Alright, I've about had it! I was in Colorado and New Mexico last week, having a great mini vacation. While enjoying my coffee Saturday morning, looking up at the Ute mountains in Cortez, Colorado, my tranquility was rudely interrupted by my wife handing me a phone: "It's Matt [her 16 y/o son], he says he needs to talk to you about the pond..."
"Uh, dude .... your pond is a *&%^%ing nightmare! All the water is now under the pond liner, which is about 2 feet about the edge of the pond, all the plants are knocked over leaning away from where there was water, and the big waterfall basin is totally empty. All of the fish are dead except for the few that are looking really weird, sorta sun-bathing on the rubber liner."
I got back from the airport last night to a disaster that not only met my expectations (I'm one of those, 'expect the worst, hope for the best' types) but in some ways exceeded them. The smell ... well, it was less than pleasant. The surviving fish were all huddled in a small cooler, somewhat under one of my willow trees. The basin that feeds the waterfall is a 110 gal. pre-formed pond liner that is set about 2 feet or so above ground. Evidently a lot of the dirt supporting it has eroded and the pressure finally cracked the shell, causing the catostrophic draining of the water (that little basin had 6,000 gallon per hour being pumped into it to feed the waterfall)
You have got NO idea how close I am to renting another backhoe, filling this damnable hole with dirt, spreading some grass seed and washing my hands of the matter in complete Pontius Pilate form. This is the third major pond "tragedy" this year, and ALL of them are results of oversights on my part (and rushing things while setting the pond up initially)
The reason for my venting here?
Well, I needed to vent ... lol ... and to warn those who are taking the plunge to PLAN WISELY AND PROPERLY!!!! Making haste does a great deal more harm than simply making waste.
I need dirt
OH NO! I'm so sorry Buck. I've never had problems with my pond quite like this....but I have had my fair share of problems with it....and have several times thought about giving up. BUT, I finally have things pretty well figured out, and I'm so thankful I never gave up. Good luck with your decision. :o) Jenny
LOL, thanks!
Actually, I plan to leave the office within the hour to get back to fixing things and nursing my babies back to health. The two koi that I hope to one day be showable made it through the "storm" and 4 or the 5 fish who survived last year's "super tragedy" also made it through this one. I have to keep things up just to honor them, I suppose! :o)
No more short cuts for this dude ... at least with the pond! lol
Oh, Buck, how awful! Doesn't this always happen when you try to take a vacation. Good luck setting it right.
Lana
Dude, that bites ... when stuff like that happens to me I storm around cussin' stompin' like a kid having a tamptron, slam my hat down throw my hands on my hips and say .... Well, stop lookin' and start fixin'.
Sorry to hear of you mishap, at least some fish made it. The shinny side of it.
Dave
What a nightmare to get this call while enjoying the beautiful Ute mountains in Cortez! Hope you saw some awesome ruins in the desert before having to go back and witness your own ruin, of sorts! What a cruel twist of fate. Glad some of your babies made it. I think once you love a pond, it's in your blood. So let us know how you plan to fix the problem! You'll just make it better this time around. Right?
Actually I'm impressed that a 16 year old saved some of your fish. Good for him!
OHHhhh... Bogweed, that is terrible. I got a lump in the pit of my stomach when I read it, I can't imagine how you must have felt. Please don't give up, I have enjoyed your pictures and post. You can turn your nightmare into a wonderful new designed pond, I just know it.
Sheila in FW
Well, I took half of Monday and all of yesterday off, and *almost* have the pond bak up to 100%. Holy smokes, am I exhausted!!!! I had to dig up a boat load of dirt to fill in behind and on either side of the waterfall. This should stop my raising liner issues after we get a torrential downpour.
As it turns out, I had one of the cemented 4x4 posts that I installed to hold up the liner set in such a way that a corner was pushing its way into the side of the liner ... the area immediately below the waterfall, which is exactly where it couldn't be detected until too late. I patched the tear with "Quick Plastic" and then proceeded to cover the entire area, inside and out, with several layers of fibreglass.
After taking a reciprocating saw to reshapew the offending 4x4, I then hand carried a BUNCH of soil to backfill the waterfall area and provide extra support for the 3 layers of liner that is used to contain the waterfall proper. I've been in the midst of digging a "Garden Sump" to help deal with the soggy soil issues we have in this part of VA. Yesterday, the sump got rather noticably larger, as well as deeper! lol The rough part was that everything below about 8 inches around here is intensely packed clay. After a relatively dry summer, that stuff was a bear to break up!
