Here we go -- FINALLY! A pond for wildlife...

[GBBUDD]

Or does a gentle flow allow them to survive?

no they need a puddle a dew drop on a blade of grass or on a leaf. any movement and they are done for. not to say in-between a plant along the edge of the pond cant harbor a dead spot

 

[SarahT]

Florida pest control people tell me mosquitoes need a "small capful" of water to breed and that most people don't realize breeding spots are most likely to be the bottom saucer of the flower pot, or a plant where the leaves are tight together (like a lily of the valley, or a pineapple!) that water collects in, or the dreaded clogged gutter or storm sewer. Ponds that have fish which eat the larvae, and attract dragonflies, and frogs/ toads/ salamanders and lizards that eat the live ones. I have very few mosquitoes, even during the rainy season. (SO FAR!)
You might want to go outside at dusk, by the pond and see how many there are. Assuming it's not bad, invite your neighbor to "inspect" over a glass of wine with you. There won't be none, but it may lay her concerns to rest.

 

[bagsmom]

Today's update: I think love is in the air. All seven goldfish are chasing the crap out of each other. It is fairly exciting to watch in this larger pond, since they have the room to get up some serious SPEED! I will be interested to see if I see some babies in the months ahead. With the school of minnows in there, I don't know if eggs would be eaten right away?

 

[bagsmom]

This morning, there is a pile of foam tumbling around at the base of the waterfall. Folks, I think spawning is now confirmed.

 

[bagsmom]

More updates:
I have been working a lot, so I haven't spent as much time outside as I need to. And when I do get out there, I am playing in the back and completely neglecting the front yard. What a jungle it is this year!
For the moment, Mom and Baby Deer are being pretty polite. I hope I didn't jinx that. I have tried to put up my branch barriers and some re-purposed wire fence (from a pallet of rocks) in the areas they were using to access the water lilies. For the moment, everything is growing. I have a few nice hornwort "trees" down in the water. I hope they make a good place for baby fish to hide.
We have had SO MANY giant rainstorms, the pond is very, very full. Probably an inch and a half over ideal water level. This is the point at which my overflow functions. The only downside to that is that the draw into the intake bay is less powerful. It still works, but it isn't as efficient. With the excessive rain, the overflow was creating a squishy area, so I dug a skinny little ditch to direct that water farther back. Everything everywhere is WET all over the neighborhood. (I just know the excess mosquitoes from that will continue to be a point of debate. They are NOT coming from the pond. I keep checking and I am honestly amazed by that.)
I have been using the recycled rocks from our collapsed and rebuilt wall to contain the berm around the pond. I am liking how it looks!
I have to finish that so I can use up that rock pile. Once the rocks are gone, there will be room for the rock place to deliver more egg rock and some flat stepping stones. After the delivery, I can continue my drainage ditch project. (I don't want the delivery bobcat to drive over my work.) It is all an exercise in planning!
So, for the time being, things are growing and progress continues - slowly.
OH! We had an owl visit! That was super cool! I have to take some pictures now - then I will post them.

 

[bagsmom]

Random pictures from this morning. It still definitely looks like a new pond, but I can start to see what it might look like next year!

 

[combatwombat]

Looking better with every set of pictures. Love the forked stump you have in the bog.

Our local vector control says mosquito count this year is 10x the average due to all the rain from La Niña. An we've noticed! There's a species of mosquito that lay eggs in dry floodplains. The eggs can remain viable for a decade or more, I guess, and once the area floods, they hatch en masse. Good news is that species doesn't bite (so they say) and doesn't carry disease.

 

[GBBUDD]

from most minnows, I would say no, they won't eat the fry or eggs.

They are NOT coming from the pond. I keep checking and I am honestly amazed by that.)

Odds are you are probably breading less than if your backyard was all lawn. The minnows will take care of any blood suckers

 

[bagsmom]

from most minnows, I would say no, they won't eat the fry or eggs.
Odds are you are probably breading less than if your backyard was all lawn. The minnows will take care of any blood suckers

Those little minnows are extremely fun to watch! I am enjoying them! They are very active and busy, busy, busy!

