Hi All,
I am looking for a little advice as a first time small ponder I wondered if I could draw on some communal wisdom. I have a very small garden that I’m trying to maximise the use of, I have built a few veg patches down the side of my house (sunlight exposure is enhanced with some hydroponic Mylar, hopefully my sudden purchases have not set off drug alarms!). There was a decent gap between the 2 veg patches that was a perfect size for a small above ground preformed pond. I bought one of these as the dimensions fit the gap perfectly:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bermuda-Cove-Formed-Pond-Liner/dp/B003SDCVJO
It’s not huge, but at 840mm length x 640mm width x 300mm depth I think it’s a perfect little educational pond for my 3 year old. When I received it I turned it upside down, built a wooden box around it and filled the gap with concrete so it’s fully secure and supported. Then I turned the now very heavy box over and set it in place. I built a ramp out of stones and wood so the pond is accessible by small wildlife. I also added a solar powered air pump so it will push air through a small porous stone at the bottom of the tank during the day to keep the water oxygenated.
So far I have filled it with tap water, which I then left to de-chlorinate for a few days. After which I slowly added daphnia and some food for them (various particulate ground foods I found recommended on line as I develop some green water outside of the tank) 2 types of pond weed (hornwort and elodea crispa) and a small amount of ramshorn and ‘ordinary’ pond snails with some vegetation at the bottom for them to feed on.
Both the daphnia and the snails appear to be happily going strong, so this is where I am at the moment and I’m assuming the pond is currently on the way to reaching some sort of equilibrium with environmental bacteria and creatures already introduced.
I’ve been trying to gather and put together information online about keeping a pond of this size but I’ve seen a lot of conflicting info. Once this is established the next plan is to add a small amount of fresh water sticklebacks which hopefully the daphnia culture that exists will feed them. Before I add the sticklebacks I will take some daphnia out and breed them separately for a constant supply. I guess when it comes to a pond there’s no single way or approaching things, but I’m left with a few questions:
- Does anything I’ve done so far scream out as a bad thing to do?
- Is it possible that, as long as I add green water a couple of times a week, daphnia will breed alongside the sticklebacks in the same pond without fully depleting allowing them to coexist and constantly feed the sticklebacks?
- Life I’ve added myself once the sticklebacks are in will be; Daphnia, 2 pond weeds, snails and sticklebacks. Is there anything else recommended for me to add or will life now ‘find a way’
- I have a water testing kit that gives a whole range of water values (pH, Nitrate, nitrite, calcium, ammonia, etc) so I can keep an eye on the water quality (I can see there’s a daily cycle so I’d need to test throughout the day). Do you think I can expect bacterial cultures to develop that will control ammonia values, etc or will this need management?
- Would any level of filtration be a good idea? (There's no available mains power though)
Sorry for the life story and all the questions, hopefully this makes sense,
Many thanks.
I am looking for a little advice as a first time small ponder I wondered if I could draw on some communal wisdom. I have a very small garden that I’m trying to maximise the use of, I have built a few veg patches down the side of my house (sunlight exposure is enhanced with some hydroponic Mylar, hopefully my sudden purchases have not set off drug alarms!). There was a decent gap between the 2 veg patches that was a perfect size for a small above ground preformed pond. I bought one of these as the dimensions fit the gap perfectly:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bermuda-Cove-Formed-Pond-Liner/dp/B003SDCVJO
It’s not huge, but at 840mm length x 640mm width x 300mm depth I think it’s a perfect little educational pond for my 3 year old. When I received it I turned it upside down, built a wooden box around it and filled the gap with concrete so it’s fully secure and supported. Then I turned the now very heavy box over and set it in place. I built a ramp out of stones and wood so the pond is accessible by small wildlife. I also added a solar powered air pump so it will push air through a small porous stone at the bottom of the tank during the day to keep the water oxygenated.
So far I have filled it with tap water, which I then left to de-chlorinate for a few days. After which I slowly added daphnia and some food for them (various particulate ground foods I found recommended on line as I develop some green water outside of the tank) 2 types of pond weed (hornwort and elodea crispa) and a small amount of ramshorn and ‘ordinary’ pond snails with some vegetation at the bottom for them to feed on.
Both the daphnia and the snails appear to be happily going strong, so this is where I am at the moment and I’m assuming the pond is currently on the way to reaching some sort of equilibrium with environmental bacteria and creatures already introduced.
I’ve been trying to gather and put together information online about keeping a pond of this size but I’ve seen a lot of conflicting info. Once this is established the next plan is to add a small amount of fresh water sticklebacks which hopefully the daphnia culture that exists will feed them. Before I add the sticklebacks I will take some daphnia out and breed them separately for a constant supply. I guess when it comes to a pond there’s no single way or approaching things, but I’m left with a few questions:
- Does anything I’ve done so far scream out as a bad thing to do?
- Is it possible that, as long as I add green water a couple of times a week, daphnia will breed alongside the sticklebacks in the same pond without fully depleting allowing them to coexist and constantly feed the sticklebacks?
- Life I’ve added myself once the sticklebacks are in will be; Daphnia, 2 pond weeds, snails and sticklebacks. Is there anything else recommended for me to add or will life now ‘find a way’
- I have a water testing kit that gives a whole range of water values (pH, Nitrate, nitrite, calcium, ammonia, etc) so I can keep an eye on the water quality (I can see there’s a daily cycle so I’d need to test throughout the day). Do you think I can expect bacterial cultures to develop that will control ammonia values, etc or will this need management?
- Would any level of filtration be a good idea? (There's no available mains power though)
Sorry for the life story and all the questions, hopefully this makes sense,
Many thanks.
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