have a 450 litre filtered pond in its first year. underneath each lily leaf
are numerous clear jellylike cylinders 3-4 cm long which are obviously new
life of some kind. the pond otherwise contains iris, oxygenators, 2
goldfisha nd 2 shebunkins. Any ideas what creature lays such a thing-want to
keep them if not harmful but whatever it is eats the lily leaves!
thanks

In article , willsniffer
writes
have a 450 litre filtered pond in its first year. underneath each lily leaf
are numerous clear jellylike cylinders 3-4 cm long which are obviously new
life of some kind. the pond otherwise contains iris, oxygenators, 2
goldfisha nd 2 shebunkins. Any ideas what creature lays such a thing-want to
keep them if not harmful but whatever it is eats the lily leaves!
thanks

Probably water snail eggs. You need the snails to deal with detritus in
the pond, and they won't cause major damage to the lilies.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

"Kay wrote in message
have a 450 litre filtered pond in its first year. underneath each lily
leaf
are numerous clear jellylike cylinders 3-4 cm long which are obviously
new
life of some kind. the pond otherwise contains iris, oxygenators, 2
goldfisha nd 2 shebunkins. Any ideas what creature lays such a thing-want
to
keep them if not harmful but whatever it is eats the lily leaves!
thanks

Probably water snail eggs. You need the snails to deal with detritus in
the pond, and they won't cause major damage to the lilies.



Water Snails in a pond have the same effect as normal snails in your border,
they do no good whatsoever. They will eat the higher order plants in
preference to anything else and produce lots of detritious themselves, they
certainly don't eat it!
Also a carrier of liver flukes during part of their life cycle.

One saving grace is that fish will eat them when small, and big fish will
crunch even large specimens. (You can actually hear it crunch from
underwater, lovely sound, and then all the bits of shell get blown out the
gills)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

In article , Sue & Bob Hobden
writes

Water Snails in a pond have the same effect as normal snails in your border,

True - land snails do a lot of clearing up for us.

they do no good whatsoever.

Not true. They do eat plants, but they also eat organic debris and
algae. They prefer soft stuff, so in practice, unless you have little
organic debris and lots of soft-leaved living plants, they won't do much
harm - a similar situation to the garden, where the amount of damage to
plants other than seedlings is minute compared to the number of slugs
and snails that may be around.

They will eat the higher order plants in
preference to anything else

No, they will not. Why eat something tough when there's plenty of soft
stuff around?

and produce lots of detritious themselves, they
certainly don't eat it!

er .. detritus covers a little more than faeces ;-)

Also a carrier of liver flukes during part of their life cycle.

Certain species of the genus Lymnaea only. AFAIK neither the nerite nor
the ramshorn are capable of acting as a host to liver flukes.

And of course, just because a species can act as a host doesn't mean it
necessarily *is* - just as I am not carrying tapeworm, roundworm, fleas
or headlice ;-)

One saving grace is that fish will eat them when small, and big fish will
crunch even large specimens. (You can actually hear it crunch from
underwater, lovely sound, and then all the bits of shell get blown out the
gills)

I don't think you and I are ever going to agree about ponds ;-)
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Sue & Bob Hobden
writes

"Kay wrote in message
have a 450 litre filtered pond in its first year. underneath each lily
leaf
are numerous clear jellylike cylinders 3-4 cm long which are obviously
new
life of some kind. the pond otherwise contains iris, oxygenators, 2
goldfisha nd 2 shebunkins. Any ideas what creature lays such a thing-want
to
keep them if not harmful but whatever it is eats the lily leaves!
thanks

Probably water snail eggs. You need the snails to deal with detritus in
the pond, and they won't cause major damage to the lilies.



Water Snails in a pond have the same effect as normal snails in your border,
they do no good whatsoever.

Err, not so. They are beneficial animals to have in a pond.

They will eat the higher order plants in
preference to anything else

Err, not so. They are brilliant at cleaning up algae.

and produce lots of detritious themselves, they
certainly don't eat it!

They produce detritus ( which is what I assume you mean and by which I
suppose you mean faeces) in proportion to their number and size. As do
fish!

Also a carrier of liver flukes during part of their life cycle.

Only a handful of species in the Genus Lymnaea carry liver fluke and
normally only Lymnaea truncatula (aka the Liver Fluke Snail) which is
not exactly common in garden ponds, preferring wet meadows and ditches.
And even if you have that species in your pond, it has first to become
infected from sheep or cattle, so provided you fence those animals out
of your garden, which I imagine most people do (!), then this is no
argument against the vast majority of pond snails.

One saving grace is that fish will eat them when small, and big fish will
crunch even large specimens. (You can actually hear it crunch from
underwater, lovely sound, and then all the bits of shell get blown out the
gills)

Lucky old fish. But if you have fish and no pond snails you will have a
much dirtier pond.

Snails are as natural a part of a well-balanced pond as any other
pondlife, including fish, water-lilies, pond skaters, whirligig beetles,
water boatmen, etc., etc. I don't see why you appear to be prejudiced
against them!!

--
Malcolm

"Malcolm" wrote in message !
Water Snails in a pond have the same effect as normal snails in your
border,
they do no good whatsoever.

Err, not so. They are beneficial animals to have in a pond.

Err, in what way? I can't think of one. Or do you allow dead plant material
to remain in your pond?


They will eat the higher order plants in
preference to anything else

Err, not so. They are brilliant at cleaning up algae.

Whilst they will scrape some algae off underwater plants, they prefer nice
soft juicy plants to algae in my experience and they certainly won't touch
"blanket weed".


and produce lots of detritious themselves, they
certainly don't eat it!

