Ponds in Canada

[callingcolleen1]

Ya I would need to win lottery to get away from work and house.

On a sad note, the little children right next door that have watched me and my ponds since they were babies, are moving to new house. I sure am going to miss them!

 

[sissy]

now you need nice weather all year round colleen so you can enjoy your new pond

 

[MitchM]

Your new pond and the two others are just wonderful looking Colleen and would sure love to be there visiting by them w/you and all our good friends here.

If we come we will have to stop by Mitch's just so he has to clean his house

Really it would be so fun to do a pond trip across the U.S and Canada.
Actually it would be fun to travel the whole world to see all the members!
I need more money!

If you do that, jw, we'll be barbecuing and entertaining on the outside deck that day.

.

 

[j.w]

Love them BBQ's and the great outdoors @MitchM

How sad for you Colleen. Are those the kids you just posted pix of playing w/Rio by the pond? Maybe they won't be moving to far away and they can still come and visit sometime. They will miss you too

 

[Lisak1]

Wow! You work like a whirlwind! And what a great job! Now relax - you've earned it!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Thanks everybody! I worked hard and never tool too many breaks. Once I get going then I go like a mad hatter! Ha ha ha!

Yes JW those are the sweet kids that come visit almost every day now that the weather is nice . They used to sneak in when they were little children. I am sure going to miss them!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Off Monday and the weather should go back to hot thank goodness! Really cloudy and chilly all day.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Today I took a few pictures. The water is back to crystal clear now, the color effect from the liquid pond peat did not last long, too many big fliters, but it is very good for the pond and I likE it. Pond peat is a natural fungicide and will help prevent infection should any of the fish get injured during the move. The fancy long tailed koi can injure very easy with long delicate tails and fins.

I have a confession to make.... during the move somebody lost a white shiny fin. It must have got caught in the net somehow. Hubby discovered the lost fin, when he was looking into the water in my new pond. Something white and shinny caught his eye, half way down the new pond and of course it showed up really well against the new black liner. I was horrified as was hubby. I just felt really bad and hubby was devastated. I bring all these pets home over the years and he feeds them faithfully. I an trying to figure out who lost a fin but can't tell. Think it was one of the long tailed white koi but so far they appear fine.

I never attempted to move the two really big koi, maybe they can stay where they are, as they are really old, like 24 years old.

 

[addy1]

How much does it lower the ph by? According to what I read it does lower the ph of the water. Our pond water sits around 7.8 or so ph, with our acidic well water I would not want to lower it too much. No easy way to buffer it back up.

 

[sissy]

I picked my koi up in my hands and it was easy with aggie and bert because they like belly rubs so they just swam into my hands .Addie it lowered my ph a little from 8 to 7 but for only 8 hours and then it went right back up to 8 .I kept testing water every 2 hours and was told if I added peat to the pond to test every 4 hours but I was worried .I actually think the fish loved the peat just like koi clay it really helps there slime coat and does not irritate like salt does .I asked ponddigger about it first .

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have been using the concentrated pond peat for many many years, since my very first pond. Not sure about pH cause I never thought to check my pH. I never check nothing, I can just tell if something is off by the way the water looks. To tell you the truth I have not checked pH or nothing in at least 20 some years. All I can tell you is that last year when that one goldfish had a bad injury, and it turned into fungus, I thought for sure that fish was a goner. The poor goldfish was laying in the warm marsh gasping for air. I dumped the whole bottle in the bottom pond and it circulated through out the three connecting ponds. That fish slowly recovered and it truly was amazing.

If my fish were sick or scratching or something I would probably go get a test kit and test water. But really my fish are all fine and never seem to be sick With the exception of that injured goldfish last year. My two big 24 year old koi never been sick. I can't remember the last time I found any dead gold fish.

Sissy I think I will just leave the two biggest koi in the same pond cause really they are old and I don't want to stress them out. Plus I don't think I could lift them out with my hands, the orange koi is fully awake now from winter and back to swimming very fast. That big koi would jump right out of my hands I am sure of that. She is really very big and at least 15 or 20 pounds for sure. Rio is ten pounds and very small compared to her. The pictures are deceiving and do not show how large her girth really is. Rio's girth is tiny compared to That big orange koi. If I could measure that koi's girth it would be over ten inches for sure.

 

[callingcolleen1]

And I have never used salt in my ponds ever. I think our water has enough salt from river natually. The land around Medicine Hat is salty as Salt Lake City (sea basin) once extended up to here millions of years back when everything here was a sea. You can still see large salty ponds on the Prairie and up the 41 highway there is lots of land that is white from salty pools of water. Water runs off the salty prairie and into the South Saskatchewan river here in town. We have lots of bad lands and dinosaur fossils and stuff. The PH of our water is very high as well. Takes lots of soap to get any suds around here. .

 

[addy1]

Ok so where do you get it? the pond peat, liquid or pellets? One of the new fish has a rub mark on it, so I want to do some preventive, don't really want to add salt.

fish loved the peat just like koi clay

 

[callingcolleen1]

I get mine from Laguna. I use the concentrate bottle cause it is more effective. I swear pond peat is just really good for whole pond too.

 

[addy1]

Thanks I am ordering some. I see it drops the ph and hardness. I will need to keep a watch on both, my water is soft naturally, ph is low. But it does not look like it drops it a lot.