Hi - I'm new here, and have only worked in the soil so far! I have a beautiful semi-shady spot that would be perfect for a small water feature of some sort (pond with plants only, no fish). But our yard is hilly and full of rock ledge, so no way to run electrical up there. Can you actually build a small pond or water feature without a pump? Is there a natural way to keep the water clear? Or is it just not worth trying? Thanks for your patience with a newbie!
Water Features with No Pump... Possible?
You can have a pond with a pump if the area gets some sun, there are lots of solar pumps on the market now! I know a lady who has several frog ponds on her property, none have pumps in them they are strickly for water plants and well, frogs lol. As for keeping the water clear, if you keep it clean and you make sure the water surface is pretty well shaded with plants you can keep the algea down to very little. The more sun exposure in the water and the more debris breaking down the more algea bloom you will have. You want some algea but not tons of it, the string algea is the worst but easy enough to get rid of. If mosquitos are a concern you can buy mosquito dunks to stop the larva from turning, it won't hurt your plants at all. I am sure they are other people here with lots more information than I have, but thought I would try to help!
Sure! LOTS of plants, VERY few fish (you will need something to eat mosquito larvae). Floating plants that filter and submerged plants that oxygenate should be a focus. Clearing leaf litter out occassionally will be a must for clear water especially since you are picking a shady locale and there will be lots of it falling in the water.
At first there won't be anythig in the water for the plants to consume, so you'll want to wait a month or so after filling before adding them. But add the mosquito fish right away :-)
Use a solid piece of edpm liner (home depot), do try to have the water level above the soil level so it doesn't catch runoff (that'll add to the waste in the pond)
It's totally worth trying and entirely do-able- good luck!
katya....I have both natural small ponds, as well as a larger above ground pond with solar fountains and pumps. My smaller above ground ponds have one water lily, one minature lotus, one pickerell, one violet stemmed elephant ear. I have 2 mosquito fish and one goldfish in each, as well as a handfull of tadpoles.....the water is crystal clear to the bottom, and has been for 2-3 years. I really think the trick is the tadpoles...I do a lot of gardening with no soil, only water and tadpoles. All pots done this way have crystal clear water.
In my larger pond, I have the same set up, but with more fish.....so I have 2 solar fountain pumps just to add a little extra oxygen. Underwater plants like anacharis, can suck up the water pollutents and fish waste.
Underwater barley straw works too, but it takes a month or 2 to start decomposing enough to really keep things going. I've tried the barley pellets too, but they get messy.
MerryMary- do the mosquito fish really work? I am just putting in our first pond and the mosquitos are as thick as lovebugs around here... There is a neighborhood cat though that prowls our backyard a lot so I was afraid to try them... But anything that will lower the mosquito quota...
Yes, the mosquito fish really do work....many of the smaller feeder fish from the pet-store do to....The county gives away mosquito fish for free during some parts of the year when there has been too much standing water.
If you can't find them, honestly the small feeder fish from the pet-store (they use them to feed to larger fish) also work, as do small comet goldfish.
Mosquito Dunks, found in the nursery/plant section of Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot, etc, also work on mosquito larvae, and won't harm fish, plants, pets, or anything else.
I have tried over and over to find the mosquito fish and can't! I am afraid to put goldfish or anything that would attract attention to the pond in there as I am sure that either the raccoon or the blue heron would eat them!!! I swear by the dunks though they work and when it is a small pond you really don't need that many!
The goldfish at the petstore (in small size) are only 12cents each...so you can get a bag full for $1.00. If you lose one here or there, no biggy, it's worth a mosquito free yard!
The mosquito dunks also come in sprinkle form.
I too would love to know where I could find mosquito fish. I have read about them for years but there doesn't seem to be a source for them anywhere around here. I would really like to find some. If anyone knows, please post to the list. I have a small pond with goldfish but another water garden (a huge cook pot buried in the ground) that I got prior to the pond and would really like to put a few fish in it (not gold fish) but was concerned about the oxygen levels in the water if I didn't use a filter and pump. I use the dunks in it and I have frog that seems to like it as well. Just want some mosquito fish. Help please!
