Ponds

[margo]

Is there a pond forum here?

[maxpayne_lhp]

I think soon! Try suggest at "suggestion"...

[fish_doc]

Welcome, and if you have questions about ponds you can try the general section or even the goldfish section. It will get read and answered. Most of us are not real picky that they need to be in the right section esp. if there is no section for it.

[margo]

Thanks Dave and Max.

[ijedic]

Hi Margo,
My pond is home to Apple snails right now, Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularum, and Pomacea Woodle (Salton Sea snails). Last summer I kept gambusia holbrooki, and plan on putting a trio in next weekend. Here is a pic:

[margo]

What a beautiful pond! I love it! Love that purple frog. Is it a solar frog? I saw a green solar frog in Wal-Mart the other day.

So you just have snails in your pond? No fish? I wanted a snail but they didn't have any at Wal-Mart so I got a Chinese Algae Eater.

[TheOldSalt]

Salton Sea snails? From the Salton Sea?
Wherever did you find something like that?

[Celeste]

this is my pond last year or so. it no longer has any floaters as they all died. we have something called a bog vine that's an underwater vine that sends shoots and leaves that float on the surface, but not like a water lilly. and instead of hostas beside the basin, there's this spikey, grass-like plant that's growing like crazy, oh yeah, and we added some water cress to the bowl, which acts as a natural filter, along with a 5 gallon bucket filter we made ourselves.



in it we have currently:

1 blue/gray speckled koi
1 orange koi
1 yellow/gold/black snakeskin koi
1 platinum koi
1 black and white butterfly koi
1 peachy-orange butterfly koi
1 calico shubunkin
1 white comet with an orange head

basically, we have the pump submurged behind the little water fountain. a tube runs from the pump into the top of the 5 gallon bucket filter we made. there's a tube going down the center of the bucket, so the water goes down to the bottom of the bucket, through the filter material, to the top, where another tube carries it to that pitcher thing. oh yeah, we have a splitter on the tube running from the pump. one goes to the filter, the other by-passes the filter and goes straight to the basin. we have valves on it so we can shut each one off or turn it on. it's like this because in the winter, we have to by-pass the filter and drain the filter or else it will freeze solid. there's not a problem with waste because we don't feed the fish all winter. their metabilisms slow down so much it can actually kill them to feed them.

[margo]

That is so pretty! My pond is about the same size.

[ijedic]

Originally Posted by margo

What a beautiful pond! I love it! Love that purple frog. Is it a solar frog? I saw a green solar frog in Wal-Mart the other day.

So you just have snails in your pond? No fish? I wanted a snail but they didn't have any at Wal-Mart so I got a Chinese Algae Eater.

Hi Margo,
The purple frog is a cement frog. The other purple frog is terra cotta. I painted them (with glow in the dark paint for the eyes on them and the gargoyles). The neighbor's cat was forever getting into my garden, and the glow in the dark paint and spot lights have helped LOL!

The gambusia were put in last May, but I brought them in last month to ready the pond for spring. I've got them in the fishroom being conditioned to go back out to the pond. I put some of my snail collection in the pond to clean it out again (maple helicopters LOL). They're doing a good job right not. The gambusia will go out next week, hopefully have some nice young in a couple of weeks. The pond grew full of them last year. I used to keep goldfish, but they got 8" in one season, and my pond is only 90 g. Guppies did really good in there last year too. Never had a CAE outside, but did keep large plecos outside last year. (sorry about blabbering) Shannon

[ijedic]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Salton Sea snails? From the Salton Sea?
Wherever did you find something like that?

Hi Old Salt,
They are a type of canna snail, from the tributaries to the Salton Sea. They were discovered by Barbara Bean (Woodle, Sandiegofishes) last year. She collected adults, sub adults, and clutches. I got some clutches from her and hatched them out. They are golden and green spotted right now, but the spots will most likely become stripes. These are F1, clutches she got from the wild, and the parents were many different colors. A lot of us snailers sell them at http://www.aquabid.com in the snail section. If you click on my signature, you can see a pic of them in the Salton Sea auction. Have fun, Shannon

[ijedic]

That is beautiful Celeste! Thank you for sharing!! Have a great week, Shannon

[maxpayne_lhp]

Wow, beatiful ponds! I have one, but it needs fixing and I really think it's done in this summer. I want a natural look
Anyone keeps lotus in your pond? I'll introduce in as soon as I find one!

[margo]

My pond is kinda stupid-looking, too, Max. I just bought some fish for my pond since Hurricane Ivan flooded my platties out to sea. (I live on a bayou.) Luckily, the platties can live in salt water, too!

Pic 1: Floating the fish in Wal-Mart bag for 30 minutes to get them used to water temp. Pic 2: Shortly after I poked hole in bag so the fish could swim out and check out their new digs.

[ijedic]

Oh you have lilys! I'm jealous! Do they bloom??? I bought some a few yrs ago, but they didn't grow (they were tubers, not already with leaves) Did you get yours at a nursery? It is a beauty! I like your frog with stripey legs! Thanks for sharing, shannon