Re: FINALLY!

Hi Gareee!

Good to see you again! It's exciting to see so many
old friends come back!

kathy :-)



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Kthirtya@aol.com

>> wrote in message news:...
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.)

"Gareee©" <gareee-> wrote in message
news: ...

<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>

"Reel McKoi" <> wrote in message
news:etuqab$vi7$...
> 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.)

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:27:15 CST, "Gareee©" <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

"~ jan" <> wrote in message
news:...

> 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.)

"Gareee©" <gareee-> wrote in message
news: ...
> "Reel McKoi" <> wrote in message
> news:etuqab$vi7$...
>> 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>

"Reel McKoi" <> wrote in message
news:etvn0b$ikr$...
>
> "Gareee©" <gareee-> wrote in message
> news: ...
>> "Reel McKoi" <> wrote in message
>> news:etuqab$vi7$...
>>> 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.)

"Gareee©" <gareee-> wrote in message
news:_ ...

<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>