I am planning a water garden, with species of African lillies I have seen in marshy areas around Port Harcourt. (Nigeria) The temperature here varies between 25-35 degrees celsius. I've brought back a 5m*4m pond liner, I have the water supply and man power to dig a large hole, planning it to be 30-40cm deep with ledges but I am now worried it isn't as simple as that & I should have maybe have brought back a pump. Would be grateful for any suggestions.
Do I need a pump for a pond in the tropics?
Sounds like your plan will be georgeous. I don't know that local makes a difference. All water is enhanced when you have a waterfall and with a filter of some type, your water will be clearer too.
I won't be able to buy a pump until i go back to Europe, would it do any harm to fill it, have a stagnant pond for a few months, and then introduce the pump/filter?
It's commonly done to have a pond that is just for lilies to not have a pump. You might like to add some submerged oxygenators to help keep the water healthy. Or not....I see many green lily ponds that get along just fine.
Thanks for the advice. I'll try without the pump to start with. I'm also hoping it will attract enough frogs to keep the mosquitoes at bay, hopefully they'll eat all the larvae.
Around here frogs don't eat mosquito larvae. As a rule their eyesight is bad, you might look for a local equivilant of our mosquito fish.
Port, if you can get a hold of some, throw in a couple or 3 goldfish. They will keep the mosquito larvae down. Also throw in a strand or two of anacris. This is the best oxygenator and helps to break down fish poo. Another plus of the goldfish, you can scoop water from the bottom of your pond (with the fish poo down there) and use it to feed some of your land plants.
Molly
:^)))
Thanks for the advice, but i am worried fish would eat the frogs and i understand Nigerian frogs do eat mosquito larvae, as do some other larger insects. Just struggling to mark out the perfect oval, I've dug out most of it..
Port, if you dig the hole and install the liner you will want to fill it as soon as possible to keep the shape of the pond and the ledges from caving in.
Have been hunting everywhere for a long pole that I can lay across the pond to put a spirit level on top, to ensure sides are the same height before the liner goes in, I have a couple of weeks before the rains start in earnest. I've just sent the driver off to get a 5m pipe, it's difficult to find something that doesn't sag in the middle. I found a really good solution for marking an the oval shape involving tying a string the maximum length of the pond tied to two marker sticks 2m apart, then tracing a line in the soil by pulling the string taught, have a perfect oval now. I also read it's good to put a trellis over part of the pond to keep it cool and allow a launching pad for kingfishers. I don't know if anyone has found this works? I'm not having fish, but we have kingfishers here that eat insects.