Pondlife

[Parafox]

We've just put in a wildlife pond in our garden (no fish). It's a solid plastic pre-formed liner. It's been dug into the ground and filled with tap water. We were advised to get some oxygenating plants to put in it, which we did but the water has still gone a murky green. I think this is water borne algae. I've tried a chemical additive to clear the water but so far it hasn't worked. The plants have been in for just over a week.

My question, does anyone have a pond that they mange to keep clear and how do you do it?

[Nalis]

Thought this was going to be a thread about the press.

[fuchsntf]

19 minutes ago, Parafox said:

We've just put in a wildlife pond in our garden (no fish). It's a solid plastic pre-formed liner. It's been dug into the ground and filled with tap water. We were advised to get some oxygenating plants to put in it, which we did but the water has still gone a murky green. I think this is water borne algae. I've tried a chemical additive to clear the water but so far it hasn't worked. The plants have been in for just over a week.

My question, does anyone have a pond that they mange to keep clear and how do you do it?

I installed also a small stream..a small Fountain will do ,with filter,then usually that couple of Drops Chemi Additive lasts then a couple of months.You dont have it on all day...

Or for a few bob £8-15  use and airinator/ aerator. .Pumps air into the pond...

Edited 22 July 2021 by fuchsntf

[foxile5]

A bit of duckweed for the top helps stem the sunlight that promotes algae growth. You'll have to keep on top of this, though, as you want about 60 - 70% coverage and it'll fill the top of the pond over a week or so.

[rachhere]

We are looking to get a wildlife pond and so I have been following a group on facebook in preparation. Going by similar posts on there this is pretty standard when you first get a pond until the ecosystem stabilises a bit. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

How big is it? The smaller it is, the harder it will be to keep it clear.

 

Water movement via pump/filter/fountain/waterfall will help keep the water oxygenated and prevent stagnation, but it's the shade that makes the biggest difference. You can get filters with built in UV light now that will kill off algae but I've no idea how effective these are.

 

Duckweed will certainly help but can get out of hand. A water lily if your pond is big enough can be a beautiful thing, but make sure it's appropriate to the size of your pond - the most common ones are too vigorous and will soon take over. A dwarf variety will be more suitable for most garden ponds.

 

Not sure what the current thinking is but when we had a pond at my parents' house the recommendation was that about 2 thirds of the surface area being covered by vegetation was the best way of keeping a still pond clear

 

edit: just noticed that I've basically just repeated what Foxile 5 said

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 22 July 2021 by Bellend Sebastian

[MPH]

43 minutes ago, Parafox said:

We've just put in a wildlife pond in our garden (no fish). It's a solid plastic pre-formed liner. It's been dug into the ground and filled with tap water. We were advised to get some oxygenating plants to put in it, which we did but the water has still gone a murky green. I think this is water borne algae. I've tried a chemical additive to clear the water but so far it hasn't worked. The plants have been in for just over a week.

My question, does anyone have a pond that they mange to keep clear and how do you do it?

  
 

find some local ponds that have tons of frogspawn in it and get a few bucket fulls. Frogspawn eat algae. Apparently it’s a real thing where the council announce which ponds/ lakes  you can go and get some frogspawn from.

[Webbo]

Everybody I know with a pond has the same problem. I've been told barley straw is good for it, but I don't know how.

Edited 22 July 2021 by Webbo

[kenny]

 

We built this last year using a pond liner.

 

We bought a hornwort from Palmer's and it cleared the  water in 24 hours.

 

We have a real problem with hair algae and no amount of treatment helps except pulling it out. As our plants become established they use the available nutrients and the growth slows.

 

As for wildlife, you will get mosquito larvae this year, whilst rank these are the food for everything else. You will also get diving beetles and doodlebugs fairly quickly.

 

A good source of tadpoles is the canal near blaby. We cheated and put some in last year. Have hundreds of froglets this year and we no longer get slugs in the garden.

 

We have our first lot of dragonfly and damselfly larvae, it's cool watching them eat the tadpoles. 

 

More plants the better would be my suggestion!

 

 

 

[foxile5]

23 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

How big is it? The smaller it is, the harder it will be to keep it clear.

 

Water movement via pump/filter/fountain/waterfall will help keep the water oxygenated and prevent stagnation, but it's the shade that makes the biggest difference. You can get filters with built in UV light now that will kill off algae but I've no idea how effective these are.

