I made a terrible pond . . . fixes?

[HARO]

Sam did you seal your concrete with anything?

Good point, Travis. If not, the lime is going to play hob with any live organism in the water. I'd also like to point out that snails eat algae and scavenge leftover food as well as dead fish, but to the best of my knowledge none of them eat poo! On the contrary, they will add their own to the pond.John

 

[Sam]

Yes, the pond was sealed with something clear.

 

[Sam]

If a bog biofilter is insufficient for the waste of some kind of hardy fish w or w/o snails. Then I may have options for locating an offsite filter.

In the picture showing the rock fountain, there is a hole behind it into the garage for the fountain pump cord, which is plugged in the garage. I assume I could run some water tubing in and out of that too, to circulate water through a physical filter located in the garage.

In the picture from the other side, you can see some pavers to the front door with rocks between. Those continue beyond the gate out front. It would be possible to hide the lines in the cracks between the pavers and place a hidden filter in the front yard or side yard. There is a drain for a downspout we use in the front yard for pumping out the pond.

 

[Ermasdaughter]

Aesthetically it's a lovely design! I'd agree with Shdwdrgn. You could make a gorgeous bog garden and there's lots plants to choose from. Aquatic Aroids are my current favorites but there are so many! And if you have your heart set on fish perhaps some guppies? Don't beat yourself up though... it's really not that bad!!!

 

[Waterbug]

I kept a shallow pond in San Jose with mosquito fish provided free by the city, including delivery.

A classic plant for modern design is Horsetail Rush if you wanted to add plants.

 

[sissy]

I have to say it is interesting and I notice what looks like furniture in the back ground is that made of concrete

 

[Sam]

Thanks Waterbug. What a great set of ponds! Re: the shallow one specifically, on the plan it is the one not near the group which I assume feeds through the filter "A." Does it have it's own filtration system?

Sissy: Those pieces of furniture, though very rectilinear, are made of outdoor wicker. I found them at an Indonesian/low end modern, kind of place. I had never seen them before nor since.

My pond is still dry and the rocks are still out. But I've been socking away your comments until I get a chance to really look into the bog idea.

 

[adavisus]

For easier maintenance, tossing copper coins in will make the water unsuitable for algae and mosquito


Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[taherrmann4]

Andy,
What effect does the copper have on your fish?

 

[Waterbug]

Sam, the small pond 'L' wasn't connected to any other pond or filter. The small pond did have a mechanical filter for a short time as an experiment, but mostly no filter or pump.

 

[adavisus]

Sam's objective for her shallow concrete ornamental pond was 'it was intended to hold rocks, water and a water fall'

The algae and mosquito were an unintended consequence and nuisance to the objective.

Adding copper coins will eliminate that. Probably, the easiest, most effective (and cheapest, lol) change in maintenance...

For my fish, up to 1ppm copper is beneficial and normal for a pond as copper is an essential mineral for most organisms. At 2ppm algae is going to die, some aquatic plants and fish will be not too happy.

Well over 2ppm and you won't be worrying about algae or mosquito ever again


Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[fishin4cars]

I'm a little lost here. Andy, Have you gotten more information than what is going on here? and BTW, most new pennies don't have enough copper to really do much good and using pennies is not really a good idea if your keeping fish as you really can't contol the ppm to a safe level by simple breaking dwn of the coins, more acidic the water the faster the copper breaks down. Sam, are you wanting fish and wildlife or just water? There's several options to this pond, yes copper will keep algae or at least most algaes completely out of the system, 2ppm of copper and no invertabrates will survive, such as snails. I'm not sure about the mosquito fish, IMO, if they were there, good they were removed, if considering, I wouldn't, far better choices to choose from. If just water and no life, a simple swimming pool 3" tablet of chlorine and the water will stay clear but no life will survive at all, Or there is the blue addative that countrols algae and makes the water real blue and fish safe. I forgot who used it on there pond for a start up but in this case, it would be so shallow that the blue water could actually add to the effect.
Sam what are you wanting the area to do? a pond with or without life?

 

[adavisus]

I can't see Sam mentioning about wanting any fish or plants in the original query, to make her pond easier to maintain, to stop the nuisance of algae and mosquito. Plants and fish added won't be easier to maintain in a shallow pond

Pennies from 1962–1982 were 95% copper, that might work. Pennies since 1982 have pure copper plating, so, that to would add a measurable dose of copper to a small pond. Just count how many coins it takes, to eliminate the algae...

Just for jollies, estimating a pond of 12.5 cu ft, a one ppm dose of copper would be the equivalent of .35 cu cm copper, it might take all of six bucks of modern copper plated pennies to tilt the balance against algae, assuming 0.58125 cu mm copper per coin, lol.


Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.co...s/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[fishin4cars]

I read through the original posts and as stated easier maintance, but not sure if Sam wants or does not want living additions in that feature. Correct on the date pennies, those will work best.

 

[Waterbug]

Copper will do anything...just search the web. It will fool breathalyzers, cure bee stings, calm a mare, cure arthritis, kill trees...it's endless and more are added everyday. The internet is not exactly a bastion of science.

A chemical like copper sulfate does kill algae. It's made by dissolving copper "pennies" in acid to be made water soluble, allowing for a lot of copper ions that can mess up life forms. Copper pennies and copper sulfate are not the same thing. Putting pennies into a pond has no effect on algae.

Copper plate and solid copper would release exactly the same amount of copper until the copper plate were gone because the reaction is only at the surface thing. So the year of mint wouldn't matter unless you're putting them into acid.

What makes copper so useful in water pipes is it quickly forms a oxide layer that protects the remaining copper. Like painting the pennies.

Ever see copper dissolve in water? It does, just takes decades. And the high pH of most ponds means copper pennies would be even more stable. Very easy to test for yourself, put a penny into your pond. Check it in a week, a month, a year, the day you retire. Have your grand kids check it. It will have basically the same amount of copper years later as the day you put it into the pond. Ever dig up a penny in the yard? Been in the ground for decades, probably a much lower pH, more O2, and you can still read the date. The copper was protected.

To produce the copper ions needed to kill stuff the copper would have to dissolve. No change = none dissolved = no copper ions = no effect on algae.