New Backyard Nano-Pond v.2.0

[Matt724]

Hey, some of you might have seen my last thread titled New Nano-Pond, but I felt like that thread wasn't going in the right direction. I was asking too many questions and I feel like this thread should be almost like a photo journal for my mini-pond. So without further ado, I bring to you:

My ~23 gallon Nano pond!
Filtration: plants (anacharis & azolla caroliniana)
Stocking: Original 5 mosquito fish (2m,3f) + various fry
The water is stagnant as to attract bugs, which makes up their staple meal, though I do feed them occasionally - maybe once or twice a week.
The pond probably gets about 4-5 hours of direct sunlight each day.

Everything is good, except for ONE thing: algae. There seems to have been a large outbreak of this algae thats growing on the plants. It's not like ones that I've seen before (film, diatoms, or hair), but almost like a furry version of short hair algae. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. I'll try to get better pics up.

Also, I was considering replacing the stock with a pair of american flagfish. would this be advisable?

[YT]<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IdrCvseS2Ak?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IdrCvseS2Ak?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdrCvseS2Ak

Lemme know what you guys think.

 

[Conner]

You could probably leave the mosquito fish and still add a pair of flagfish. The flagfish will feed on any insects as well as mosquito fish fry.

 

[Matt724]

You could probably leave the mosquito fish and still add a pair of flagfish. The flagfish will feed on any insects as well as mosquito fish fry.

I took your advice and added a pair of juvenile flagfish. I regret not getting a shot of them before putting them in, though. I figured that life since both species are known to be slightly aggressive, I added two coconut shell halves with notched entrances on the bottom to act as refuge and a possible spawning area for the flagfish once they're ready. I also added an Indian Almond leaf for general well-being of the system, since i have read it to be advisable. On a side note, the water has also cleared up quite a bit, but it is still dark when sunlight is not directly over it which worries me because that means that the anacharis on the bottom may not be getting sufficient light, even though it seems like they're in a fine state. Also, there are different levels of temperature. The top is probably around the mid 80s, and then the bottom drops to probably about the mid 70s which is quite interesting. I understand that's natural in larger ponds, but i was not expecting that in such a small pond like my own.

 

[EOD]

I really want to try this. Is there a chance that doing this could cut down on flies in my backyard or mosquitoes at my work? I could make one and put it outside at my work where we all hang out and it could take care of lots of mosquitoes?? or no?

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Cool pond. Makes me wanna do one of these. What are you using as the pond? Is it a big pot for plants?

 

[Matt724]

I really want to try this. Is there a chance that doing this could cut down on flies in my backyard or mosquitoes at my work? I could make one and put it outside at my work where we all hang out and it could take care of lots of mosquitoes?? or no?

I doubt it, if anything it probably attracts more mosquitos as a possible egg laying site because there's no water movement, which they prefer, but I count on bugs being attracted to it to provide the majority of the fish's diet.

Cool pond. Makes me wanna do one of these. What are you using as the pond? Is it a big pot for plants?

Yeah, its just one that I found in my backyard. It did have holes on the bottom for drainage, but I just plugged them up with some silicone. I still have my doubts about this system, especially since winter is around the corner (even though socal winter is like 60s lol). Also, I have to top it off almost twice a week because of how much water is evaporated during the day.

In other news, the water's cleared up quite a bit after its first week and all the fish seem healthy. I can finally see the bottom clearly after shoving all the mosquito fern (azolla caroliana) to the corner. Maybe if I can find my camera, I'll try to get some pics up. Nothin' special, but I just think its so cool that I finally have a pond of my own.

Next step: 10,000 gallon pond!!! jk, my parents would murder me and bury me in the ditch I dug for the pond.

 

[Conner]

Just wait till you have a 3,500g pond, and it gets so hot and dry that you have to top up 500 gallons twice a week. Did that for about 6 weeks straight. Didn't like getting my water bill that month...

 

[Pyramid_Party]

How did things hold up during winter?

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Let us know!

 

[Matt724]

How did things hold up during winter?

They held up surprisingly well. The lowest recorded temperatures was about 55F, and even then they stayed alive. I did find one of the american flagfish dead on the ground cause it must have jumped, but I think the other one is still in there. All of the mosquito fish made it through and have even bred. Last month, I was doing one of my monthly waterchanges and decided to just sweep through with a net and I scooped up two good sized fry, which was a sign that the conditions are still good. Oh, and a side note, most of the floating plants did not make it. My water hyacinth perished pretty badly, as did my already dying water lettuce. Most of the duckweed turned an ugly brown, but i've been seeing new leaves forming (apparently the duckweed i have is retarded cause it definitely is not the fast grower i was told about). That's about it. The water turned pretty murky after the first rain, but the filter cleared things up pretty well. I think I'm gonna go check out my LFS soon to see what kind of floating water plants they have cause I want the extra filtration and cover to maintain good temps.