The pond dig has begun!

[sissy]

Funny the only place my pond heave is where I didn't put gravel around the outside of the pond and I didn't do it there because I new I had to redo the waterfall .I put gravel around the rest so the grass would not grow up to the pond .But last year was a bad winter here and to be honest the first year the winter was really mild and got a little but as soon as spring came around it went right back to where it was .It took 4 years before I finally redid the waterfall and filter and then still had to build another waterfall and filter set up on the other side

 

[koiguy1969]

i have about 30% or so coverage...gin clear water, and no algea to speak of ... full sun all day!

 

[j.w]

A lot prolly has to do w/ the kinds of plants you have. Some must consume more nutrients than others so one could have less plants. I think the tropical's suck up more than the ones that are natural here in our area so I need more plants maybe?

 

[addy1]

i have about 30% or so coverage...gin clear water, and no algea to speak of ... full sun all day!

I went and did an eye ball look mine is about that also koiguy, 30%, lilies and along one edge 4 leaf clover, snowflake lilies, taro, the other edge (maybe 4 inches out) is penny wort and water primrose, so a real combination of stuff. I have full day sun also, The only shade they get is when the sun gets far west.

A lot prolly has to do w/ the kinds of plants you have. Some must consume more nutrients than others so one could have less plants. I think the tropical's suck up more than the ones that are natural here in our area so I need more plants maybe?

I put in hardies except for the taros, jw, did not want to fight trying to keep them alive. But we have had one warm summer too, all has grow gangbusters.

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, so no answers for me and my algae, only that I need to be patient, and maybe wait until next year and hope that it is better. I did let my pond "go green" this first year, as was recommended by a friend, so maybe I let it get too far out there before I reeled it back in. Next year it will be different. I have the UV light that I can hook up at any time. BTW, I unplugged the UV about 2 weeks ago! I wonder if I should plug it back in .... no green water, though, and I think UV mainly works on stuff that goes through the line, and the algae is not going through the line, so will leave it off unless someone thinks it would help with the stuff in the water column that is tending to keep water from being crystal clear.
Oh, and I went outside earlier and this is what I found - Darn this open prairie and the winds today!!!

Ten bags of pea gravel later, and all is well again. I had bought the pea gravel when expanded the bog .... just never got it put in there, so I was tempting trouble!

Found my Surprise Lilies bloomed this morning!

Found another good use for the primrose .... however, note to self: NEVER put so much in that it blocks the waterfall weir! Good thing I noticed it before I drained my pond, as it was blocking the opening shortly after I put it in here, and water was running out! I watch it closely now.

 

[addy1]

Love those surprise lilies! they are beautiful. My primrose does not even look that nice and no blooms yet, but it is growing, that is what counts.

I have my taros and the thalia well anchored the wind can surely tip them over.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, Addy, if it makes you feel better, that primrose is fresh from the farm pond. LOL What I have in the pond for a while, is very flat to the water, very few blooms. What Sheetmetal posted a week or so after he got it from me it looked fantastic, and yet what I added to my pond the same day he was here, looked sad. So .... I can keep swapping it out for fresh.
Yes, the Thalia is VERY top heavy, and I knew it was going to topple, just kept moving gravel and large rocks around it, but that was not enough. Now pea gravel is stacked all around it, PLUS large rocks on top of that. Hopefully that will be enough.

 

[j.w]

Country sorry about no answer yet on your algae problem. Did you say you had crushed oyster shell in your pond and kitty litter? Cuz I have both in my pond and no problem w/ the algae. Glad you got your Thalia fixed upright again. I will prolly have to fix mine w/ rocks on top also as we can get high winds now and then that could knock things over in pots w/ tall plants. My primrose that was tall that I sent you didn't get flowers on it for a few yrs when I first put it in my pond. The ones you sent me are laying somewhat flat but noticed they are starting to grow upward some more each day. No flowers yet but will be pretty if they do. I like them just the way they are too flowing across the top of the water going every which way.

