Local Pond Water

[MajorDan]

While I am still out of action after knee surgery, I am thinking lots about my unfinished pond. It may be another month before I am recovered enough to get out there and finish it. In the mean time, I was reading other postings and noticed the one about taking a bucket of water from a near by pond and putting it in a new lake created in an old quarry to get things started. So, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to do the same with my pond once i get water in it as it will be late November or early December before I get it ready. That way local flora and bacteria would have all winter to get established.
I live in Huntsville, AL so weather is usually weird with some cold days and some warm days all winter long. Expect to add shubunkins in the spring along with bog plants and water lillies.

 

[mrsclem]

Hope your recovery goes smoothly. I would be worried about unwanted critters or something that could possibly be harmful to your fish when you add them.

 

[j.w]

Me too would be worried about adding parasites, disease etc. from wild ponds. If you have plants in your pond and just allow algae and natural bacteria to grow in your pond by Spring I think it would be ready to add a few fish and all would be fine.

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Hoping for a speedy recovery @MajorDan.

I agree with the other posters, and would avoid using water from a wild pond or lake. Parasites, disease, destructive types of snails, unwanted fish eggs, water polluted from unknown run-off and dumping...

Your new set-up will soon develop its own bacterial colony, even late in the season; and should be fine with responsible stocking.

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[Stephen T.]

I suspect it's not a good idea. However, I broke all the rules and brought in plants, water, snails and who knows what else, from Klamath and Agency lakes with no known issues. The plants, both aquatic and bog types) have done very well and the snails have bred like crazy, sometimes there are easily more than a hundred in view in a 9x12 pond. They've been there for 3 years now and certainly have caused no problems. No goldfish have shown signs of parasites or problems, but I really do need a sunfish or two to help control the population of fish and snails!

I wasn't really worried, but then, I'm trying for as natural a pond/stream as I can make, the goldfish are there mostly for mosquito control. Eventually, I'd like to remove the goldfish and put in some natives, which leaves out all the normal pond fish, which were all introduced into the Pacific Northwest.

 

[MitchM]

Hmm, I'm of the opposite opinion of most, I would definitely add a scoop of mud from a local pond to jump start an outdoor pond, unless I knew that the local pond had known chemical contaminates.
All the invertebrates, plants and algae spores will eventually get blown or transported into all the other local outdoor ponds.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Well, I'm with Mitch on using some established substrate but with caution. I always 'seed' my ponds and aquariums to jump start and shorten the cycle. Taking substrate from an established aquarium or pond is really the best of all worlds. You get the beneficial bacteria and it's from a known source. Given your location, perhaps Across the Pond will give or sell you a some mature substrate. If not, another avenue that I take is transferring established, live plants, that are rooted in baskets or pots. The substrate is loaded with beneficial bacteria. If you strike out on the above, there is an excellent rock quarry near you that might be a source. I used to scuba dive in the quarry that has all of the rockets and NASA missiles etc submerged. It is basically a closed system and might be a good alternative. I would suggest just taking rocks from there. Just my two cents. By the way, I wish you a speedy recovery!
Stephen

 

[MitchM]

There is a caveat though. With indoor aquariums, you don't have the benefit of access to all organisms that will keep one particular species from taking over.
Indoor aquariums are at a real disadvantage with regards to diversity.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm with @MitchM on this one - we've put plants in our pond from our local ponds with no ill effect. My reasoning is my pond is outdoors - I have no control over what blows, hops, crawls, flies, or gets dropped in there and most likely it will be the exact same things that blow, hop, crawl, fly or get dropped into the ponds that surround my house. And the same things that keep those ponds from getting overrun with critters or parasites or bacteria or whatever else might concern someone will also exist in my pond. There's no way to keep things out.

But that's just me and my garden pond - everyone has to do what they feel comfortable doing.

 

[MajorDan]

Thanks all. Really good information and lots of choices.

 

[GBBUDD]

I agree with mitch as well . look at it this way the first time a duck lands in your pond you just got god knows what hitched a ride with them. If your grabbing plants from a neighboring pond it may be a good idea to sit them in a hospital tank and treat for parasites. It's cheaper to do a little preventative maintenance then it is to tackle the main pond. in my case treatments for 12 to 15 thousand gallons gets expensive quick.

 

[Tara]

Hi @MajorDan , glad to see you got through surgery, hopefully all went well. I have only had my pond two seasons, and so far it's had a visit from countless small birds, a duck or two, squirrels, chipmunks and who knows what else. I do live near a wild pond with ducks so I can only assume some type of transportation happened into my pond. I have seen no harm come to my pond except the addition of snails, a tiny fish that disappeared not long after it showed up, and some swap weed took root in the pond, I can assume the birds expelled the seeds as it grows all around the pond near my home. Next year I'm going to grab some plants from up at the wild pond as I don't see the harm, I'll clean them first.