They produce detritus ( which is what I assume you mean and by which I
suppose you mean faeces) in proportion to their number and size. As do
fish!

Yes, but you want fish in your pond, that's what ponds are for in most
cases. Pond snails are no different from any other snail/slug. OK, if you
want a "wildlife" pond for a few years then fine, it will get so overgrown
trying to fill itself in you won't notice the damage caused.


One saving grace is that fish will eat them when small, and big fish will
crunch even large specimens.

Lucky old fish. But if you have fish and no pond snails you will have a
much dirtier pond.

Hardly, I hoover mine out a few times every year with a 0.75hp pump untill
it's spotless. The filters ensure the water is chemically purer than tap
water. Probably why it's always a haven for healthy frogs, birds, skaters,
Dragonflies/Damosells....as well as our fish.


Snails are as natural a part of a well-balanced pond as any other
pondlife, including fish, water-lilies, pond skaters, whirligig beetles,
water boatmen, etc., etc. I don't see why you appear to be prejudiced
against them!!

Oh, the "well balanced pond" argument again, and then there are UFO's and
Elves and Fairies....... it's a myth.
A pond is always trying to fill itself in and unless you take steps to
manage it, things will eventually go wrong.
To stay a pond they all have to be cleaned out sometime.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

"Kay wrote in message
I don't think you and I are ever going to agree about ponds ;-)
--
As we like different sorts of ponds, yours the wildlife sort and mine the
Koi pond sort, I doubt it Kay. :-)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

beginning to wish I hadn't asked!!! a vision of prime minister's questions
should the green party take power...thanks for an entertaining split
decision

"Sue & Bob Hobden" wrote:

Hello Sue

Water Snails in a pond have the same effect as normal

Err, not so. They are beneficial animals to have in a
pond.

SBH Err, in what way? I can't think of one. Or do you allow dead
SBH plant material to remain in your pond?

Erm, how can you keep all dead plant material out of a pond?

Maybe a small raised pond with no overhanging branches, but even so
stuff is going to slip in unnoticed.

They will eat the higher order plants in
preference to anything else

Err, not so. They are brilliant at cleaning up algae.

SBH Whilst they will scrape some algae off underwater plants,
SBH they prefer nice soft juicy plants to algae in my experience
SBH and they certainly won't touch "blanket weed".

Unsure. Mine are happiest hoovering the sides of my ponds, both algae
and mud. I've also got quite a few cleaning the small algae off my
oxygenators which otherwise tends to clog them up and eventually kills
them. I think it's like all animals in a pond - the right balance is
beneficial to the overall microcosm. Too much of any one thing (fish,
snails, etc) will result in problems for the other species.

One saving grace is that fish will eat them when small,
and big fish will crunch even large specimens.
Lucky old fish. But if you have fish and no pond snails
you will have a much dirtier pond.

SBH Hardly, I hoover mine out a few times every year with a
SBH 0.75hp pump untill it's spotless. The filters ensure the
SBH water is chemically purer than tap water. Probably why it's
SBH always a haven for healthy frogs, birds,
SBH skaters, Dragonflies/Damosells....as well as our fish.

But... Cleaning all the "muck" can't be good for the wildlife, as that
muck contains a wealth of organisms.

SBH Oh, the "well balanced pond" argument again, and then there
SBH are UFO's and Elves and Fairies....... it's a myth. A pond
SBH is always trying to fill itself in and unless you take steps
SBH to manage it, things will eventually go wrong. To stay a
SBH pond they all have to be cleaned out sometime.

Some times, yes. Obviously depends hugely on position and size.

I guess all this proves nothing other than pond keeping is an art
rather than a science.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/

"willsniffer" wrote in message
...
beginning to wish I hadn't asked!!! a vision of prime minister's questions
should the green party take power...thanks for an entertaining split
decision

There is a definite split, if you want a pond with goldfish, carp, or Koi
call them what you will then you'll probably find that the fish themselves
will eat pretty much everything else that would otherwise live in the pond
anyway, thus the egg probably won't get to grow very much. If on the other
hand you like wildlife, and want more of it in your pond then fish are the
last thing you want, unless they are the small native fish that might exist
in a small garden pond, e.g. sticklebacks.

It always amazes me how sterile and boring Koi ponds are, yes there are some
big fish in there, but that's it. I see so many of this type of pond and
often wonder at the attraction. They are usually massively overstocked, the
fish have to be pampered, the pond treated, and food thrown in. Seems like
such hard work compared to a nice simple naturally regulating wild pond,
like all those you find in nature !!!

Each to his own though.
Duncan

"willsniffer" wrote in message
...
beginning to wish I hadn't asked!!! a vision of prime minister's questions
should the green party take power...thanks for an entertaining split
decision

There is a definite split, if you want a pond with goldfish, carp, or Koi
call them what you will then you'll probably find that the fish themselves
will eat pretty much everything else that would otherwise live in the pond
anyway, thus the egg probably won't get to grow very much. If on the other
hand you like wildlife, and want more of it in your pond then fish are the
last thing you want, unless they are the small native fish that might exist
in a small garden pond, e.g. sticklebacks.

It always amazes me how sterile and boring Koi ponds are, yes there are some
big fish in there, but that's it. I see so many of this type of pond and
often wonder at the attraction. They are usually massively overstocked, the
fish have to be pampered, the pond treated, and food thrown in. Seems like
such hard work compared to a nice simple naturally regulating wild pond,
like all those you find in nature !!!

Each to his own though.
Duncan