I feel like Im going in the wrong direction.....

[anthony21078]

The green stuff = the good stuff lol

I see that this Tetra in pond skimmer is actually working pretty well. I have some kind of pine tree partially over my pond and I can sit here and watch the brown dead debris fall in with a heavy wind. Within minutes anything on the surface is pulled into the skimmer. However, I'm noticing the fish finding their way in there. I wouldn't say they are getting sucked in they're actually just swimming in to see what's in there and then wind up getting stuck behind the wier door.

I thought maybe wide wire mesh screen might be a good option at least to prevent the fish from going in but it would probably prevent larger debris as well. I'm sure once the fish get bigger it won't be a problem but everyday when I wake up I'm taking two or three fish out of the skimmer. Any ideas what to do?

 

[addy1]

It is their party room! They need to check it out see if there are good digs in there.

 

[anthony21078]

It is their party room! They need to check it out see if there are good digs in there.

but they are so small that the pressure from the pump pulling the water has them swimming super hard. Poor little guys

 

[addy1]

Years ago I put a screen across my skimmer, around 6 inches or so out. Shaped in a curve. At that time my fish were all small. Now I have the skimmer dialed down for draw as the huge maple tree died that was dropping everything.
Anyways that screen collected the leaves etc the skimmer was pulling in, I just would clean it now and then. No fish got pulled in after I did that.

 

[anthony21078]

we had some very serious rain this evening and unfortunately a lot of the surrounding dirt overflowed into the pond. I have the filter pad in the skimmer along with two box filters on the floor with Filter pads in them as well. I hope it clears up

 

[Lisak1]

It'll clear up. And that dirt isn't necessarily a bad thing in the pond. When you get more plants growing you'll see that they have a way of pulling that dirt toward themselves and forming root balls. I plant all my pond plants bare root and when I go to thin or groom, they will all appear as if they were planted in dirt.

You do want to make sure you aren't getting constant run off into the pond though, as that's going to get old fast. More plants around the edge will help to stop any erosion.

 

[anthony21078]

It'll clear up. And that dirt isn't necessarily a bad thing in the pond. When you get more plants growing you'll see that they have a way of pulling that dirt toward themselves and forming root balls. I plant all my pond plants bare root and when I go to thin or groom, they will all appear as if they were planted in dirt.

You do want to make sure you aren't getting constant run off into the pond though, as that's going to get old fast. More plants around the edge will help to stop any erosion.

Im going to have dig down a little bit around the outerpermiter a little more to avoid this happening again. I did create a slight berm but maybe it wasnt high enough. Or maybe it is and the water came from behind the waterfall area which is slightly elevated compared to the pond. Not really sure how to fix that.

Hard to tell how much dirt actually made its way into the water though. Just have to wait and let it settle to the bottom.

 

[cas]

m going to have dig down a little bit around the outerpermiter a little more to avoid this happening again.

Good idea!

 

[anthony21078]

Pond is slowly clearing. I have to guess that most of the sediment is being filtered and accumulating on the numerous filter pads and not exactly settling on the floor. Since I am in the process of cycling the pond, is it best to leave the filter material alone or clean off all the dirt? The skimmer and 2 box filters have coarse and fine pads while the waterfall only has a coarse pad and bioballs.

I'm starting to the see the liner change to a brownish color with whatever is adhering/growing on it.

 

[Lisak1]

You can rinse the pads off - just use pond water in a bucket or tub and give them a quick rinse.

 

[anthony21078]

Need a little help here. Went to a water garden center and picked up these 3 plants. They suggested I leave them in the pots with the soil already in there. I added some pea gravel on top myself (is that ok?). They suggested to place in the pond anywhere from 1 to 3 inches below the water surface. I'm having a real hard time placing them without having to reposition many large rocks.

Are there any other options here?

Also have a few water lettuce floating around

 

[anthony21078]

Well disregard that last post...I figured it out without going to crazy

 

[j.w]

Looks fine to me but you do not have to leave those in a pot. You can take them out at some point and just let them grow between the rocks or put them in bigger pots of just clay kitty litter on the bottom of your pond. You can raise them up from the bottom of the pond too if you need to on a plastic crate or pot/flat rocks or whatever works. Just make sure they are stable as when they get bigger if the pots aren't stable the wind can blow them over. Heavy rocks inside the pot can help keep them in place or bricks.

 

[addy1]

The plants look great!

 

[Lisak1]

Like @j.w said, those can definitely come out of the pots and be planted directly in the pond. They will do more for filtering your pond when the roots are allowed direct contact with the water. The spots where you have them are fine - fill the space with gravel or small rocks to stabilize them until they get growing and you'll have a much more natural look. The only plants I keep contained are lilies and lotuses - everything else free ranges in the pond.

Watch your horsetail rush - it likes to jump ship and grow outside of the pond. It spreads hard and fast! It's easy to control in the pond; more challenging in the yard!