Planted pond

[ntdsc]

Has anybody used the walstad method in a planted tank pond? I think she describes covering the soil with gravel, but if you have enough soil mixed in with dried grass like leftover mowed grass, it tends to hold together in my small container, so I don't think it needs to be covered. Also, having some plants in the soil may keep it together. My 6.5 gallon plastic beer bubbler has a plant in it, with half soil and half water, and it stays clear. I have a 33 gallon container with dried dirt and grass mixed, and after draining a couple of times, it's starting to stay clear, but the 33 gallon container I may try to put some wild yard grass in it to see if it will grow.

So has anybody thought they could line the dug area with waterproof plastic, then put dirt over it. It might just take a long time for the dirt to process, but my idea is that you wouldn't need a filter after it's processed, because the water is slimy but clear, but no algae, it's a different kind of slime.

Also, I thought it might be good to put a plastic greenhouse over the pond whether it's dug or above ground like in those places that farm fish. It seems like the rain and the dew at night would constantly rain down gasoline, which is probably why the pond needs to be changed with water periodically. I think an ideal thing would be to have a dug pond but have a cover that can cover it during rain, at night, or in the winter. I know that a greenhouse can grow orange trees in the winter if there is exposed dirt inside the greenhouse. The dirt mixes with the air and when light travels through it, just that small amount of dirt in the humidity causes the air to heat up. I think also having a pond initially will attract snakes until they realize they may not be able to get to the fish.

 

[ntdsc]

I saw some pictures of small ponds with lilies, those plants that have roots down at the bottom and a shoot goes up to the water's surface. I assume that lilies would do well with dirt that's dried in clumps and the dirt put over a liner?

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @ntdsc ! I'll admit that I really have no clue what you're proposing here. Adding dirt to the bottom of the pond? Over the liner? What do you mean about taking time for the "the dirt to process"? And the fear that it might "rain down gasoline" isn't why people do water changes - that has to do with what's going on IN the pond than what nature is adding.

Basically I'm confused by your posts! I understand the idea of a planted aquarium, but you lost me at "beer bubbler"! Where are you located that snakes are a concern?

More info please and photos of what you have now would be helpful!

 

[ntdsc]

Well, the gasoline that rains down can cause odors that wouldn't be there. I just had the idea at a small scale, having dirt over the liner, then at the next larger scale in a mud pond, having lily pads, and the highest scale in a very deep pond, having lily pads as deep as they can go. The dirt seems to improve the water, with plants in it. I wonder now why they don't plant more lily pads in man-made reservoirs/don't cut them back, because that will improve the algae problem and the people breathing it nearby won't develop breathing problems from the unnatural algae in reservoirs. Also, to have a cover over the pond like a greenhouse to keep the gasoline from raining down during rains or dew at night.

 

[Lisak1]

Where exactly do you live that you have gasoline "raining down"?

Lilies are lovely in ponds, but they can take over if they aren't managed. And again you've confused me with "unnatural algae". All algae is natural.

 

[ntdsc]

Mississippi, but even in small towns you can taste the gasoline from cars in a body of water, or the burnt particles of gasoline. I can smell the gasoline at night when the dew comes down. It's not natural if plants can improve the water quality by outcompeting the algae. Also if the water is very muddy, having plants would improve it, just like at the source of the rivers before it becomes a reservoir, there's a lot of lily pads an the water looks better. Oh and the beer bubbler is just a clear container that I cut down to about a foot and a half tall, and put dirt, dried grass, and a sword ozelot that has its leaves above water. You can drain off about a gallon and a half of water that's drinkable, and I bring it in at night, or when it rains, and I use an aquarium bubbler, just a piece of clear thin bendable aquarium tubing that I sealed the end with hot glue, and poked holes every inch for about a foot length with a safety pin, and the bubbles come out of the holes, so no air stone was needed, and I hold it down with two golf balls. It helped when I put dirt in it, that I dried the dirt and broke it into small clumps, and covered it with plastic when filling with water so dirt doesn't go everywhere initially. Also having a lot of plants might get rid of any burnt gasoline taste by adding extra chlorophyl to the water, and it will process it. I thought surely there wouldn't be any burnt gasoline taste in Grenada lake in Mississippi, but I tasted it, but they also didn't have lily pads all over the reservoir, and it's a kind of deep lake.

You may not be reading this lol, but there's a lot of leaves and organic matter at the head of the river that feeds into the reservoir, like right above a low head dam, there's lily pads in that larger body of water compared to the river below the low head dam, and there's a lot of organic matter built up on dirt under the water. So the water right above a low head dam seems to be ideal, the water looks just perfect.

 

[j.w]

@ntdsc

 

[poconojoe]

No offense but are you for real?
If you have gasoline raining down, smell and taste gasoline, it's time to move!
It sounds like some apocalyptic situation from one of those disaster movies.
I can't really believe there are areas in the U.S.A. that have this condition.

 

[j.w]

I didn't want to say anything as to the above about all that gasoline stuff as I got lost from the start and was wondering if this was from the real world or from One Step Beyond. I too hope this is not happening for real. I did a search and could not find anything online about a gasoline in the rain problem. There was a boil water situation due to sediment in the water earlier this year but no mention of gasoline

 

[Lisak1]

I started to think this was someone having fun with us... or maybe just me! There's no gasoline raining down anywhere. Gasoline is refined from oil - how would it get into the atmosphere?

 

[poconojoe]

If I lived there I would leave my gas cap off and get free gasoline!

 

[ntdsc]

Well you're just not smart as me I guess. The one twig of grass in my large container actually improved the water, and I cover it when it rain or at night. I don't have every answer for you, so I hope you have a brain, but I did used to live at the crossroads of 5 major interstates, and in the woods, at the base after a rain, you could smell the gasoline where it collects, and it wasn't the rain, it was gasoline stored in the ground over time at the base. There were small "ponds" in those woods, actually just low levels from manmade things, and I wouldn't drink out of that water, it had so much oil and gas in it. But that was in an area that was poor and there were a lot of late model cars there, so it was even more gas heavy, so now I can smell it even though there's not a lot of gasoline where I am right now. But it is true that if a manmade lake or reservoir is not made correctly it can ruin the health of people from too much algae and not enough chlorophyll from any plants at all in the lake. Like I say just that one twig of live grass with roots, I think it's an onion grass, improved that 33 gallon container. Oh and that one pond was at the highest point in the city above all those interstates, you could see down the hill for miles. How did all that gasoline get there in that tip top spot if not from rain and dew? You can probably collect rain from the tail ends of a rain, and put it in those containers with dirt at the bottom, and you will then have mineralized water from a bubbler running in it, and the algae and chlorophyll will process it. How did I drink from those woods? From streams that formed in rains, the water was better there, because it wasn't just sitting there collecting everything.

 

[poconojoe]

Wow!

 

[ntdsc]

But I'm right. What are you gonna say huh? Huh? Oh wait, you're still drinking city water. I know that people who manage those waterways do what they're told, and if somebody tells them to cut down all the lily pads, they will do it regardless.

 

[Lisak1]

Ok, so clearly you're not here for friendly pond talk. I may not be as smart as you, but I do know how to be nice - which is what I was trying to be with you. Good luck with your onion grass.