ShirleyC
Around here you can get them from the county extension, the river, or other ponders.
If you have the county equivalent of a mosquito abatement district, give them a call; they may be able to supply you with fish, or direct you to a local source. (In my county, the authorities provide mosquito fish to local nurseries that have water gardens, and the nurseries give them away free to pond owners. Everybody wins.)
If your pond proves too tempting to neighborhood raccoons or egrets, yet you can't live without a water feature of some sort, consider converting what you've got into a bog garden. In such a setting you can grow many of the plants you would in (or around the edges of) a pool, but without the difficulties of cleaning out leaves, algae, and dead fish.
Just a note or two of possible interest.
If your pond is deep enough and you have enough water surface coverage (plants etc) the fish you keep to eat the larvae/mosquitoes can hide down deep or in the weeds.
Another thought, if you put your pond in the yard where your dogs hang out at, the canine scent keeps the other predators away from the pond.
This year, my pond is not in the dog yard, but it's about 2 1/2 feet deep with lots of plants to hide in. Additionally with my small annoying problem of algae, no one can see the fish until they come up closer from the bottom.
Okay, okay, I finally got enough surface cover to start overcoming the algae, takes time, I'm getting there.
LoL
Molly
Molly,
Maybe you have different fish to eat the mosquito larvae, mine are "mosquito fish" or gambusia. My pond is nearly 4' deep in spots with tons of plants and hiding places. The mosquito fish hang out at the surface to eat the mosquito larvae, hence the name. HTH
Lynn
My fish only eat the larvae, not the skeeters. They are feeder goldfish and one shubunkin. And now since we were at the river, we have pollywogs and minnows.
Molly
:^))))
Tadpoles will be a welcome addition to your pond! They do a great job at cleaning up decaying vegetation! (If they end up being large bullfrog tadpoles, move them far away from your pond as they get legs, they will eat everything in site, including your fish)
If they are toad-poles or tree-frog tadpoles, they are great to have around your ponds and yards!
Oh my, I haven't a clue as to what kind of anphib they will be. They were swimming around in the very shallowest of water at the shore of the river. What do you spose they will be?
Tree frogs I love, but eating my gold fish bullfrogs????? I can't have that. Better keep a watch on them now.
Molly
:^)))
If they are bullfrog tadpoles, you'll start to know it soon....they'll be 4 inches long, and depending on the variety, can begin to look like small catfish soon....
I hate to rain on any one's parade but mosquito fish are very poor predators of mosquito larvae. There are many better alternatives. A good reference to my point is:
RC Haas, MV Thomas, GL Towns. 2003. An assessment of the potential use of
gambusia for mosquito control in Michigan. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Technical Report. 12 pp.
It can also be found on the web at http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/ifr/ifrlibra/technical/reports/2003-2tr.pdf
A couple of quotes from this report:
"Despite numerous investigations of Gambusia's effectiveness in controlling
mosquitoes and mosquito-born diseases, no scientifically documented mosquito
control success stories have been written."
"Arthington and Lloyd (1989) reported that there was no firm evidence that they
were especially effective. Their studies showed that introduced Gambusia were, in
fact, poor mosquito predators. They found that, at most, the Gambusia diet consisted of only 10% mosquitoes and that four native fish species of similar size consumed more mosquitoes. They reviewed the world literature on mosquito control and could not find scientific evidence that Gambusia reduced either mosquito problems or the incidence of mosquito-born disease."
See papers cited in this paper for much more. They are cheap and easy and their addition makes it look like mosquito control districts are doing something but it is just a bad bad idea. You might tell that this is an issue that I get a little agitated over. Try native fish, koi, goldfish, Bt, amphipods or flatworms all of which love to eat mosquito larva.
You're not raining on my parade, they do the job for me! Just goes to show one person's experience isn't the rule.
I use the small peach colored fish from the pet store, the ones they use to feed to other fish as food. They stay at the surface and keep the water clear of larvae. I'll try to remember the name, they're only about 8cents a piece.
Rosey reds