Water Gardening: Spring, 0 by Carolyn22

Carolyn22 wrote:
Songs - Thank you. I love the fish and have enjoyed watching them grow. My daughter teases me and tells me that I am the one that would get attached to fish. What she isn't saying is that she would get attached to them before I.

Newton - I agree with MS - if you are happy with what you have, why change it? Just enjoy it.

MS - on some levels I do agree with you and on some levels, not so much. We did not spend a fortune in having our pond dug. A friend of ours had just bought a new backhoe (I know, only in the foothills of PA do people own their own backhoes ) and our pond was dug for the cost of gas and the cost of having the dirt removed. I think we spent a total of $250 back 6-7 years ago when we had this pond dug.

We did however, spend a small fortune on the liner - we opted for the local nursery, because they would deliver the liner to my back yard without any problems. Had we bought the liner online, we would have spent half, however the truck drops the liner at the street and then it is up to the purchaser to get the liner to where ever your pond is going to be. Oh yeah, there is also a separate charge for the truck to drop the liner. So, instead of paying $350-$400 for the liner, I think we spend $750-$800.

We run 4 pumps in the summer and use 2 deicers in the winter. The deicers tend to use more electricity than all 4 pumps put together. We also have 2 pressure filter and 4 uv lights. We replace the uv lights annually and they are the trick to keeping the water clear. So, what we have saved on having the pond dug, we have more than made up for what we have spent in equipment.

Our pond is 13 1/2 feet wide by 27 ft - this includes our bogs. Our deep end is 4 ft deep with the shallower end at 3 1/2 feet deep and the pond holds 4850 gallons.

On another note, in the past we have spent a fortune on fish remedies with various illnesses. The past couple of years (knock wood) have been illness free with our fish. Granted our, winters are not as long or as cold as yours,however we found when we started salting the pond for the winter and then doing our water exchanges after the 55* mark when the good bacteria kicks in, we seem to have put the fish illness to a minimum. We also do a vacuum in the spring and a vacuum in the fall. This also seems to go a long way towards keeping fish illness to a minimum. There were years, where we honestly wondered if it was worth it, but I can look back now and say yes, without a doubt, it was all worth it. We have been ponding for roughly 12 years or so and we are still learning.

We put our first second pond in and then built our lower deck next to the deck. Our third and current pond is still situated right next to our deck. I attached this picture so you could see. This deck is large enough to accommodate a table my husband made that seats 12 people comfortably.

I am wondering - what fish illness are you battling? I know one year we had problems with ulcers and the turning point to that was all the fish getting salt baths..... I had one fish in particular that was so ill, all the people that I called that were in the business, told me to expect that fish to not make it. That fish is still with us. Granted, she took all of that summer to heal - but I am so thrilled we did not lose her, because she is one of my 'original' fish that I started out with in my Walmart pond, 12 or so years ago.

Carolyn