Questions about my next pond

[bagsmom]

Me again. I mentioned elsewhere that I am going to build a wildlife/frog pond in the backyard. It will probably be around 9 feet by 12 feet and sort of shallow. (Probably 1 to 2 feet deep.) This will be maintained by Mother Nature (with a little help from me when needed.). But filtered with LOTS of plants - still water. The goal is to look pretty in the backyard and to be a place for birds, frogs, deer, and whoever.

I know mosquito fish are not popular because they are a nuisance fish. But in this application, I'm thinking they would be a help - for eating mosquitos. It will be a warm pond for sure, since it is shallow. Are the mosquito fish a horrible idea? I'm hoping the pond will attract frogs and toads to help eat the bugs too.

I would like to get some trapdoor snails also. Do any of you have reliable mail-order sources for these critters?

I shared it on the other post but here it is again: a sample of a frog pond from the Pond Digger's tutorial video. My plan is to do something similar, but with lots of plants around to attract bees and butterflies.

 

[Tula]

I don't think it would hurt the set up to have a small pump circulating the water, gently.....then you might not need fish or dunks. I set up a deck pond basically for plants and that's what I did

 

[bagsmom]

I don't think it would hurt the set up to have a small pump circulating the water, gently.....then you might not need fish or dunks. I set up a deck pond basically for plants and that's what I did

Well, for budget and for practicality, I can't run electrical back there. So I have to do this experiment with the still water. I also read that the frogs like still water better for laying eggs in and that tadpoles do better in warm, still water. But that might not be correct. I'm going to try it as planned at first. If needed, maybe I could do a little solar powered fountain to move things a bit.

I read a bit more about the mosquito fish. I may have interpreted the map wrong, but it said they are found naturally in GA? Can that be right? They seem like a tropical fish. I also read that they eat the tiny organisms that help a pond stay in balance. Maybe just a couple of small goldfish would do the job? I want to create a natural cycle, so I feel like I need some critters. (And I just really do like fishies!)

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Problem with goldfish is they don't stay small. Personally I would go with the mosquito fish.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Forgot to mention, my trap door snails were ordered from Trickers. They arrived alive and well.

 

[EricV]

Why not fathead minnows, a.ka. Rosy Reds?

 

[bagsmom]

Why not fathead minnows, a.ka. Rosy Reds?

I will look into them!

 

[addy1]

I vote for rosy reds, they are a pretty pink. Cheap to buy also.

Trickers is where I got my trapdoor snails, they came alive in great shape. I have some in every pond now.

 

[bagsmom]

You guys... the urge to dig is overwhelming. I can see the pond in my head (and it's awesome!) I'm going to direct my need for pond money into cleaning out the house and doing a garage sale. That needs to happen first. So much cleaning out is needed... but all I want to do is dig. NOW!
Thanks for all the input!

 

[bagsmom]

I saw Tricker's has tadpoles too. But I guess I need to check to see what species they are. The little frogs in GA are kind of delicate. Maybe I need to wait and let Mother Nature get me some tadpoles when the pond is done, rather than bringing any in...

 

[addy1]

but all I want to do is dig. NOW!

Digging is free!

 

[addy1]

I saw Tricker's has tadpoles too

A lot of time the tads that are sold are bullfrog tads. I would wait and see what shows up.

I looked at trickers website, at 3 inches in size those are probably bull frogs.

 

[mgmine]

If you're not going to have anything to circulate the water and it's going to be shallow then I would expect it to get stagnant and green. No matter how many plants you put into it nature will start to grow algae and choke it out. If you can't run electricity to it can you run piping? If so you can push the filtered water to the pond .

 

[bagsmom]

No - no way to do all that without tearing up concrete. I guess if it doesn't work well, I can do some sort of solar pump or fountain - or fill in to make a bog garden.

 

[Tula]

Ahhhhh, I forgot about electricity - LOL