Hey there!

[RidleyQ]

I've lurked on this forum for a couple of years now and figured I should sign up! Thanks, by the way, for sharing all the advice and amazing inspiration.

I currently have two formal style fish ponds built in the "dark times". The first had started a year or two prior but desperately needed to be upgraded. As soon as that one was complete, I just NEEDED to have one on the back side of the house as well. I'm a big fan of bog filters, though mine may be much more rudimentary then some I've learned about here. Plumbing is one of those things I've grasped the basics of but follow the KISS method to not trip myself up.

My ponds are both around 400 gallons (super rough estimate) stocked with shubunkin and rosy red minnows.

I'm currently in the planning and design stage for a wildlife pond, no fish. If anyone has any good tips, tricks, or advice I'd love to hear it. My most pressing question is how to keep the plant life fertilized without fish or too much interruption from me.

I'm open to suggestion to improve my current set ups if anyone feels like critiquing!

 

[JRS]

Welcome to the forum RidleyQ. Looks like you have a couple of nice ponds. I would not worry too much about fertilizing a wildlife pond. Waste from the creatures and birds should do a fair job, if not you could use fertilizer supplements.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

Happy you joined!

 

[j.w]

@RidleyQ
Nice looking ponds!

 

[Laaf]

Lovely ponds. KISS is my motto too. I would at least add minnows to your wildlife ponds to be sure something is eating mosquito larvae. Well, I would make it bigger so I could add shubunkins too.

 

[GBBUDD]

Not a kiss kinda guy i have never learned to do things small or travel light. just not me. But i would look at OZ pond on youtube

 

[RidleyQ]

Lovely ponds. KISS is my motto too. I would at least add minnows to your wildlife ponds to be sure something is eating mosquito larvae. Well, I would make it bigger so I could add shubunkins too.

I think I know where you're going with this...

 

[RidleyQ]

Not a kiss kinda guy i have never learned to do things small or travel light. just not me. But i would look at OZ pond on youtube

Kev is my fave! But when it comes to the higher levels of plumbing, to quote him "it hurts my tiny brain"

 

[GBBUDD]

plumbing is easy just post your questions BEFORE you glue anything together and every supply a return line should get some form of a valve to regulate how much flow is allowed. especially when you have more than on e pipe to each