GREAT pond. Your air temperature is the typical, beautiful and temperate Mediterranean climate. Any chance you can get a reading on what's in there currently and what its being filled with?
Empty pond
- Thread starter lingi
- Start date
That is awesome....
Not what I was thinking it would look like. I would try to remove any silt and mud in the bottom if possible. If deep enough, anerobic activity may be taking place in the muck. If so, it can release methane and other harmful gases into the water.
Have you ever smelled the stuff on the bottom?
I would think you could make a clear night/day time cover for the winter out of construction plastic covering on the top edge. It could be held in place with lumber and removed and replaced as the seasons change. I would think being clear, it would allow it to heat up during the day and the retain some heat at night.
Not what I was thinking it would look like. I would try to remove any silt and mud in the bottom if possible. If deep enough, anerobic activity may be taking place in the muck. If so, it can release methane and other harmful gases into the water.
Have you ever smelled the stuff on the bottom?
I would think you could make a clear night/day time cover for the winter out of construction plastic covering on the top edge. It could be held in place with lumber and removed and replaced as the seasons change. I would think being clear, it would allow it to heat up during the day and the retain some heat at night.
Im not sure what silt is and yes the stuff at the bottom does stink a bit, but isnt it good to root plants to? i dont really have the cash to do any realy big changes like the cover u mentioned muske, tought i can make a fence around it so stuff doesnt fall in and some net so the fish dont jump out when it overflows, havent got any real suggestions as to the fish i can put in yet, im gonna get a couple dozen turtles and throw them in i guess, what can i make for them to rest on for breathing and sunbathing? so are fish out of the question because of temperatures?
Muske;3805351; said:
Just did the anaerobic thing. Definitely something that I'd take care of before putting fish in there. It's not that you can't have a little muck on the bottom. It's just that a deep layer of it produces all sorts of nasty gases like Musk said. It can produce things that are not only harmful to fish, but to you too.
As for the cover, you could literally use stuff like thin, cheap painters tarp to lay over it and cover it up if you have stuff to hold it down. You'd have to leave an area open to make sure that you had enough air exchange, but this would definitely help to keep it warm when it gets cold. As for making stocking suggestions, it's really not possible without a water temp.
lingi;3805456; said:
Fish are not out of the question at all but you have to match the seasonal temps with the fish. American native bass, sunfish and many othes would work well.
I dont know if you can get them there in pet shops or legally sent from the states.
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap22.htm
European fish would also work. If you add big catfish than they will eat close to everything else and you also dont see them.
Temps in 40s in winter and 80 plus in summer ESP in such a big pond would be great. Lots of large sunfish types.
A few open side empty wooden barrels ,laerge flower pots ,tree limbs or anything that can give them some type shelter for breeding and you will have spawns every yr.
Problem is you have to find out why the mosquito fish and other fish are dieing before adding other fish .
Regarding fish dying, i think u misunderstood me, i really dont think that the gases from the muck are the reason, cos before i used to have hundreds of goldfish and literally thousands and thousands of mosquito fish and there was muck anyways, i didnt even ever feed them! but i gave them all away cos i emptiet the whole pond once, and then when i started adding new ones again i threw in the catfish and went on holiday for 6months, came back, and found nothing and never even saw the catfish again. Its been two years now and the fish i started adding recently are all disappearing but i never found one dead or anything, my friend suggested that since im adding very small fish, they may be getting eaten by all the dragonfly larvae and other water bugs, could that be the case?
PS: i dont wanna sound persistent, but do u think gator gars are out of the question? and what about some turtles?
PS: i dont wanna sound persistent, but do u think gator gars are out of the question? and what about some turtles?
Okay gotcha about the fish.
Gars I know nothing about . Turtles I keep in the yard and they are active most of the year as long as days over 65 give or take which is most of year.
If colder they go in soil or bottom of water and "sleep" and stick their head out once in awhile than go back to sleep.
In such a deep pond I dont know how they would do . I have them in water trough with shallow area of few inches of water right by their driftwood basking area and that is where they sleep if chilly.
20 foot pond is deep BUT if you have soil around it and they can dig in they will use that so no problem. If not than they are forced to sleep on bottom of that pond.
You have soil around your pond . So if you make a ramp,etc they can climb to soil area so they can dig in than they will thrive all yr long.
IMO such a deep pond if they go to "sleep" a month or more a yr might be to deep . Keep in mind I only keep Map and Florida Cooter so no expert.
I do know that if they can leave your pond and actually dig in soil during cold than you have no problem at all . Your cold temps arent bad at all but enough so that they will sleep 2 - 3 months .
There are some turtles which are super cold tolerant and go deep under water like the European pond turtle . All turtles when they sleep under water draw oxygen from the water itself through their skin but some seem to need to sleep in non deep water.
