New Mexico Wildlife Pond

[GBBUDD]

Try adding air into the pond to help lesson string algae

 

[ATP]

Pond looks great! I am thinking about adding a similar intake bay like yours over a skimmer. Are you happy with it? You mentioned that a lot of debris get stuck in the plants but I would think you would have the same issue with a skimmer, right?

 

[Rashad]

Pond looks great! I am thinking about adding a similar intake bay like yours over a skimmer. Are you happy with it? You mentioned that a lot of debris get stuck in the plants but I would think you would have the same issue with a skimmer, right?

I am happy with it and yes the problem might be worse with a skimmer because at least the intake bay spreads out the suction area whereas a skimmer has a smaller area to get blocked.

 

[GBBUDD]

Intake bays in my opinion come to the party a little late. When debri / pollen, leaves, grass clippings, dust is best removed before it has a chance to get water logged and fall to the bottom of the pond a a wide opening leading toward the pumps will have a volume pull from all layer of the water column. A skimmer or negative edge draw from the surface and collect that debris before it is sitting on the bottom. Just my two sense.

 

[Rashad]

Intake bays in my opinion come to the party a little late. When debri / pollen, leaves, grass clippings, dust is best removed before it has a chance to get water logged and fall to the bottom of the pond a a wide opening leading toward the pumps will have a volume pull from all layer of the water column. A skimmer or negative edge draw from the surface and collect that debris before it is sitting on the bottom. Just my two sense.

My intake bay has a 6 inch wide and about 4-6 inch deep entry into the bay (depending on water level), so it does mostly pull from the surface. I don't know of any good math you can do to figure this out, I sort of had to just experiment by placing rocks and then dropping leaves on the surface around the pond. I found a wider opening was causing stuff to just sort of swirl around in front of the bay, but by narrowing it a bit I increased the amount of suction. Anyway, any leaf that drops into the pond will definitely make it into he bay before falling to the bottom unless it gets stuck on a plant, or I neglect it and the bay gets clogged with leaves.

If you can do a negative edge, in my mind that is probably the best system overall but it would have added a ton of work and cost to my build, since I was digging by hand. But if you're going bigger and using some real tools, I think it's probably worth it.

 

[GBBUDD]

If you can do a negative edge, in my mind that is probably the best system overall but it would have added a ton of work and cost to my build, since I was digging by hand. But if you're going bigger and using some real tools, I think it's probably worth it.

Very true . and yes that is almost the same i found when my skimmer was running. it originaly was like a pool with 2 foot depth right up to the skimmer and 2 foot wide. This was found to do as you mentioned . little to no draw from the surface when i lessened the depth and width it made a huge improvement.
I actualy have a little of both, i have a foot wide by two foot deep opening to one section of my pond which is a intake bay. but the pumps are over the edge in an other small pool where the water drops making a water fall. /Negative edge
My intent was not to create a intake bay but an area to capture my fish and restrict them from the big pond so i can catch them. we call it dead pool.

 

[Rashad]

Hey everyone, thought I'd drop a first year pond update. Biggest thing is I ended up having to raise the bog liner due to having too little clearance from the back of the bog to the waterfall.. Have just been too lazy to buy another of cap stones to cover the liner so it's just hanging out like this for now. Plants are coming along well. Yerba Mansa is the MVP. Tolerates the alkaline soil and water super well and grows and spreads like gangbusters. The irises are doing well. Green onions are amazing. I just threw some in last year as a test and they fully established with nice big round flower heads. I even cut some greens off for salad every now and then.

A couple frogs moved into the pond, haven't seen any eggs yet. We lost two sarasa comets to predation, but all the calico shubunkins seem to be surviving so I think I'll be okay without a net and just keep to more well camouflaged fish here on out. For the marginal plants, hostas have worked well. Dragonsblood Sedum is doing amazingly nestled among the rocks. I've basically just come to accept the string algae and just clear it out periodically.

Intake bay still working well.

Happy to answer any questions!

 

[Laaf]

Looking great!

If you keep having trouble with the bog water level being too high, scoop out some of the gravel and it will really help lower the water level without hurting your bog function. You can not raise the liner or I would say raise it. I had the same issue after my aquatic mint grew so much its roots expanded my bog gravel and it was causing water to overflow my little bog in multiple spots. I scooped out gravel and it brought the water back to where I wanted it. (Actually the roots were so thick I had to saw it out with a big knife to get out roots and gravel along the edges. Just taking out some sections really helped the overall bog water level drop).

LOL to the green onions from the store doing well.