 

[GBBUDD]

i put in a couple hundred neons . they are boring they go down the bottom and come up now and then . the glow danios are very cool night or day you can see them clearly and at their size it's not too much. Even with the colors that they are it's perfect can see them from across the pond playing darting around

 

[YShahar]

Oh my! It's looking fantastic! I'm enjoying all the photos and getting inspired to go out and do more work on the yard. At the moment, it still looks like a construction zone, what with piles of unused rocks and underlayment all over the place. I keep telling myself I'll get it all cleaned up once the weather starts to cool... In November, say.

I know what you mean about the minnows being fun. I added 10 gambusia (mosquitofish) at the very beginning and there are probably now a couple of hundred of them in there. When I feed the larger fish, the gambusias will try to grab the pellets before the goldfish even know it's there. One of them will take a pellet and run with it, dodging all the other gambusias in an attempt to get the pellet away. They even jump many times their length out of the water and over water lilies. Tiny fish quarterbacks! Since the gambusias are tiny and nearly invisible, from a distance it looks like the little white pellets are speeding around the pond and jumping through the air all on their own power. Meanwhile, the goldfish are left swimming around with their mouths open - "Duh, which way did it go? Which way did it go?"

Keep the photos coming!

 

[bagsmom]

Here is another minnow update. This may end up being a minnow pond instead of a goldfish pond - with all the minnow romance going on. The other day, I noticed two minnows next to a rock that was forming a sort of mini-cave. There was a LOT of shimmying and shaking and flashing happening. They would go under the rock, come back out, and dance again. I thought to myself "this has got to be some sort of spawning situation." A day later, I noticed the water had some foam again. I didn't see quite as many adult minnows as I normally did, but everywhere I look are tiny minnow babies. Some are small. Some are teeny. Some are EENSY TEENSY! I got online and did a little reading. Apparently, the male rosy red minnow is a very protective Dad. He does an elaborate courtship dance to entice the female to lay her eggs in his prepared nursery. He then stays out of sight, guarding the eggs and the very young fry. Based on everything I am seeing, I think I am about to have a minnow population explosion! It seems like a few rounds of reproduction have happened already and more fry might be on the way! The goldfish need to get their groove on to keep up! (Actually, there was a ton of chasing that went on last week or so. The goldfish babies are harder to spot, because they are so well-camouflaged.)

 

[GBBUDD]

I love these danios . I doubt they survive the winter here I will make an attempt to over winter as many as I can catch in the house I'm sure there will be a few that l miss and will see if the make it till spring

 

[rubyduby]

Here is another minnow update. This may end up being a minnow pond instead of a goldfish pond - with all the minnow romance going on. The other day, I noticed two minnows next to a rock that was forming a sort of mini-cave. There was a LOT of shimmying and shaking and flashing happening. They would go under the rock, come back out, and dance again. I thought to myself "this has got to be some sort of spawning situation." A day later, I noticed the water had some foam again. I didn't see quite as many adult minnows as I normally did, but everywhere I look are tiny minnow babies. Some are small. Some are teeny. Some are EENSY TEENSY! I got online and did a little reading. Apparently, the male rosy red minnow is a very protective Dad. He does an elaborate courtship dance to entice the female to lay her eggs in his prepared nursery. He then stays out of sight, guarding the eggs and the very young fry. Based on everything I am seeing, I think I am about to have a minnow population explosion! It seems like a few rounds of reproduction have happened already and more fry might be on the way! The goldfish need to get their groove on to keep up! (Actually, there was a ton of chasing that went on last week or so. The goldfish babies are harder to spot, because they are so well-camouflaged.)

How fun bagsmom! I LOVE watching every little thing in my pond and if I did it over again I would have put minnows in and designed it more for wildlife (I have shelves but no shallow end for wading wildlife)

 

[SarahT]

How fun bagsmom! I LOVE watching every little thing in my pond and if I did it over again I would have put minnows in and designed it more for wildlife (I have shelves but no shallow end for wading wildlife)

Doncha mean WHEN you do it over again?