I guess it'll take some time for them to get that large. There's a small pond in the subdivision I could probably transfer them to if they get too large or aggressive for my pond. It's good to know that they work. I am looking forward to seeing the goldfish swimming. I think the one is at least 3 inches long now and very round.
First nymphaea bloom
Great thread, I really don't do that much except change 20% of the water every week or when it looks like it is getting cloudy and clean out the filter and we just finished cleaning it out after I took this picture and filling it backup again but my pond is quite small but deep enough that the fish do well over winter and I added a little of the pond water shade and it doesn't take much but I love the blue color and suppose to keep the algae under control, and so far so good it is staying crystal clear..I need to transfer a few of the fish out, I have ended up with about 20 in there a few very small but several getting very big and fat.
I see another bud of the attraction just coming up so it won't be long, but the fish are eating the lily pads like crazy..Here is my close up..
really pretty. I had not heard of the water colorant. Where did you get that at?
Fireant, now that I can see through my water into the murcky lowest part, I can see a flowerbud coming up, so took a picture for you so you will know what they look like down there.
That looks like the nub my plant has, except the one in my pond was smaller. I can't find the algae eaters. I hope they are okay. They are hard to find, maybe when the water clears up. It looks like you have a lot of fish, too.
LOL, yes, we bought 50 feeder fish 3 years ago, did not expect them to live because everyone said that most of them would die. Well, apparently we got a real healthy batch because we only lost 3! LOL So when the fountain they lived in got too small for them all, we started giving them to my mom for her pond. We have kept 18, but they have really started growing since they got in the bigger area and now I think mom is gonna get a few more. LOL As for the algae eaters, the first day I put them in, they stayed clustered together and just kept swimming around the top rim of the pond, actually coming up out of the water like they were trying to get away. When the gal at the fish place bagged them up, 2 DID jump out of the bag, so when I saw these doing the escape thing, I was really worried that I would find them in the dirt around the pond the next morning. But I have not found one so I guess they are over that. I had not seen them since that day until yesterday, I saw one, only because he has a yellow head and my water is clearing up and I saw a flash of yellow and looked, sure enough, it was one of them. So they are in there. I would not worry about that.
I got it at Lowes..A friend had told me about it and said it worked, and I love the color and the fish even seem happier. Plus it makes it a little harder for predators to get to them so maybe they feel safer..It only takes a tsp. to give it that great color, I will take a picture tomorrow so you can see what it looks like..
The water does look a little clearer at the top. I saw one of the goldfish clearly, and he is huge! The other one is a little smaller. Still hoping for a flower soon.
Thanks vs, I will look for it next time I go to Lowes. :~)
Fireant, bet you are glad to see a change. Even if it IS only the top. And that is how mine is, the top clearing and the bottom still murky. I saw that yellow headed chinese algae again , he was zippin all over like he was freaked out that I could see him. LOL
In my fishtank, the algae eater liked to hang out on the sides and bottom. He was VERY shy and hid when there was any movement nearby. My one little guy was so good at cleaning up the algae, I was a little afraid he would starve after a while and added algae wafers for him, if you can believe it. The goldfish loved them, too.
I would love to have that problem!
Here is a picture I took today..I had to add a little more this morning after 2 days of heavy rains..
It is pretty. I finally see a bud coming through on my plant.
I have another just getting ready to open, this morning it was just starting and yesterday it was just hitting the surface of the water..
Well, I could not stand it anymore. I had posted above that my water was clearing up, then wham! The next day the green started getting darker and by this morning I could not see anything. Looked like bright green pea soup! I had planned on waiting until the Fall to drain it and lift the liner because it was too low after I put sod in, so figured I would raise the pond at the same time as I drained it. I could not wait until Fall. I drained it today and raised my pond liner. It is so clear and lovely! I am SOOOO glad I did it, but then I ALWAYS prefer a job behind me then ahead of me. LOL
I immediately got my pond starter bacteria stuff in, so maybe that will help.
Here is a pic of my happy fish and plants, sorry about the reflection of the trees, but you can see that the bud from the last pic I posted is now above the water level. Should be open soon. I am going to do as vswilliams does and change out water every week or as needed.
Do either of you (fireant & vswilliams) have blooms yet?
Oh, and I wanted to tell you something funny. Well, not funny haha, but funny odd. LOL
I was sitting by the clean pond just watching the fish fight over the fish food, when out of the corner of my eye I see movement next to the pond and there is a yellow headed algae eater flopping in the new sand that I just put in to raise the pond. I jump up, grab him & put him back in and he swims away. So I am thinking with relief how glad I was that I had not gone in yet, and wondering what the heck he was doing jumping out of the pond! I mean really, is it that bad at my house that he felt he could not work things out??? LOL
So I walk around the pond to come in and as I get to the other side, there is one of the black ones flopping in the sand!!! NO WAY! So I scoop him up and get him back in the water! Then I was afraid to come inside so I sat out there another 1/2 hour just waiting for jumpers, LOL, but apparently the moment was past.
