Have we been sold a bill of goods by the salesmen of pond products?

[brokensword]

Oh my @Bullfrog that means if you leave Mexico and travel back and forth you run into more possible threats from the ban-dido's. Did your home turn out the way you wanted it and we'd love to see photo's. One of these days we will see you sitting by a nice pond while you enjoy your happy hours w/your lovely wife Gloria. You might need to build a protective gazebo or something to keep out the critters from eating your fish. Something maybe like this:
View attachment 94402

hmm, looks suspiciously familiar...hard to believe it was ever that 'bare'!

 

[j.w]

hmm, looks suspiciously familiar...hard to believe it was ever that 'bare'!

I told you a long time ago I liked that enclosure and asked if I could bring it up when appropriate. What's it look like now @brokensword

 

[Bullfrog]

I agree that a lot of times everyone wants to make ponding unnecessarily difficult and products I've seen sold for ponds just don't seem practical because of it. A technique that works well in 50 gallon indoor aquarium, doesn't always scale up to a 5K gallon garden pond.

Yes, there are so many products that claim to be superior as filter medium for example "Bio Balls" when lava rock or gravel probably works just as well or better.
So, if I am just going to have Goldfish from what people have said so far Goldfish don't really need much as an air pump goes and I should be ok just running the waterfall when we are there to enjoy it. I do want water clarity so I will construct a filter but without a lot of koi poop I don't need to run it constantly and don't have to worry about power outages.
J W, how did you get plants going with no dirt? Plants are another challenge here as we do have plant nurseries but no water plants.

 

[brokensword]

I told you a long time ago I liked that enclosure and asked if I could bring it up when appropriate. What's it look like now @brokensword

heh, I was just surprised is all, j.w.!!! As of today...3 sides and an interior pano...

 

[bagsmom]

I wrote about this on another thread, but my neighbor has a small pond -- 6 x 8 maybe? Probably 2 feet deep max, maybe less. It had a little fountain to move the water and no skimmer. I bought my home in '98 and the pond was there before that. A while back, the current homeowner did a big renovation. They turned off all the power for that and it stayed off to the pond for over a year. I was surprised to see everything looking beautiful. After all those years, I think the pond just has a perfect little biological balance going between fish and plants. No mosquitos. Clear water. Pretty neat!

 

[j.w]

Yes, there are so many products that claim to be superior as filter medium for example "Bio Balls" when lava rock or gravel probably works just as well or better.
So, if I am just going to have Goldfish from what people have said so far Goldfish don't really need much as an air pump goes and I should be ok just running the waterfall when we are there to enjoy it. I do want water clarity so I will construct a filter but without a lot of koi poop I don't need to run it constantly and don't have to worry about power outages.
J W, how did you get plants going with no dirt? Plants are another challenge here as we do have plant nurseries but no water plants.

I have water lilies just weighted down on the plant shelves tied to a rock or tied inside of a lattice type plant pot. My other plants are just stuck in between the rocks so their roots are in water and the reed and sedge type plants are just crammed in a pot so they can't escape. One of these days I expect the plants will get so big they will bust out of the plastic holed pots. Fish poop feeds them all.

The Parrots Feather below is just stuck in between the top edged rocks w/roots in water. It sprawls all over the place.

Same w/the Creeping Jenny and Sedum. They are stuck in between rocks.

No fertilizer in that pond except fish poop.

 

[j.w]

Love it and looks wonderful @brokensword
It has really grown up a lot!

 

[j.w]

Oh forgot @Bullfrog one thing that is in a pot w/kitty litter, unscented 100% clay type is the Water Hawthorne. It won't stay put if I don't keep it in some kind of media w/it's roots buried.

 

[Bullfrog]

I wrote about this on another thread, but my neighbor has a small pond -- 6 x 8 maybe? Probably 2 feet deep max, maybe less. It had a little fountain to move the water and no skimmer. I bought my home in '98 and the pond was there before that. A while back, the current homeowner did a big renovation. They turned off all the power for that and it stayed off to the pond for over a year. I was surprised to see everything looking beautiful. After all those years, I think the pond just has a perfect little biological balance going between fish and plants. No mosquitos. Clear water. Pretty neat!

So in some small cases, we have been sold a bill of goods, Jim Baker was selling "Prayer Kits" to poor old ladies.

Sure, in a large pond with a lot of koi making a lot of waste, the balance of the nitrogen cycle must be correct.

But, on a smaller scale if you simply want Goldfish and a few plants we don't need to go to the bank and take out a loan to have a nice little pond that has a waterfall when we want it and the entire fish population won't die if we lose power for three weeks. There are natural ponds not far from our home and I can scrounge some plants there, they may not be lillies but will add beauty and oxygen.

It will be a challenge in our part of Mexico but it will be worth it.

 

[j.w]

Yep simple is good and you will love it and the sound of the waterfall is wonderful! Gotta go listen to Trump in Arizona now. He was here in our state yesterday about 30 miles away.

 

[sissy]

I am just cheap ,simple as that I guess .Make it simple and you will exceed ,it never happens overnight and patience is the key .If you panic the fish suffer and then you feel guilty .

 

[mgmine]

I guess this goes to what has been talked about recently. A pond is a hole in the ground. It doesn't need testing or charts or anything fancy. It doesn't take someone with a degree in biology to maintain or an engineer to build. Don't over stock it and it will be fine on it's own. Put in 3 or 4 fish and a few plants and let it be. If you don't like algae then put in a UV light. Don't try to make it as clear as a swimming pool and you will eliminate 95% of the work and frustration and disappointment. Do circulate the water to keep it from becoming stagnant and do keep the leaves and other garbage out. If the look is important then place it in the proper location and landscape it.

 

[mgmine]

Yep simple is good and you will love it and the sound of the waterfall is wonderful! Gotta go listen to Trump in Arizona now. He was here in our state yesterday about 30 miles away.

Caught it on Youtube today it was great.