Backyard Pond Advice Wanted

[tomterp]

That's coming along real nice Salty.  UV?

[Obed_Marsh]

That is a cool pond Salty.

[saltydad]

That's coming along real nice Salty.  UV?

Thanks all. Nope, Tom, just a surface skimmer with the 2000 gph pump. If the algae become a problem I'll consider UV. Had one on my salt fish-only...it was a must for that tank! Hope that by keeping the nutrient load (fish) down and the plant population balanced I'll avoid the lamp.

[saltydad]

Some fish pond pics.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[GburgNatsFan]

Can you get a less zoomed picture? I'd like to see the whole thing.

My wife wants a pond, but with our wildlife, the fish would all be eaten in about three nights. Raccoon City.

Some fish pond pics.

[saltydad]

My son took the pics with his waterproof Olympus, and sent them to me. The "pretty blue fish" (I assume you mean the small solid color fish) are actually "pretty Black Mollies"! The others are calico Shubunkin and Sarasa comet goldfish. Currently the goldfish are about 6-7 inches in length; they can grow up to a foot.

[saltydad]

Can you get a less zoomed picture? I'd like to see the whole thing.

My wife wants a pond, but with our wildlife, the fish would all be eaten in about three nights. Raccoon City.

No underwater panoramic shots, but here's an above ground of the pond.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=11786&size=1

[GburgNatsFan]

Beautiful.

No underwater panoramic shots, but here's an above ground of the pond.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=11786&size=1

[saltydad]

Thank you.

[Frau Mau]

Just saw this...gorgeous. You must love sitting out there and enjoying the peacefulness....bet your mom loves it too!

[saltydad]

Just saw this...gorgeous. You must love sitting out there and enjoying the peacefulness....bet your mom loves it too!

[CALSGR8]

Salty,

How's your pond with all this rain?  Has the pond over flowed its borders and have flopping goldfish?

Hope everything's ok!

[saltydad]

We have an overflow system built in, and it's working fine, although I did go out in the midst of the deluge to verify no fins in the grass. Thanks for asking.

[saltydad]

Bump--Well, with the dropping temps I had to start moving tender plants inside. In terms of the pond that includes the tropical water lilies. I currently have them (2) in a 20 gal long aquarium in the rec room, along with a water calla lily.The plants are still growing and actually come up through the front flap  by quite a bit.. I like the look, and this was after they received a severe pruning when I took them out of the pond. I also was able to net some of the black mollies in the pond and they're in the tank now. I did break down and added a few other fish- 2 mickey mouse platies and a stunning Adolpho corydoras cat. Will still be trying for the rest of the mollies (yes they're still alive even with 49 F water temps) in the pond, as well as any of the fry that are still there (guppies and mollies). The other non-hardy plants will be in a large plastic tub in the basement.

[NatsAddict]

Hey Salty, I had a nice mature coconut that is prime to seed fall yesterday.  Do you think you can nurture a coconut palm?

[tomterp]

Salty, very cool (warm?), thanks for the update.  As soon as I started your topic, I recalled the plastic kid's swimming pool we threw out last month, it would be perfect for putting a bunch of plants emersed in 6 inches of water, just add light.

I'm surprised the Mollies can handle 49 degrees, go figure. 

My latest project is I'm going to set up a rain barrel to collect water from our roof drainage system, and use it to blend with water changes in my tanks.  I'll also use it to irrigate gardens around the house. 

http://www.pvas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=512

[saltydad]

Hey Salty, I had a nice mature coconut that is prime to seed fall yesterday.  Do you think you can nurture a coconut palm?

That type of palm is beautiful, and I'd love to have one. However, there is no way that it could survive my winters, even with protection. So sadly I must decline your generous offer.      However, take a look at the Cavendish bananas you sent. They're still growing! I'll be cutting them down after the 1st hard frost which will make the leaves toast, and mulching the corm. I already potted up a pup and put it inside in case the others don't survive outside. Any other varieties of nanas I'll be glad to take off your hands (pun intended- a hand =a bunch of bananas).   

[saltydad]

Salty, very cool (warm?), thanks for the update.  As soon as I started your topic, I recalled the plastic kid's swimming pool we threw out last month, it would be perfect for putting a bunch of plants emersed in 6 inches of water, just add light.

