Hello from Shenandoah Valley :)

[sissy]

always better to picture it before you buld it .It all depends on how you want the water in and how you want it to go out .I know my neighbors goes in the top and comes out 4 inches from the bottom ,I know I built it it was easier on hers to hide the top than the bottom .

 

[humbirdlover]

That sounds good, just would rather have the outlet down farther, but wasn't sure if that was possible. I have a question. Last evening I was reading thru some threads and someone had posted a list of plants, with pics and info on them. I can't find it anywhere..Plus is there a way to post to a member so they would be sure to see it?

 

[sissy]

yes pm them click on there avatar and you can private message them and to find a list of plants for the pond .I know it was on here in the aquatic plant section and it was last spring and last year usually someone brings it up once .But a lot of the plants you plant in the ground can go into the pond if they are for wet conditions and most plant them in kitty litter ,wash all the dirt off the roots

 

[j.w]

Neat you found a place pretty close to you h-bird. I remember that list and wonder if it was addy that posted the plant list?

 

[humbirdlover]

I was surprised to find it not only close to me, but she still had a good selection. I restrained myself and only bought a few, but once I get my shelf organized, I can add some more. I'll see, I think it was addy, but can't find it. Is duckweed a good thing? Her plants had that in them, and now in my pond, LOL I also saw a really pretty dark burgundy leafed elephant ear, that I think would look great in a pot in the shady corner. I know in our zone, I would have to bring it in for the winder, but it was sooo pretty!

 

[j.w]

Duckweed never lasts long in my pond cuz my fishy pigs gobble it all up faster than it can grow. I have a tub that I grow some in w/ no fish in there and I dole it out once in awhile to the piggies :razz:
Yep you can bring the Taro (elephant ear) in and grow it in the house all winter or let it die back and just store the tuber in a cool place like a garage or basement in some straw or newspaper in a box.........can't remember exactly how ya do it but it can be done.
I had some and I just grew it in the house and it got kinda spindly but once it went outside in the Spring it grew back nicely.

 

[humbirdlover]

I didn't notice them eating what floated out of the pots, but maybe they just didn't know what it was, LOL Might wait til Spring and get one of the Taros then, we always consider Labor Day week end the end of Summer around here BTW, are you in Arlington, Washington State or the Arlington/Washington area? Still haven't taken any pics yet, things are kinda torn up out there now, was moving rocks, but will get some soon

 

[addy1]

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/7417-over-wintering-pond-plants-some-of-the-common-ones/

here you go humbirdlover

The taro, I just let the leaves die, dug them up, cut off the roots, let them dry outside for a week or so (was not freezing weather) then put them in the basement in some saw dust type material. Once it warmed stuck them outside back in the pond, bog and a pot

I just picked up some bog bean this year, hoping it handles winter well, it should rated at a lower zone than we are.

 

[j.w]

I live in Washington state...........city of Arlington.............Pacific N.W where it rains, rains, and rains but lately nice and warm and sunny!
Once they figure out how yummy that duck weed is there will be no stopping them. They will pork out on it big time.

 

[CountryEscape]

Welcome HBL! If you have pics of what your old filter looked like, what your pond looks like, and the area around it, you would be surprised how many will jump in here and give you suggestions or ideas, or what they have done with that same type of pond! Pictures help in many ways. Even if you don't like what you have, someone might have a suggestion as to how to "fix" it that would be far easier than starting from scratch! I even had a basement pond for the winter, in a kiddie pool, talk about hillbilly looking, but the filter on the top of the pool, on a box, worked perfectly so I didn't have to worry if the water would drain over the edge and not back into the pond. Babies that I grew out in there enjoyed getting into their new "digs" this spring, too! Good luck!!!

 

[humbirdlover]

I live in Washington state...........city of Arlington.............Pacific N.W where it rains, rains, and rains but lately nice and warm and sunny!
Once they figure out how yummy that duck weed is there will be no stopping them. They will pork out on it big time.