You would have to research turtle your interested in because you do have lots of options but I think the European is a great choice .
http://www.arkive.org/european-pond-turtle/emys-orbicularis/video-00.html
Gars I know nothing about . Turtles I keep in the yard and they are active most of the year as long as days over 65 give or take which is most of year.
If colder they go in soil or bottom of water and "sleep" and stick their head out once in awhile than go back to sleep.
In such a deep pond I dont know how they would do . I have them in water trough with shallow area of few inches of water right by their driftwood basking area and that is where they sleep if chilly.
20 foot pond is deep BUT if you have soil around it and they can dig in they will use that so no problem. If not than they are forced to sleep on bottom of that pond.
You have soil around your pond . So if you make a ramp,etc they can climb to soil area so they can dig in than they will thrive all yr long.
IMO such a deep pond if they go to "sleep" a month or more a yr might be to deep . Keep in mind I only keep Map and Florida Cooter so no expert.
I do know that if they can leave your pond and actually dig in soil during cold than you have no problem at all . Your cold temps arent bad at all but enough so that they will sleep 2 - 3 months .
There are some turtles which are super cold tolerant and go deep under water like the European pond turtle . All turtles when they sleep under water draw oxygen from the water itself through their skin but some seem to need to sleep in non deep water.
You would have to research turtle your interested in because you do have lots of options but I think the European is a great choice .
http://www.arkive.org/european-pond-turtle/emys-orbicularis/video-00.html
My idea for the top is just what Wiskers said. You could just use construction (visqueen) and hold it down along the top of the concrete. I think you could even find it in one piece that would seal in the heat nicely....
Turtles should be fine provide a bask site. If they need to hibenate during the colder nights, a shallow tray could be made that sits inside the pond. I would worry to much about them crawling out of the pond to find refuge.
Gars and fish are def. NOT out of the question. In fact, if there are no fish in there realatively soon, I will be one of many, many unhappy MFKer's. A little more planning and Canary fish is all that should be needed.
Turtles should be fine provide a bask site. If they need to hibenate during the colder nights, a shallow tray could be made that sits inside the pond. I would worry to much about them crawling out of the pond to find refuge.
Gars and fish are def. NOT out of the question. In fact, if there are no fish in there realatively soon, I will be one of many, many unhappy MFKer's. A little more planning and Canary fish is all that should be needed.
Im thinking the cover is out of the question tbh cos even if i can afford it, it will stop the rain from getting in and in the winter we dont fill it cos we dont use the water for watering plants, so it depends on rainwater also somewhat.
THe small mosquito fish ive been adding recently arent visible, neither dead or alive, i suspect its either theyre getting eaten by the water bugs and dragonfly larvae, or theyre just going deep down cos of the cold, could anyone elaborate on this?
Also i checked today and there is about 1 or 1 and a half feet of silt at the bottom on one side and almost none on the other, but its really too much of a hassle for me to empty the pond and remove it cos i need to empty the whole pond, get a small jcb and a crane to lower it inside, just too much rly. Do u think its really absolutely necessary or is it of little importance? i mean the water DOES get changed almost daily....
Also i think in the next couple of weeks im gonna start renovating it, gonna put up a fence all around it and some lights to do some barbeques in the area later on, a wooden ramp for turtles to come in/out of it, and a low rubble wall so they dont go out of the pond area. (and maybe build a bridge in the middle of it for me to just stand there
and also create a canopy of natural palm leaves floating in a corner of the pond for the fish to find shelter under during hot or windy days.
Then ill get a couple of 1foot koi from a friend and add a dozen turtles and some minnows, weather loaches and maybe a sturgeon(bloody expensive over here).
Anyone got some ideas for me about stocking or anything really?
THe small mosquito fish ive been adding recently arent visible, neither dead or alive, i suspect its either theyre getting eaten by the water bugs and dragonfly larvae, or theyre just going deep down cos of the cold, could anyone elaborate on this?
Also i checked today and there is about 1 or 1 and a half feet of silt at the bottom on one side and almost none on the other, but its really too much of a hassle for me to empty the pond and remove it cos i need to empty the whole pond, get a small jcb and a crane to lower it inside, just too much rly. Do u think its really absolutely necessary or is it of little importance? i mean the water DOES get changed almost daily....
Also i think in the next couple of weeks im gonna start renovating it, gonna put up a fence all around it and some lights to do some barbeques in the area later on, a wooden ramp for turtles to come in/out of it, and a low rubble wall so they dont go out of the pond area. (and maybe build a bridge in the middle of it for me to just stand there
and also create a canopy of natural palm leaves floating in a corner of the pond for the fish to find shelter under during hot or windy days.Then ill get a couple of 1foot koi from a friend and add a dozen turtles and some minnows, weather loaches and maybe a sturgeon(bloody expensive over here).
Anyone got some ideas for me about stocking or anything really?