Last night I was ready to fire everything up, only to discover that the main waterfall pump was trapped beneath the liner. I had used it Sunday evening to pump the water out of from underneath and forgot to pull it back up before refilling the pond. My neighbors got an earfull, I'm sure. Ooops.
I do wish I could get another backhoe here and actually extend the pond a good bit. If I had a safe poace to house the fishys for a week or so, I'd do it by hand. Perhaps I should leave "well enough" alone, eh? :o)
On a positive note, I suspect, I did get to use one of my favorite lines that has seen me through some really rough times the past 7 years: "Worse things *have* happened to better people." lol
Buck, I am so sorry to hear what happened. That is also one of my worst nightmares! = (
Post some pics when you get it back in shape,.... or as you progress.... maybe one day, you'll look back.......
mel
No photos this round.
I got home from the airport Sunday evening, took a quick assessment of the situation and jumped to. I didn't even think of the camera for another 2 hours or so, at which point there was a certain semblence of sanity already beginning to unfold.
Last night I FINALLY got everything back up to something approximating 100%. Waterfall is again flowing, the skimmer's up and running, all filtration systems and back online, and I can only HOPE that the rubber liner in the main pond is not burned from my step son leaving the lights plugged in all weekend.
Pixy, if it were at all possible to enlarge this beast, I would do it in a HEARTBEAT! As it stands now, the pond proper is only about 20' (plus another foot or few if one wants to include the waterfall basin) by an average width of about 7'. Yes, I could get a holding tank and whatnot, but I still have the pond completely surrounded by 5,600+ feet of new tropical gardens. Ergo, no mo backhoe. I may, at some point in the future (especially if there's any damage to this liner) extend parts of the pond by hand, but hopefully that will not occur any time in the near future.
NOW ... here's the fun part. I get home yesterday only to find water under the waterfall basin. Evidently all of my putty and fiberglass work did not form a solid bond. Time for a new pre-form liner for the waterfall. :o
I will gladly share my goldfishes with you when you get ready for new fishies!!
Our little pond turned out to be 50 ft x 60ft and 3 ft deep in some spots and 5 ft deep in other spots. We bought 12 different colored goldfish and now we have thousands of gold fishies. They multiply faster than our rabbits. We have new babies about every 3 months or so. They aren't koi...but they are beauties!!
Of course my pond is mucky green all the time, because it has NO SHADE...hubby would not listen to me. But I believe after 3 years of green...I have convinced him to put a huge shade cloth over the top...like a canopy and let me plant vines to grow up the poles to make shade.
But the fishy offer still stands if you are interested!!
Another nasty pic
OK...my tub with a better pic and clean water...see what shade will do for water...lol
I just looked up a bunch of pics from earlier this year and was really saddened to see how many casualties we had with this last incident. Sadly, almost all of our losses were koi, most of which were ones that my sons picked out and (in many cases) paid for. :o(
Blackwolf, looks like you have quite a few Shubunkins! Those are really pretty fish ... the Chinese seem to have bred a much more durable fish than the Japanese have with their koi.
I LOVE the fishies!!!!!
A few summers ago I bought some Mosquito fish from a man on ebay. These are fantastic...they multiply too...but I can not put them in my big pond, cause they become fish food.
They are the size of a guppy, and eat larva like LIONS!!! They overwinter great too.
He shipped them to me in the middle of summer in the heat, and they did great...he put them in a bag..then packed newspaper tight around them. The water was cool when I recieved the box. I was amazed....so the offer still stands...if ya need some, I will gladly share with ya!!!
Pixy....yours are beautiful!!!!!!
Mosquito fish?????
Well, let's talk, me dear!!!!
LOL...they are awesome little skeeter eaters!!!!
They grow to the size of a guppy...and eat eat eat!!
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2004/aug/18/517362234.html
I am verrrrrrry familiar with our little friend the Gambusia!
Are you in the mood to try duolicating how those were shipped to you? :o)
dMail me. I'll have access to a computer this weekend.
blckwolf,
May I suggest, and you probably already know this. Put some floating plants in the pond, a lily maybe with some large pads some floating sensitive vine, hornwort, parrot feather, anachris.
