My goldfish pond

[callingcolleen1]

Big toe getting better. I soak it in salt every night. Toe nail should be fine.
Tonight suposed to get to below freezing, I can't see that happening. Right now were at 46 degrees and it is 10 pm. Just can't see that big drop but all the forcasts say 27 overnight.

I was working out front grooming front flower bed and I got more solar lights. fiddled with the pond lights and this new laguna skimmer box with light. it looks nice and has a pump. It just sits nice on shallow end. It's fancy with lights but I think my old ugly round skimmer does better job.

 

[CometKeith]

Colleen, I have never used a skimmer. My pond is small enough that I can stand on the edge and skim everything I want with a net. It gives me sometimes a nice excuse to hang outside by by pond and watch my fish. I do have two laguna pumps and a biofilter and i have been really happy with them. I even let one of the pumps run all winter. One time it stopped because of the cold and in the spring it started right up!

 

[callingcolleen1]

I need the skimmer for bottom pond cause so many flowering tree peddles falling in. All the stuff from the upper ponds makes it way down to bottom pond as well. It's kind of cool and looks like a zen fountain with bubbler, lights and plant fits on top. It's actually very pretty at night cause it comes with lights inside on top and at bottom by skimmer mouth. There is a vine plan inside top of bubbler.

 

[addy1]

Nice looking skimmer

 

[CountryEscape]

Cool skimmer, Colleen. Do you have it just sitting in the bottom of the pond, or on a shelf? I can't quite tell. I would love anything with lights.

 

[callingcolleen1]

It sits in very shallow water, about maybe 8 inches, and sucks the stuff up.

 

[CometKeith]

Here are some pictures I took today. The first one has a pic of my green frog and my oldest fish which is a spotted red and white sarrasa comet. Most of the fish were born in the pond. There are about 7 or 8 black ones that are hard to see and some of them are just starting to turn orange. I just started lightly feeding the last week or so because it has been so cold here. I am guessing my pond will fully cycle in about another week. Usually when that happens the string algae disappears. This is the first year I didn't buy any floating plants already. They usually try to take over the pond and I am constantly pulling them out so I am going to see if I get them again this year. I recently built up the sides of the ponds about 3-4 inches so the whole pond is raised and it holds more water than past years.

 

[CountryEscape]

It looks gorgeous, Keith. Can't even tell from the outside that you raised the sides. Will be fun to watch everything grow and start filling in again.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Looking very nice Keith! You got way more Lilly pads than me, weather has been frosty at night and water is cooler.
I think your pond looks better without all those floaters, that way your other plants have more room and you can see the fish. I usually don't buy floaters anymore, and if I do, then I just buy one or two.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks CE. Basically everything is raised the width of one paver stone and now the liner doesn't stretch out as far now. I had to put more rocks around it to help hide some of the raised areas and I added dirt and mulch to cover everything. It should be nice as things grow out more. I still want to add another 2 or 3 inches of water to get the water as high as possible but it was a little too cold to work outside last weekend.

Thanks Colleen. Every year I swear I'm not letting the floaters take over the pond and then before you know it they do! I think they help keep the water clean so i may buy a couple but then really monitor how many I keep. I don't like it that they hide the fish but I always leave a big space in the middle where they feed. The problem is I never "buy" more than two each wl and wh and then by mid summer i am pulling out 1/2 dozen every day so buying less won't be a solution for me!

 

[callingcolleen1]

You must have nice warm water for them, that's how come they spread so well. They don't seem to take over my ponds anymore since I made them bigger about 10 years back, the bottom ponds were much smaller and the water was warmer then.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Thanks CE. Basically everything is raised the width of one paver stone and now the liner doesn't stretch out as far now. I had to put more rocks around it to help hide some of the raised areas and I added dirt and mulch to cover everything. It should be nice as things grow out more. I still want to add another 2 or 3 inches of water to get the water as high as possible but it was a little too cold to work outside last weekend.

Thanks Colleen. Every year I swear I'm not letting the floaters take over the pond and then before you know it they do! I think they help keep the water clean so i may buy a couple but then really monitor how many I keep. I don't like it that they hide the fish but I always leave a big space in the middle where they feed. The problem is I never "buy" more than two each wl and wh and then by mid summer i am pulling out 1/2 dozen every day so buying less won't be a solution for me!

The pond looks great Keith

I like to have water lettuce and water hyacinth in my pond too as I feel it helps with water quality. Like you I find that it takes over the pond and makes it hard to see the fish. This year I bought a feeder ring and I put the plants inside of it to help keep them contained. I wasn't able to find water lettuce this year but did get the hyacinth.

 

[CountryEscape]

I have tried both WL and WH, and the ones I got form Keith last year did well in a very large pot I put them in, as I recall. For some reason neither of these do well in either of my ponds, even if they are in a floating net, away from koi or goldfish. Only thing I can think of is my well water has some nutrient in it that the WL/WH do not care for. The only other thing is that my ponds are both pretty much full sun, only getting shade very late in the afternoon, so maybe they can't handle that much sunshine. Who knows ...

 

[bettasngoldfish]

CE, My pond is in a shaded area and both those plants multiply like crazy for me. I start with three of each and in a short time I'm pulling them from the pond to thin them out. Otherwise I hardly see my fish.

 

[CountryEscape]

Aha, so it's the too much sunshine that does mine in! I think I had the large pot in a place that got less sun, so that is where I will put them, if I buy a few this year again. They did great, multiplied, etc. in the pot, just could not survive in the ponds. Thanks for reminding me the reason.