First time pond clean

[GBBUDD]

quick look at their website and they state it's 0.35mm thick HDPE and a calculation makes that 14mil... so that is not as thick as others have used above.

Nooooooooooooo do not use pvc procts for liners Hprde or epdm are the two most widely excepted. Then you have concrete fiberglass and polls resins.

 

[michaelsf90]

The flags I used to create the waterfall overlap the pond liner massively. They are sat on the pond liner. The liner for the waterfall is the tucked underneath the flag which is the foundation of the waterfall. So any water that runs underneath still finds it's way as the falls overhang the pond. The falls is also built up a fair amount on the sides by a good 6 to 8 inch. Since the water has cleared up I cant see any frogs. They were always in the pond before. Will they be in less now due to clear water and circulation? I hope they havent felt forced out

 

[addy1]

They will be back, I have messed with a frog filled pond, they left and returned.

 

[michaelsf90]

Thank you. I got 3 new plants today. One marginal and two oxygenators. However the second shelf is just over 20cm deep and the pot is 10cm. Is this deep enough? I am also concerned about the size of fish and the limited numbers I can have. How big do fantails as you suggested get?

 

[addy1]

How big do fantails as you suggested get?

My old ones, got to around five inches before a heron found a hole in the net. Right now the ones in my hot tub pond are a 3-4 years old and about 4ish inches. They can grow to 6-8 inches, great for a small pond. They also breed a lot slower than gold fish do. Out of my 9 fantails, I got 3 babies last summer.

 

[poconojoe]

Would this be better? Also now the water is clearing up you can see some silt and sand and dirt on the liner. Is this normal or should I have scrubbed it clean?

No way!! Do not use a PVC liner. Believe me. I know from experience when I was a newbie at this.
Use 45 mil EPDM with underlayment as first choice. Second choice would be HDRPE. Not HDPE, but HDRPE. The "R" denotes reinforced.

It's not advisable to scrub your liner. You don't want to kill the biofilm growing on it. The biofilm is an important part of your filtration.

 

[GBBUDD]

But it's slimy,
Yes and so are fish

 

[brokensword]

But it's slimy,
Yes and so are fish

I wonder how many peeps know about a fish's slime coat and how vital it really is?

 

[michaelsf90]

The water is clearing up nicely. I'm starting to realise how small it actually is! It's more how its mainly shelves. I wish it was deeper and the shelves werent as wide

 

[GBBUDD]

I wonder how many peeps know about a fish's slime coat and how vital it really is?

And vice versa the slime in the pond is life and death where you need both to have higher life forms survive in the fish in this discussion but also US/WE/ALL/ EVEN GERMA PHOBES need these slides weather they want to admitt it or not. Bacteria feeds on decaying plant and animal matter. Bacteria Is food for microbes and there food for insects that are food for fish , that are food for frogs turtles, snakes, that are food for us it doesn't take very long to get from the slime they so dispise to get to our own dinner plate.

 

[michaelsf90]

Nothing is suppose to be proper cleaned. Do you guys regularly test your pond water? I'm thinking of adding shubunkins because fantails are used indoors here in the uk. Then next year I'm planning on digging the pond and shelves deeper and making the volume larger. Get it to 1000 litres. Just making both shelves 6 inches deeper would add loads of volume

 

[addy1]

I wonder how many peeps know about a fish's slime coat and how vital it really is?

I have always made sure my hands were wet if fishing and releasing the fish. You don't want to remove that slime. Don't fish anymore feel too bad for them being yanked out of the water.

Do you guys regularly test your pond water? I'm thinking of adding shubunkins because fantails are used indoors here in the uk.

I have not for years, no need, used to test a lot got bored with it, always just fine with the bog taking care of the pond. Fantails are used here for fish tanks also, but they do great in ponds. I bought mine from a fish hatchery near us they are kept in big mud ponds.

 

[GBBUDD]

I just added two toned comments and a couple fan tails they are not the smartest fish in the school Every morning I pull them out of sh_ts creek there gunners if I travel for a couple days. In short if you have high flow skimmers negative edge then comments and fan tails would not be my first choice by any means.