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#165588 05/28/09 12:24 AM
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jwcolby Offline OP
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Hi, new to the forum, and glad to find it.

I have a small roughly 6 ft x 12 ft pond, fed by two springs. The pond has deep muck on the bottom (about 12-18" of muck), probably created by decayed leaves as it is under a bunch of deciduous trees which rain leaves in the fall. Under that is solid rock! I just discovered that I can buy nets to catch the leaves and will probably do that next fall. I would like to vacuum the muck and send it on downstream, but haven't a clue how to do so. If I could do that and then put gravel in the bottom it would be a much prettier pond.

I have salamanders, crayfish and frogs native to the pond. Around the pond are ferns and other grasses, lots of moss and stuff on the rocks around the pool.

Last weekend my 8 year old son and I built a rough brick dam across the lower end, I used black plastic garbage bags to "seal it" and some gravel and sand to cover that. Really crude, but it raised the water level about a foot to 16 inches....

I now have about 2-3 foot depth in the south end (by the dam), about 12 inches in the northern end. The two springs pour a TON of water into the pond after a rain. No idea about the GPM but the water level rose well over a foot in the time it took me to build the dam - an hour or two.

The rain swollen spring also brings a fair bit of silt. The silt settles in about 12 hours or so and the water clears right up so you can see the bottom.

Without the rain the springs still flow pretty nicely. Even during the drought that climaxed last year the springs never dried up, though I was starting to worry.

Last summer I populated the pond with shiners (bait) and we enjoyed watching them all summer but they are gone this spring. I do have frogs and even raccoons and possums, so I am guessing they ended up a meal for some critter.

I am wondering whether I can just put plain old goldfish in the pond, or even koi? If so how many would a pond this size support? Will I need to feed them? How about pond lilies or something for protection?

Last summer I did have a fibrous green slimy stuff growing up from the bottom of the pond which at one point covered a lot of the pond. I actually raked some of it out. I see no sign of it yet but I'm guessing it will be back. Is there anything that will keep this stuff at bay?

Thanks for any ideas on helping my son and I build a fun little fish pond.

JWC

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Welcome to the forum...

3 feet is fairly shallow even for koi or goldfish, but depending on where you are in NC, they may survive winter OK.

Aeration may help with the break down of the muck you describe. I might also try raking up the muck on the bottom. Your pond is small enough that you may be able to make substantial progress in removing a large amount of it.

The shiners probably died from DO loss during the winter or predation from herons or racoons. You could consider some hybrid water lilies to give your fish some cover.

It sounds like you have a neat little pond. Koi and goldfish have similar requirements with koi obtaining a much larger size. You could easily put 10 to 20 koi and 10 to 20 goldfish in a pond that size. Golden orfe are also another option if you can source them. The addition of an albino channel catfish or two would also be another good option. They will help keep your other fish from reproducing too much and over populating...

Best of luck!

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Thanks for the reply. The pond does not freeze over so I am guessing that the winter will not be a problem.

If I could get the muck out I would gain an additional foot or more of depth. Do they make anything that would vacuum that much mud and gunk, particularly that I could rent? I really don't want to go buy an expensive pump or something just for the job.

I tried just scooping it out with a bucket but I end up with mostly water after the first bucket or two. It seems like it would take forever to do it manually. I do rake the leaves out, but under that is pretty much mud.

Do water lilies survive the winter?

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Well I went to the local PetSmart and talked to a lady that has a man made pond in her back yard. She said the 12c goldfish will get big (like 8" or more) so I bought 30 of those, figuring critters would get half of them. She said her crawdads would eat hers. At 12c I can afford that, at least if some of them will survive.

She also pointed me to the Home Depot next door to buy some water loving plants, some kind of water Iris, some of that duckweed stuff that floats on the top of the water and something else of the same general type.

With luck this will provide entertainment for Robbie for the summer.

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I'd pass on the duckweed.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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You don't want to be putting duck weed in your pond. It'll take the whole pond over, particularly a pond as small as yours... Water lilies will survive the winter. They will die back in the winter, but will come back each spring as long as you get hardy northern varieties. Tropical species can be bought, but obviously will die when temperatures drop unless you bring them inside your home for the colder months. Make sure you get a hybrid lily, otherwise they may take your whole pond over and there will be no open water surface. You may also want to keep the lilies in a pot so they don't spread. There are a number of other pond plants for small ponds such as yours like water irises, dwarf cattails, sweetflag, etc... A good nursery with a water plant selection can help you select plants for your pond. 12 cent feeder goldfish are 12 cents for a reason. Many will die on their own because they are not treated well their whole lives. Those that survive will do fine if not eaten. Often times they are not the prettiest or most colorful genetically.

In the end, its your pond and you know how much money you want to invest in it. Any idea on how much money you want to invest, that will help people give you advice...

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jwcolby, Welcome to pond boss. Are there any rental places around where you could rent a trash pump to suck the muck out, that would probably do the job on a small pond.
Also try putting in some structure, maybe lay down pvc pipe pieces so your minnows can hide from predators.
Let us know how things work out.



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My problem with fancy fish is I have no idea what is out there trying to eat the fish. I went to PetSmart simply because they have a variety but in Goldfish they start around $5 EACH and work up form there. Koi (which I wasn't specifically looking for) were even more.

I can buy 40 feeder gold fish at 12c each for $5. If I buy 5 goldfish at $5 each and something eats them all.... that would get expensive FAST.

Bottom line, the pond is not a yard pond, it is out at the back of the property, under a slew of trees, and I know I have critters including Racoons - I have seen them. I am told is quite illegal to even trap and move them so...

As for my budget, I don't really have one. My son loves to play around the pond so I am willing to put a few bucks in it but I am not going to pay a thousand to set this thing up. I paid about $40 for a bunch of bricks and gravel to build the little dam to raise the water level - that worked great. If I could find one I would pay to rent a muck pump for a day to vacuum the muck out of the pond. IF I could get rid of the muck, I would then (eventually) pay for a load of pea gravel to fill the bottom with (and patch my road with as well). If it all works I will be buying a net this fall to keep the leaves out. I can imagine spending several hundred by the time it is all said and done. Or only a hundred, depending on how things play out. The vacuum (if available) will drive a bigger cost.

Again though, I don't know whether ANY fish will survive very long. For 12c each I just don't care if they die. I figure I will throw 30 at a time in there and if I have a 90% loss I will be quite happy. I would like to end up with perhaps 5 or 6 full grown gold fish by the end of the summer.

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 Originally Posted By: adirondack pond
jwcolby, Welcome to pond boss. Are there any rental places around where you could rent a trash pump to suck the muck out, that would probably do the job on a small pond.
Also try putting in some structure, maybe lay down pvc pipe pieces so your minnows can hide from predators.
Let us know how things work out.


Thanks for the suggestions. I am not finding equipment rental places to rent the trash pump. I'll keep looking.

I like the idea of the PVC Pipe or something similar. Unfortunately all I have is 3/4" which I think is probably too small, or soon will be. I have to think about this one.

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I'd recommend some type of native bream. They should be able to live in shaded pond that small and will be able to hide better from predators than goldfish. You may need to add a large rock or some such for structure for fish to hide. Just about every small clear pool I've seen that contains bream had some sort of spot for them to hide.

Last edited by scotjute; 06/02/09 01:36 PM.

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