New pond advice please

[hartleyhare]

Hi

I set my raised pond up just over a week ago. I am not adding fish, just snails and mussels. Is it too soon to add them ?

So far I have 10 bunches of oxygenator, spilt into 2 pots. I've ordered 6 Water Soldiers and another 10 Pennywort plants and 2 marginal plants ( water spearmint and creeping jenny ). Do I need more oxygenators ?

I've noticed that the water is starting to turn green. Is this because I don't have enough floating plants yet ? The pond is in shade for half day and sunlight for half.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dieselplower]

Almost every new pond will turn green for a while. How many gallons is it? Do you have a water pump? A filter? Its turning green because there isn't anything that has been able to outcompete algae for the nutrients in the pond. Don't worry about it.

 

[HTH]

Am I right in thinking the mussels filter water. They should help clean up the suspended algae that makes the water green.

If you don't have a filter be sure you aerate the water to keep the oxygen level up.

 

[hartleyhare]

Hi

Almost every new pond will turn green for a while. How many gallons is it? Do you have a water pump? A filter? Its turning green because there isn't anything that has been able to outcompete algae for the nutrients in the pond. Don't worry about it.

Pond is 130 gallons. I have a pump in it. I was told that I did not need a filter as no fish in it ?? So, how many plants and oxygenators does my pond need, please ?

 

[HTH]

DP as I understand it his goal is to have clams and no fish. He should not need a filter because the clams are filter feeders.. The clams feed on green water. I would try it with just an airstone

If the water has turned green now is the time to add clams. A filter may starve the clams.

HartleyHare read this and what it links to. Small ponds are more or less outdoor aquariums so what these guys have to say should prove helpful.

In time you may need to fertilize the pond or add fish to generate the nutrients need for the green water needed by your clams.

If anyone is getting their undies in a bunch because I am talking clams you need to know that Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of clams

 

[SouthernCross]

Do you think you will have problems with mosquitos breeding with no fish?

 

[dieselplower]

I was just wondering lol. most filters are unable to filter out something as small as suspended algae anyway. I was thinking for more along the lines of solids that may fall into the pond off of trees, blown in my wind, etc. I think the turbulence created by sending water through some types of filters can help ooxygenated the water better.

 

[hartleyhare]

Thanks for the link Howard

This may sound a little dense, but why do I need to keep oxygen levels up if I'm not having fish. Won't the submerged plants provide enough ?

How many mussels do you think I will need for my pond ? Would 3-4 be enough ?

I hadn't considered mosquitos ...... is there any way to prevent them using my pond other than fish ?

 

[dieselplower]

Plants produce oxygen during the day, but not at night. At night, they absorb it, as well as produce carbon dioxide.

 

[hartleyhare]

Just been reading Howard's link. Very interesting about the mussels.

I had a raised pond at my other house ( before we moved to North Wales ) and I had snails, mussels and 2 goldfish. I had the pond and its contents for 3 1/2 years and everything appeared to be doing ok in that nobody died and the mussels and goldfish grew a bit. I didn't have green water, but had a problem with blanket weed. I also found that the fish were very messy and I seemed to be cleaning the filter out all the time and it was really dirty. It was a sponge filter built into the pump. I didn't have an oxygenator in the pond as I didn't know I needed one - hehehe! I had a small heater for the winter, which the fish loved, they seemed to spend most of their time swimming around it.

I had a mixture of gravels, sand and pebbles on the bottom of my fish pond and have doen the same with this new pond. From reading the links I didn't realise that the pond bottom was so important, although I guess the aim is to try and copy what you would find in a naturally occurring environment. Someone told me to put compost into the water when I set up my fish pond and that it would sink to the bottom in a few weeks. It didn't and I had to clean the whole thing out and start again.