I am guessing you will have more fish by the end of the year by spawning and/or purchase.

The bosque fire was unsettling yesterday. They are still out there putting out hotspots.

 

[Rashad]

Hi everyone, just wanted to put out a pond update. Everything is going well. A couple weeks ago the string algae pretty much cleared up on its own, so I think the bog and other plants just needed to reach critical mass. Happy to answer any questions. Fish are doing well, added some mosquito fish just to have some smaller fish to go with the goldfish. Bog really took off in year 2, and I'm almost at the point where I'll need to start pulling stuff I think. The Most Valuable Plant is still Yerba Mansa, and I'll give a 2nd place finish to the water clover which I brought in this spring. Spreads well, fills in gaps, is pretty, but doesn't choke out other stuff or anything.

Edit: Not sure why I committed the cardinal sin of a vertical video. Will redo it at some point...

Edit 2: Forgot to mention one little lesson. I planted a few swamp milkweed around the pond. The ones in the bog are doing great. The ones at the margin of the pond both grew tall and then fell over. Apparently swamp milkweed has a pretty deep root system, so only plant them somewhere where they'll have deep enough substrate to anchor securely.

 

[j.w]

Looks beautiful @Rashad

 

[rubyduby]

Hi everyone, just wanted to put out a pond update. Everything is going well. A couple weeks ago the string algae pretty much cleared up on its own, so I think the bog and other plants just needed to reach critical mass. Happy to answer any questions. Fish are doing well, added some mosquito fish just to have some smaller fish to go with the goldfish. Bog really took off in year 2, and I'm almost at the point where I'll need to start pulling stuff I think. The Most Valuable Plant is still Yerba Mansa, and I'll give a 2nd place finish to the water clover which I brought in this spring. Spreads well, fills in gaps, is pretty, but doesn't choke out other stuff or anything.

Edit: Not sure why I committed the cardinal sin of a vertical video. Will redo it at some point...

Edit 2: Forgot to mention one little lesson. I planted a few swamp milkweed around the pond. The ones in the bog are doing great. The ones at the margin of the pond both grew tall and then fell over. Apparently swamp milkweed has a pretty deep root system, so only plant them somewhere where they'll have deep enough substrate to anchor securely.

What a beautiful wildlife pond you have created Rashad....It must be so much fun to see all of the different inhabitants

 

[combatwombat]

Wow, plants really filled in. Looks amazing, @Rashad. Like it’s been there forever. Glad you’re stopping by regularly to give updates. Love seeing them.

Will have to watch the video again later. Sitting by our pond right now and can’t hear the audio on my phone over the sound of the waterfall.

 

[Laaf]

Beautiful! Your water clarity is amazing. And the plants have filled in and your pond ecosystem looks healthy and happy!

My string algae was bad, then it disappeared as well.

 

[cas]

Very pretty! Thanks for posting an update.

 

[YShahar]

Looks beautiful! I just now discovered your pond build thread and was especially intrigued because I'm in a similar climatic zone (I think). I'm in Israel, which has a Mediterranean climate, though rather desert-like as you move away from the ocean. I had never thought about planting green onions in the bog, but now I'm going to try it!

 

[Rashad]

Looks beautiful! I just now discovered your pond build thread and was especially intrigued because I'm in a similar climatic zone (I think). I'm in Israel, which has a Mediterranean climate, though rather desert-like as you move away from the ocean. I had never thought about planting green onions in the bog, but now I'm going to try it!

I was pleasantly surprised how well they did. Theoretically I could pull them out and divide them to eat some and then replant, but I've just let them grow. I did snip off the greens for a salad once, but figured I'd just let them do their work in the bog.

 

[combatwombat]

I was pleasantly surprised how well they did. Theoretically I could pull them out and divide them to eat some and then replant, but I've just let them grow. I did snip off the greens for a salad once, but figured I'd just let them do their work in the bog.

The more you cut them, the more they’ll take up nutrients to regrow, no?

 

[Rashad]

The more you cut them, the more they’ll take up nutrients to regrow, no?

Theoretically? I mean plants are also growing their root systems. Plus flowers and seeds are pretty resource intensive, so maybe you want to leave them alone so they make lots of those? I would love to see some research on all this. Maybe you cut back the foliage during early to mid-summer, then let things flower?

 

[GBBUDD]

Pond looks great! I am thinking about adding a similar intake bay like yours over a skimmer. Are you happy with it? You mentioned that a lot of debris get stuck in the plants but I would think you would have the same issue with a skimmer, right?

skimmers usualy have a strainer basket and a mat pad intakes have nothing