 

[addy1]

Country sorry about no answer yet on your algae problem. Did you say you had crushed oyster shell in your pond and kitty litter? Cuz I have both in my pond and no problem w/ the algae. Glad you got your Thalia fixed upright again. I will prolly have to fix mine w/ rocks on top also as we can get high winds now and then that could knock things over in pots w/ tall plants. My primrose that was tall that I sent you didn't get flowers on it for a few yrs when I first put it in my pond. The ones you sent me are laying somewhat flat but noticed they are starting to grow upward some more each day. No flowers yet but will be pretty if they do. I like them just the way they are too flowing across the top of the water going every which way.

you know jw, I have oyster shells and kitty litter in my pond, lots of it, that might help, who knows.

 

[j.w]

How about Koiguy does he have both too? or even just one of those items? Anybody else?

 

[koiguy1969]

no soil, or clay what so ever in my pond...lillies, iris, watercress and hiacynths are the only plants and they are all barerooted...iris' are barerooted in milkcrates with one large stone to keep them weighted...lillies are in peagravel & river rock, i washed the roots clean of any clay or soil before repotting. hiacyths and watercress in protective floating rings. oyster shells are in the filter in "good water flow". but they dont do much, if anything, for alge..they are for ph buffering.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, darn. Yes, I have 2 bags of oyster shells inside my filter, at the top of the filtration system, plus I made up 2 more bags and laid them in the waterfall area, so lots of water is flowing through/over them. I also have a bag of oyster shells in the bottom of my skimmer, under the filter basket, before it goes through the filter to the bog. So, that's not helping. I put another shot of the Pond Perfect in today, and will do that every weekend and see if things straighten up. I just realized that my pond WAS clearer than it is now, so there is stuff in the water column again. Wondering if I should not have shut off the UV light. I thought it was for the pea soup water, but now I'm wondering if it would help the stuff floating in the water column. I think I'm going to plug it back in, but then I won't know if the Pond Perfect beneficial bacteria helped boost the death of the algae or the UV! Plus, I want to get some new primrose and plop it into the pond, remove the older stuff that is looking pretty bad. I have bugs chewing on it in the pond, too. Not in the farm pond, just in my koi pond.
Oh, and just sat on my deck reading for the last 2 hours, and noticed Big Daddy bullfrog under a ledge of the waterfall rocks. He would back up so I couldn't see him, then come back out. Also saw turtle in the bog (he's a happy little bugger!) and 3 junior sized bullfrogs on the primrose, so there are far more frogs than I thought! Fun to watch all the life. Tiny blue butterflies were enjoying the water slopped on the ground as I was rinsing the pea gravel. And, birds have learned to drink from the waterfall. Life is FUN!

 

[taherrmann4]

How about Koiguy does he have both too? or even just one of those items? Anybody else?

I have two oil pan containers of kitty litter that I just put in several weeks ago for my lotus plants, no oyster shells, I have a 10 gallon pot with clay from my backyard in it the holds my cypress tree, nothing else.

 

[CountryEscape]

Taherrmann, did you have any algae problems before, and how is it now? Or, are you in the "crystal clear water club" like most experienced ponders on here? Does anyone think it would help to turn my UV light back on? I did notice the clarity going down the drain since I unplugged it probably 3 weeks ago now.

 

[taherrmann4]

When I started my pond six years ago my first year was nothing but algae, and I became very frustrated with it. I tried adding beneficial bacteria, algae away (I think thats what it was), and concentrated barley. My pond was also in full sun for the entire day, absolutely no shade and my falls faced south so the sun just beat on them. Now I have more shade, my pond is about 60-70% covered with plants, lilies, hyacinth, water lettuce, and elephant ears. I quit putting anything my pond with the exception of the liquid barley which I put in about every three weeks, could probably go without this too. My pond water is crystal clear, I can read a plant tag on the bottom of the pond, a plant tag you ask, because one found its way in there several weeks ago and I could read it. I have two filters, a savio it feeds my waterfalls, a laguna it feeds my 25 ft creek and then I made a veg filter out of my old creek that is about 10' long (it has water lettuce, spiral grass, hyacinths, and catails in it). I still get algae on my waterfalls and creek that I need to clean out about once a week, but it's not bad.

This spring for about 4 weeks it turned very cloudy and took some time to get cleaned up. I think it was taking my plants longer to get established this year, it has been gin clear ever since.

I think patience is the key, you want to be crystal clear but it takes time to get established and cycled. You will get there, my advice would be to not go putting a bunch of chemicals in it let nature balance it.