me, so
something is missing. It's more than just add plants. For the longest
time I'd buy anacharis, put it in the pond, and watch it die. Now, it's
going crazy. I have no idea why.

MattR wrote:


john rutz wrote:

Mat
I have bought a bunch of plants on line and more here localy, on
line the y are much cheaper cost wise, yes

but they are also a lot smaller and have minimal roots, the ones I
have that survived (10 out of 100 plants) I had to put in the
greenhouse and nurse to growing size

I find its cheaper in the long run to pay more for a good healthy
plant that you can keep than the same for 10 or so that dont make it

my pennys worth


I agree with everything you say. I won't buy plants on the internet
again. I did buy plants at my local pond shop and while they had much
healthier roots they they haven't exactly taken off. My shot at the pond
store owners is directed more at the fact that if you walk in and tell
them you have green water they'll try and sell you a lot of expensive
stuff. I asked them about a veggie filter and they thought I was nuts.
"you can't plant iris in pea gravel, it needs nutrients, and the algae
needs a big UV light to kill the algae that's living on the nutrients in
the water." On the other hand, the just-add-plants mantra I see on the
internet is missing something because I tried it and it didn't work. I'm
hoping that a filter and a lot of plants work.

Matt



--

take a look at my veggie filter on my website, my water is clear and no
filter
right now my cattails are nearly 7 ft tall



John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

ahhhhhhh, you just HAD to mention salt .......now you done it.. we will now
have to hear all the pros & cons..

(VBG)


Muffin who found a bushel full of dirt on the bottom of her pond,,,,,,,, 2
plants had fallen over from their props,,,,,yuckkkkkkk (now what...)
..

People may tell you what works for them but it might not work for you
because, I suspect, people don't know what's going on in their own
ponds. However, pond store people know less so I'd stick with rec.ponds,
and add a grain of salt.

Matt

"*muffin*" wrote in message
...

ahhhhhhh, you just HAD to mention salt .......now you done it.. we will
now
have to hear all the pros & cons..

(VBG)


Muffin who found a bushel full of dirt on the bottom of her pond,,,,,,,,
2
plants had fallen over from their props,,,,,yuckkkkkkk (now what...)
.

People may tell you what works for them but it might not work for you
because, I suspect, people don't know what's going on in their own
ponds. However, pond store people know less so I'd stick with rec.ponds,
and add a grain of salt.

What is the proper dosage? How many grains with how much knowledge?

BV.

Not sure, but my knowledge can be measured with a siringe and droplets.

What is the proper dosage? How many grains with how much knowledge?

"ken" wrote in message
ws.com...
I am in the midst of making my own pond filter. I was going to use
charcoal brickets from the barbeque. A friend advised me to be
careful. Does anyone out there know if this is a good idea or not? If
not, what are the possible substitutes?
Thanks for all your help.

I am going to attempt to start a new elist trend here on rec.ponds and
suggest you abandon the SILLY idea of a bio-mechanical filter, and build a
VF. VF'ers rule. The yahoo's on this group with bio-mechanical filters are
just sadist that like doing too much work.

BV.

tee hee...that should ruffle some feather...seemed like a fun
troll...ooh...I am trolling rec.ponds. So much fun? *laugh* You guys know I
am kidding.

Kidding aside, you young pond whipper snapper, you'll be speaking another
tune when you REALLY get into maintenance this fall. Assuming you follow
our directions. ;o) ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

I have decided to use a variation of the Skippy filter (simple design and cost were the main reasons). I do thank everyone for all their help and advise. I have one more question. Do I need to buy some bacteria or will it occur naturally? Seems to me that naturally is the way to go, but being new to ponds, I need all the help I can get. Can anybody give me some advise on keeping crows out of my pond and garden?
Thanks again.
Ken

The bacteria that work will find their way to the pond. The bugs in a
bottle are good for digesting solids, particularly when they get thick, but
not for the nitrogen cycle.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"ken" wrote in message
news:1246e51797fee88fa3015d87870c7046@TeraNews...
I have decided to use a variation of the Skippy filter (simple design
and cost were the main reasons). I do thank everyone for all their
help and advise. I have one more question. Do I need to buy some
bacteria or will it occur naturally? Seems to me that naturally is the
way to go, but being new to ponds, I need all the help I can get.

The bacteria that work will find their way to the pond. The bugs in a
bottle are good for digesting solids, particularly when they get thick, but
not for the nitrogen cycle.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"ken" wrote in message
news:1246e51797fee88fa3015d87870c7046@TeraNews...
I have decided to use a variation of the Skippy filter (simple design
and cost were the main reasons). I do thank everyone for all their
help and advise. I have one more question. Do I need to buy some
bacteria or will it occur naturally? Seems to me that naturally is the
way to go, but being new to ponds, I need all the help I can get.

The bacteria that work will find their way to the pond. The bugs in a
bottle are good for digesting solids, particularly when they get thick, but
not for the nitrogen cycle.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"ken" wrote in message
news:1246e51797fee88fa3015d87870c7046@TeraNews...
I have decided to use a variation of the Skippy filter (simple design
and cost were the main reasons). I do thank everyone for all their
help and advise. I have one more question. Do I need to buy some
bacteria or will it occur naturally? Seems to me that naturally is the
way to go, but being new to ponds, I need all the help I can get.

The bacteria that work will find their way to the pond. The bugs in a
bottle are good for digesting solids, particularly when they get thick, but
not for the nitrogen cycle.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"ken" wrote in message
news:1246e51797fee88fa3015d87870c7046@TeraNews...
I have decided to use a variation of the Skippy filter (simple design
and cost were the main reasons). I do thank everyone for all their
help and advise. I have one more question. Do I need to buy some
bacteria or will it occur naturally? Seems to me that naturally is the
way to go, but being new to ponds, I need all the help I can get.