Wow! It looks great, PudgyMudpies. I am tempted to drain and start my pond again. I can't find the Chinese Algae Eaters anywhere. Since they were so tiny, I think the goldfish may have eaten them. The goldfish are at least four inches long and about two inches wide. The water is so green that I could just not be able to see the algae eaters. I hope they didn't jump out and get picked up by the cat. I do have a bud that is now poking above the surface!
Well It looks great, what do you have planted in the pot, I need something to put on the plant shelf, just not sure what to get yet. I also add a little hydrogen peroxide when I start seeing any algae, some one on here some where said it was good for the pond and I used it last year and seemed to do good.
Yesterday my next bloom was just coming to the top and this morning it was blooming and so pretty I didn't even take a picture but I will tomorrow..
I Had the same thing happen to me before we got our fish back into the pond. We had just finished putting the pond all back together and we had not filled it back up yet since it was starting to lighting and the big bucket we had put the fish was beside the pond and I had just turned around to go into he house and I heard a thud and looked and one of the bigger fish had jumped out of the bucket and into the empty pond and I was so glad I had been there so I scooping him up and placed him back into the bucket and I know they just wanted to go back home where they could swim. I had already lost my big back one and blamed the cat but he had jumped under the waterfall and I found what was left of him after taking it apart so I did not want to lose another so we put some screen over the top of the bucket and placed a few rocks on top so they would not get out..We really did not wait more than 6 hours the next evening after filling it up to put the fish back in and I was so afraid it was too soon with the fresh water but I had put chemicals in to take the chlorine out and they did great not even a sign of stress..
Nothing looks better than to see them happy and swimming around in nice clean water...
Gold fish are amazingly tough creatures.
Fireant, I would be surprised if those algae eaters would hold still long enough to be eaten. They are FAST!
Maybe you should drain yours too, then try to stay ahead of it like vswilliams does. At least then you would be able to see if you have any algae eaters. LOL I am so glad you have a bud!
vs, the pot that is showing in that pic is Saururus Cernuus "Lizards Tail" or so the label says. I got it at Lowes.
That is funny about your fish taking matters into its own fins to get home. LOL I am going to see if I can find anything out about the peroxide, that is really interesting! Thanks!
I hope you both post pics of your flowers when they open. I am looking forward to seeing them. :~)
Donna
Edited to add this link, maybe draining is only for our own gratification, but not the best thing to do for the pond. http://www.californiawaterscapes.com/FAQAlgae.htm#9
I am STILL glad I did it though, and I am gonna start using the hydrogen peroxide because it is not harmful for the fish or the plants and actually feeds the good bacteria because of the oxygen it introduces if I am understanding it correctly. Apparently this is what those barley pads do, as they break down they release a natural peroxide. I just need to find some place that mentions ratio.
Also found a couple of threads that mention Koi Clay. Here is one and it has some good info about the peroxide. Have you ever heard of the koi clay?
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/msg091530421499.html?8
This message was edited Jun 5, 2006 9:30 PM
Donna, I have not heard of the Koi Clay and I had been meaning to try the barley and have not gotten around to it after I tried the peroxide with good results, and I liked the fact it did not harm the fish or plants..Good source of info..thanks.
The reason I decided to go with the goldfish was my pond was small and Koi need so much more room and I have heard they do like to jump but these I received from a neighbor that was draining his pond so we got about 19 last year just for the taking and many were very large already and I really did not expect all of them to survive the winter but they did and I know there are most likely to many in there but they all seem to be going ok..
I will have to make another visit to Lowe's and check out what they have. Last year I bought a hyathis(sp) but this year they did not have any and I wanted a few floaters in there but I will have to check out what they have now..
From what I have read on the peroxide is it works on the string algae but not the green pea algae, but I dumped a few glugs in last night while the pump was still running in the hopes that it will prevent some of it. We will see.
I really like the goldfish, personally I prefer them to the koi. Koi do nothing for me, while the antics of the goldfish are very entertaining to me. LOL How lucky to have a generous neighbor!
Our Lowes cleared all their pond plants out already because of our high temps, but maybe yours still has some. I hope so!
Donna
I do too, the last time I was there they had a bunch but the one I wanted they did not have but our temps. here have been so mild the last week or so, only in the 80's and we even had a low of 50 last night so it was a nice change to the 90's we had a few weeks ago..I to like the goldfish they are so much fun to watch and I love it when I walk out on the deck and they seem to see me and start playing around and I know they are looking for food..
I heard a few people don't even feed their fish but on rare occasions they just eat whatever is in the pond, for me it is hard to watch them and I know they are baggers and always hungry but have you guys heard they don't need to be feed that it is just a treat for them..
I let mine go without food for a few days, and they seemed fine. I saw them eating the algae on the sides of the pond, but I still like to feed them. I just feed them less. They seem more sociable when fed. They almost seem to beg for food.