Oh OK, reason I ask, is Arlington, Va would be not too awful far from me, and I have a really good e-buddy that lives in Lynnwood, Washington...Oh you were right, they do like the duckweed, LOL I dole it out to them in small ammounts

 

[j.w]

Oh yep Lynnwood, we used to live there also and it's about 35 - 40 miles south of us. I can find duck weed around the wild ponds and ditches out here but now that I have it in a container pond away from my fish I too can just throw some into them now and then for a treat. I found some Azolla (think it's also called Fairy Moss) also in a wild pond near one of our bike trails here. That stuff is pretty neat looking and I put some in w/ the duck weed and it seems to be taking over. I found that the duck weed and Azolla will survive here over winter if I put some good organic gunky soil in the bottom of the container. The plants thrive in there now. I think the fish will eat the Azolla also cuz it seems to disappear when put in the big pond also.

 

[humbirdlover]

Welcome HBL! If you have pics of what your old filter looked like, what your pond looks like, and the area around it, you would be surprised how many will jump in here and give you suggestions or ideas, or what they have done with that same type of pond! Pictures help in many ways. Even if you don't like what you have, someone might have a suggestion as to how to "fix" it that would be far easier than starting from scratch! I even had a basement pond for the winter, in a kiddie pool, talk about hillbilly looking, but the filter on the top of the pool, on a box, worked perfectly so I didn't have to worry if the water would drain over the edge and not back into the pond. Babies that I grew out in there enjoyed getting into their new "digs" this spring, too! Good luck!!!

I hope it's ok to hit "quote" that's the way to respond directly back to the person? Anyway, I totally dismantled the bio filter that I built last year. It was in a big black container like J.W.'s, and I only have a 450 gallon pond. That wasn't the main reason I took it out, tho. There was no way to hid that big thing, and the outlet was way up on the tub, and no way to make the big black hose look "natural". I even built a trough type thing out of old weathered boards, to lay the hose in, and it was still ugly, LOL. Plus I found out later that one major flaw was I didn't have that part on it that would stop the water from draining back into my pond, when the pump was turned off. I have a pre-filter on my pump that needs to be cleaned quite often, and I have to turn the pump off to do that. So a couple weeks ago I ordered a bio/UV filter from a company, that was another mistake. It was so small and cheap, no way those little foam pads would have done anything good, and the uv bulb wasn't working. It got sent back to the compnay, so now I have nothing as far as a bio filter, just the prefilter to the pump. And yes, I do need to get some pics posted Sorry to write a novel,

 

[CountryEscape]

Write a novel? I feel very guilty of doing that, so I will try to keep this short! The pre-filter gets clogged fast as it is the only thing keeping gunk from going through your pump. If your pump is small, or more important, if the line from your pump is small, then it cannot handle much gunk. Move it off of the bottom of your pond, if possible. That way it will still gather stuff that is free floating, and send it through your filter. Try this: Get a piece of floating insulation board. Put a small container on top of it, run your line into the small container (which should have holes in it to drain the water back into the pond) and put quilt batting in the container. That way you will have a much better filtration system temporarily and won't have to clean your pre-filter as often. I hate having to pull my pump. In fact, besides swishing the stuff off of my pumps when I'm in the ponds grooming the lilies, I have not pulled them since spring, unless I had to change the line or something. I have them on a milk crate. Not sure if that would make your pump too shallow, though. Even putting it on a flat rock would keep it off of the bottom. And, the filter system I described is very basic, but will do a load of good. Get a roll of the quilt batting, maybe $5 or so worth, and have a double or triple layer for the water to run through, and have a second pad ready when the first one is filled with gunk and not going through it any longer, you can swap them out. Then, as Sissy has told all of us to do, rinse out the first set, hang it out to dry (which will help kill any algae) and if you put it in a bucket of water with some peroxide in it, that will also help kill any algae cells. Then keep swapping them out with the one being used. Good luck!

 

[sissy]

well back from hillsville and crowded as always and was eating at my fav. place there with lots of other people and all us talking a mile a minute and really nice man walks over and sits down to join in and find he lives in Tennessee and he owns 2 farms 1 cattle 47 acres and 1 horse 22 acres and was showing us all pics on his cell and amazing there were people from PA ,NY ,NJ,Ohio,West Virginia ,NC and SC and we were all swapping funny stories and showing pics and before I knew it 2 hours had passed.How great it was and the e-mails started flying .I will have to upload all the pics but think I took over 200 .Yep that is the best way to clean a pond and funny how many had small fish ponds also .I was sharing secrets and showing them pics on my camera .Started to rain on my way home but still managed to find bargains there .