I'm surprised the Mollies can handle 49 degrees, go figure. 

My latest project is I'm going to set up a rain barrel to collect water from our roof drainage system, and use it to blend with water changes in my tanks.  I'll also use it to irrigate gardens around the house. 

http://www.pvas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=512

Yeah, I am shocked at their survival too. So far I've only saved 5 out of 10 that I put in the pond this spring. There is one more that is too evasive so far. I no longer see any guppy or molly fry, and there were quite a few. So I guess the cold had done them in before I could get them. Maybe the gradual nature of the temp decline has  something to do with it, like the old story of putting a frog in a pot of cold water and then gradually bringing it to the boil (not that I've ever tried it). The O2 content is also very high due to the waterfall and the colder temps. The fish coloration has really intensified.

I cant check the link you posted yet as I'm still waiting for my account to be activated.

Watch out for the water hardness from the rain barrel. I understand they really get hard water. You could borrow a dKh meter from someone in your club?

[NatsAddict]

That type of palm is beautiful, and I'd love to have one. However, there is no way that it could survive my winters, even with protection. So sadly I must decline your generous offer.      However, take a look at the Cavendish bananas you sent. They're still growing! I'll be cutting them down after the 1st hard frost which will make the leaves toast, and mulching the corm. I already potted up a pup and put it inside in case the others don't survive outside. Any other varieties of nanas I'll be glad to take off your hands (pun intended- a hand =a bunch of bananas).   


(Image removed from quote.)

Wow, that banana is coming along great!  I'll check and see if there are some more ready to move north.

[saltydad]

Tom-to add to the amazing category, I just found the pleco I put in  the pond early in the summer. I thought he had bit the dust (or mud) when we had a small rockslide as I hadn't seen him in the months since. He'd doubled in size! I just managed to net him and put him in the 20 gal. He makes it look like a goldfish bowl he's so big. Maybe these temp ranges need to be looked at skeptically.

[tomterp]

Watch out for the water hardness from the rain barrel. I understand they really get hard water. You could borrow a dKh meter from someone in your club?

Salty, not sure what you mean here.  Rain water, being very close to distilled water, is exceptionally soft, except for particulate matter and air pollution it may pick up.  THe barrels themselves are plastic, food quality (old pickle barrels are a favorite) and should impart no additional disolved elements to the water.

The primary objective of me using rain water is to blend it in with the tap water to soften what now is a fairly hard blend.  I do have a test kit for carbonate hardness, and another type (can't remember off the top of my head).  Our tap water is moderately hard, and pH 7.6, fairly high.  I'd love to bring it back to 7.0 -7.2 or so with rain water blended in. 

Does this make sense, or do you have an issue with my logic?

[tomterp]

Tom-to add to the amazing category, I just found the pleco I put in  the pond early in the summer. I thought he had bit the dust (or mud) when we had a small rockslide as I hadn't seen him in the months since. He'd doubled in size! I just managed to net him and put him in the 20 gal. He makes it look like a goldfish bowl he's so big. Maybe these temp ranges need to be looked at skeptically.

Plecos get REAL big, though there are some dwarf varieties.  Maybe next time you should look into a more modestly sized one. 

[saltydad]

Plecos get REAL big, though there are some dwarf varieties.  Maybe next time you should look into a more modestly sized one. 

He seemed modest in size when I got him. 

[saltydad]

Salty, not sure what you mean here.  Rain water, being very close to distilled water, is exceptionally soft, except for particulate matter and air pollution it may pick up.  THe barrels themselves are plastic, food quality (old pickle barrels are a favorite) and should impart no additional disolved elements to the water.

The primary objective of me using rain water is to blend it in with the tap water to soften what now is a fairly hard blend.  I do have a test kit for carbonate hardness, and another type (can't remember off the top of my head).  Our tap water is moderately hard, and pH 7.6, fairly high.  I'd love to bring it back to 7.0 -7.2 or so with rain water blended in. 

Does this make sense, or do you have an issue with my logic?

None at all, you're exactly right. My bad. Must have been thinking with reverse logic again.

[saltydad]

I now have hardy banana plants growing in both my front and back yards. What with my brother's heart attack, I haven't looked at them recently. Did so today, and lo and behold I have a flower and bananas (inedible) in my front yard!