Yes, I had heard that about the goldfish too, but when I don't feed them all they do is eat my plants! I don't have "stuff" on the bottom of my pond since it is a liner, so there is no dirt down there for them to root through. My mom keeps telling me to get some "greens" for them to eat and it also shades the pond, but I really do not care for the look of greens (looks like long ropes of seaweed only small leaves). But I may end up having to do that.
I do have some under water oxygenates that I stuck in between some of the rocks but they do have a tendency to eat my lily pads if I wait a day or two and they do love cheerios, I was told to feed that to them in the fall before the cold sets in and in the spring they seem to be able to digest it better and they do love it.....and I do love to watch them eat but it seems the bigger ones get to most before the little ones do.
Here's a picture of one of my fan tailed goldfish. He's the less shy one. (I used the software program to take some of the green out of the water.)
Here's the lily bud.
Your fishy is cute & your bud is about ready to pop! Wonderful! :~)
Thanks, I want to clear the water up so that I can see the fish better, but I may wait until August.
Well, I have been watching my pond for any sign of green, was hoping that the peroxide I added might have acted as a preventative measure, and no sign of green! And it has been hot yesterday & today, so I was expecting it. But nothing. I did use the pond starter stuff too, but I have been using that from the beginning, so not sure that is the reason. Only thing different is the peroxide.
I heard that peroxide works for the string algae but not the algae that causes pea green soup water. If it continues to work for you, I may try it.
Yes, I had read the same thing, but I figured it would not hurt to try it, might not kill it once you have it, but maybe it can prevent it? Who knows, this is just an experiment for me. I will let you know as it goes, might make no difference whatsoever. LOL
That's a good point, it might help prevent, if not kill algae. Or slow it down. After all the work of emptying and cleaning it, it can hurt to try. I want to get more plants to see if they can cover more of the surface and help out the algae problem.
I need to go me some more, I use to when watering my plants so I go through a lot of it..Here is a new bloom..I probably should have waited till later in the day to take the picture, shadows and all but I love the color.
Vickie
Really pretty pink! And your pond looks so clear. I really like the color additive you use. My lily opened yesterday, but the sun has not come over the rooftops yet for it to open again this morning. I took a pic to show the clarity of my water. I am so happy! I jump out of bed in the morning & run to the door just to look out & see if it is still clear. LOLOL The fish see me coming too and think CHOW TIME! lol I am such a sucker, of COURSE I feed them.
I know what you mean I took so many pictures yesterday and was trying to get the fish in some of them but they were being shy since I did not have any food for them at that moment they just went and hid....I do like the additive and hopefully when our temp. start rising I will see how it works..Your pond is looking good and it looks a lot like the shape of mine from your picture..I finally got all the gravel down on the walk way so I can get access to the filter and it is starting to take shape but a work in progress..
Here is one I took right before I finished the gravel path. and re positioned the rocks on the back side..I sure would love to have more flat land to have a bigger..
Yes, I would have liked a bigger one too, and in the shade, LOL, but we have to work with what we have. LOLOL
I think you are right, we have a similar pond liner. Here is mine, I got it at Lowes:
http://www.maccourt.com/products/ponds/lp7918.html (I laugh at the part where it says 3 3" fish...)
I really like the look of the flagstone around the edges, sure wish I could have done that to mine. That is what I had pictured in my head when I envisioned it. Oh well, the vision has just changed to thyme growing over the rim. LOL Working with what I have. :~)
Post a pic of it AFTER the gravel path! I wanna see! Are those Cannas by the waterfall? They give you a really nice backdrop, don't they? How big will those plants get? I can just picture it all lush, thick & green around the waterfall, how pretty that will look!
Too funny about your fish, no food, no poses. LOLOL
Nice pictures and blooms and clear water! Mine is green as ever. I don't think the aglae eaters are able to handle the job.
Shoot, sorry to hear that. Are you going to be able to hold out until August?
I just got home, went to check, and here it is . . .
I had to find one that was at least 36" deep so I could over winter my fish in it and they don't make too many that is that deep but last year I saw this pond kit at K-Mart and was surprised it was as deep as it is, since Lowe's did not have any that deep so my hubby bought it for me and we went to the river several weekends and collected the rock that I wanted to go around it. I really wanted to make a rock waterfall but I did not really know how to do it in such a small space so I ended up putting this one back up.
I like the Canna's since they get tall and I wanted to make the top a little more natural looking and when they are blooming they are really pretty I plan on moving one of the canna'a and replacing with a EE I don't have to dig up here in the winter.
Here is the side of the pond last sept. the side bed was almost bare and my lupine came back this year and totally took over but they were so pretty I have just left them..
The only thing about having so many fish in a smaller pond is there is more mess so it is a consent challenge to keep it clean and clear, but they say that is where feeding the fish less helps so I have cut back on feeding mine especially when there is algae for them to eat but they are beggars so I have a tendency to give in. we started the end of the season last year with about 24 but with the cats having a little feast from time to time last count was about 19 and i see a few very small ones that I know where not there last year..well I will end this now it's getting long..My GH says I talk to much..lol
