pond in full sun
- Thread starter stroppy
- Start date
oldmarine
Married 32 years
Despite the fact that I am a rather new guy to out door ponds, I seem to have found the right balance in my 365 gallon pond. I have a home made filter sytem that so far works quite well. I only have to change and wash the filter once a week. I also installed a UV clearifier rated up to 1500 gallons. Three different types of potted lillies. I have one pink lilliy plant about six years old, and the two other are newly potted last month. On the shallow shelves I have several horse tail rush, one cat tail, and one cork screw something or another (that is growing well and fast).
I have seven Shubunkin's, three that are about five years old and the rest have been introduced to my pond this spring.
A month ago I introduced twenty five trap door live bearing snails that I believe to be the an extreme end to the overall algee problem that I had a month ago. Like Dr. Dave said, early spring is when we will have most of the string algee. With all of the living criters and plants in my pond, (at this point), my string algee is down to a minimum, the water is clystal clear and the fish seem to healthier than when I had them in a sixty gallon tub for a couple of years.
I have seven Shubunkin's, three that are about five years old and the rest have been introduced to my pond this spring.
A month ago I introduced twenty five trap door live bearing snails that I believe to be the an extreme end to the overall algee problem that I had a month ago. Like Dr. Dave said, early spring is when we will have most of the string algee. With all of the living criters and plants in my pond, (at this point), my string algee is down to a minimum, the water is clystal clear and the fish seem to healthier than when I had them in a sixty gallon tub for a couple of years.
stroppy
stroppy
thank you oldmarine .. you have helped me deside to go for the the trapdoors ... mind you still looking for somewhere here in the uk that i can buy them from ... silly question maybe but does anyone know how long goldfish live for ? we have 1 that must be about 11 years old
sounds like you have a nice pond there oldmarine :icon_smile:
sounds like you have a nice pond there oldmarine :icon_smile:
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
trapadors or any snails really are hard to see on a black liner even on my clean black basement pond liner you gotta look for em'... pile on some blanket weed, string algea or a algea bloom... forget about it!!
oldmarine
Married 32 years
You can get trap door snails from "tricker.com".
stroppy
stroppy
thank you oldmarine ..... but wouldnt they be dead by the time they get here from the states ?
So, if I understand right, if I put snails in my pond, they will help keep the algae from growing in thick layers on my rocks in my pond. Do I have to worry about them overtaking the pond? Also, I live in Wisconsin, so do they die in the winter? Sorry about all the questions, I too am fairly new at this.
oldmarine
Married 32 years
I would imagine the snails wouldn't be alive by the time they arived in the UK. Sorry, what was I thinking. It takes a little to much time to cross the BIG pond. Hopefully you can find a Euopean source for the trap door snails. It's my understanding that they originated in Japan.
The Japanese live bearing / trap door snails will not do all of your algee clean up, but they will be quite healthy with all the algee food source. My snails are active and I haven't lost any due to a lack of food source.
I hope you aren't looking to have a algee free pond, it won't happen. Look in most any lake or natural pond in your area. There will be some sort of algee growth.
The Japanese live bearing / trap door snails will not do all of your algee clean up, but they will be quite healthy with all the algee food source. My snails are active and I haven't lost any due to a lack of food source.
I hope you aren't looking to have a algee free pond, it won't happen. Look in most any lake or natural pond in your area. There will be some sort of algee growth.
oldmarine
Married 32 years
Just as a add on. I have observed my Shubunkins graising on the algee in my pond. The trap door snails that I have leave a slightly cleared trail as they move and graise around the walls and floor of my pond. At this point in the season, the algee in my pond seems to be in check. I believe it is a combination of three things working together. The Fish graising and nibbling on the algee, the snails eating the algee, and the UV clarifier installed inline with my water filter. Before I installed the UV clarifier, the algee blume seemed to be getting out of control. Also, regardless of how many times I changed and cleaned my filter, The water was so murky that I couldn't see the bottom. Now the water is crystal clear.
stroppy
stroppy
i shall keep looking here in the uk ...im sure your right ..its about getting all things working together ... i dont mind the green on the sides of pond at all its just the build up of green sludge stuff on the ledges ... think mainly cause theres not much water movement in that side of pond ...im going to try put a waterfall in
will the uv clarifier help get rid of blanket weed or just take care of green water?
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
u.vs wont do anything for string or blanket algeas.
stroppy said:
I have a pump strategically placed to cause circulation. It removes dead spots. This is especially important if you have rocks that are not easily removed as they trap debries.
My dead spot is due to the shape of my pond and this pump moves enough water to keep it clean. The Koi love to hang out there and challenge the current.
stroppy
stroppy
ive put another air stone in the slow moving area for now untill i get this little stream built its moving the water a little ... so hoping that will help