Your water could be much clearer by covering about 50% of the surface area with floaters. This keeps the algae down. The oxygenating plants help to clean up the water by somehow processing fish doo.
Just a thought.
Molly
:^)))
Molly...thanks for the tip. I have tried water lettus, water hyc., frog bite....it is so darn hot...they die within a week or so. My water lilies are doing ok...but I will need to buy an ARK full to cover this monster pond...lol They are multiplying, but not fast enough. I have some Cattails, a Bald cypress(about 5 foot tall) and lots of umbrella plants in the pond...I have added a cattle tub...the huge round ones...inverted it and covered it with flat rocks to try to help make shade...
I am almost at a loss!!
Anyone have ANY suggestions??? I would greatly appreciate any help!!
I am not sure if you can see the pond and inverted tub with rocks very well...due to My water dragon...I will try to find some other pics.
That isn't a pond, that is a lake.
Here's my suggestion. Find the fish a new home, throw in about 100 gallons of chlorine, lite up the grill, get out the keg and I'll be right over with my swimsuit and towel!!!
:^))))
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, sounds like a plan to me!!!!!!
blckwolf256--WOW!! Wish I had an actual pondeven CLOSE to yours. But we are renters and the expense to set up is just too much for a temporary living situation--and would be @%$& to move, eh?!! But I WOULD like a couple of those mosquito fish!! I do not know where all the mosquitos come from but my yard is FULL of them any time of day or night. I have been using the mosquito rings in my tub pond--but the mosquitos were here before I was!! Also would LOVE some of that Cypress you have a large clump of. Someone traded me a small clump of rooted ones but they died. VERY SMALL ones!! I only just got started with this pond stuff this year and have been lucky and blessed to have made a couple great and generous friends here in MollyMc and BogweedBuck--they have hooked me UP!! Water Hyacinth, Sensitive Vine, Water Lettuce, Pennywort, Frogsbit, Parrots Feather, Lizard's Tail and probably a few things I have forgotten.
Would a couple fish be ok in a tub pond--even over winter do you think?? Not knowing for sure is one reason I haven't gotten any --the other reason being not sure what kind is suitable for this purpose.
Bonnie
BogweedBuck--so sorry to hear the extent of your loss--not to mention this being the THIRD time in ONE year!! WOW!! SOOOO sorry!!
Blckwolf, I love your pond setting! With the large area you have, I just wonder what type of filter and pump system you have? It is hard to tell the depth too.
Sheila in FW
Bonnie....I will gladly send you some of both...but I am kind of waiting to see what shape they arrive to Bogweedbuck. I am always afraid I have done something wrong when I ship...lol
I am scared he will recieve dehydrated fishies...and some where out there their is a PO worker who is all wet, and cussing me. LOL
As for the Umbrella plant....I can do that. I have a few potted up. They will grow in the water and out of the water as well. I also have some in the front yard...hee hee, can you tell I like them??
Shelia..... Thanks so much. Our pond measures 50 foot by 60 foot and is 3 foot deep in most spots...but is 4 foot near the deck.
I have a play by play thread....from start to now.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/538875/
Right now we have NO pump filter system going. My husband ran an electrical wire on the ground....to the system, which is a pool filter that he rigged up....GOD and him only know the details of that mess....and maybe the Devil...cause it caught on fire 3 months ago...and he has never fixed it. LOL
It's true...he is Fantastic with wood...but electrical is NOT his thing. An electrician friend is suppose to drop by one day and fix everything, before hubby burns the whole yard up!!
MY DH is right there with him. We still have electrical cords on top of the rocks since a flood ripped it out June was a year ago! He does have the underground cable buried and ready, but just hasn't gone forward with it.
It is a big investment to put in a filter and pump system, but it is a must for clear healthy water. There are a lot of them out there. We have a biofalls and skimmer system and love it. We only have to clean it ONCE a year. The skimmer basket has to be emptied often since it collects large debris like plant leaves, etc. And we add bacteria occassionally that helps with the breakdown of debris, but that only takes a few minutes to do. Our system is made by Aquascape Designs, but we bought it through a local stone and gravel company that is a distributor for them.
http://www.aquascapedesigns.com/
Sheila in FW
Sue , I like your 'lake', but i love the water dragon!
blckwolf256--I would LOVE that!! Please dmail me the details of my end of the arrangement!! Thanks!! God BLESS you!! Bonnie