 

Duckweed will certainly help but can get out of hand. A water lily if your pond is big enough can be a beautiful thing, but make sure it's appropriate to the size of your pond - the most common ones are too vigorous and will soon take over. A dwarf variety will be more suitable for most garden ponds.

 

Not sure what the current thinking is but when we had a pond at my parents' house the recommendation was that about 2 thirds of the surface area being covered by vegetation was the best way of keeping a still pond clear

 

edit: just noticed that I've basically just repeated what Foxile 5 said

 

 

 

 

 

I got a big bucket of duckweed from my old boy's pond and slung it in - there was barely any coverage. Within a week I was hand-balling tonnes out. It does require constant monitoring lest the rest of the pond die off. Lilies are great if you've the sub-strate (the correct term I think) in place to bed them in immediately.

 

Get some reeds if you can, too, they attract all the mini-beasts and insects that you'll want to make the eco-system thrive. 

[MPH]

3 minutes ago, kenny said:

 

We built this last year using a pond liner.

 

We bought a hornwort from Palmer's and it cleared the  water in 24 hours.

 

We have a real problem with hair algae and no amount of treatment helps except pulling it out. As our plants become established they use the available nutrients and the growth slows.

 

As for wildlife, you will get mosquito larvae this year, whilst rank these are the food for everything else. You will also get diving beetles and doodlebugs fairly quickly.

 

A good source of tadpoles is the canal near blaby. We cheated and put some in last year. Have hundreds of froglets this year and we no longer get slugs in the garden.

 

We have our first lot of dragonfly and damselfly larvae, it's cool watching them eat the tadpoles. 

 

More plants the better would be my suggestion!

 

 

 

 

I know this sounds daft, but I absolutely bloody love wildlife. So fascinating!

[kenny]

Just now, MPH said:

 

I know this sounds daft, but I absolutely bloody love wildlife. So fascinating!

£25 for a pond liner and a few aquatic plants has been great to watch.

 

Dog also likes watching....

[kenny]

2 minutes ago, kenny said:

£25 for a pond liner and a few aquatic plants has been great to watch.

 

Dog also likes watching....

It's actually bought more bees and birds to the garden than any feeder or flower has.

[Dr The Singh]

Can we be clear on our titles please, I thought this was about Dangerous Turd and his mates

[Parafox]

57 minutes ago, fuchsntf said:

I installed also a small stream..a small Fountain will do ,with filter,then usually that couple of Drops Chemi Additive lasts then a couple of months.You dont have it on all day...

Or for a few bob £8-15  use and airinator/ aerator. .Pumps air into the pond...

Thanks. Problem is the pond isn't close to an electrical supply assuming a pump would require one.

[The People's Hero]

I would like a pond, but currently have young kids and a young dog and it just doesn't seem the right time. The kids have a huge climbing frame/play area which takes up a good portion of one area of the garden. Once they are older I have plans to put a pond there.

 

 

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, foxile5 said:

A bit of duckweed for the top helps stem the sunlight that promotes algae growth. You'll have to keep on top of this, though, as you want about 60 - 70% coverage and it'll fill the top of the pond over a week or so.

The pond is mostly in shade under our magnolia. Sunlight is dappled and intermittent. I'm hoping that the aerators will start to have an effect soon

[fuchsntf]

20 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Thanks. Problem is the pond isn't close to an electrical supply assuming a pump would require one.

small adäquate  Solar pumps/or just small Fittings for gardens..available.£12- 16 or upwards..

[Free Falling Foxes]

Some way of aerating is a must.

Our pond is small, only about 2'6" diameter and we get frogspawn most years. This year was exceptional. We had thousands of tadpoles.

They were taking ages to grow, I guess because there were so many of them.

This last week or two many tiny frogs were beginning to climb out.

 

Tuesday afternoon I checked on them and, I would guess, 95% had died. Loads of tadpoles and tiny frogs floating upside down. I guess the heat didn't help an not too much shade

This evening we do still have a handful swimming around.

[Red Squirrel]

Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur

or what is know as

(Pondlife)

[jgtuk]

If it’s just wildlife and no fish then no filter or aeration is necessary, the water needs to rest and become chemically balanced. Plants are crucial, you need to cover at least two thirds of the surface to stop algae growth. Shade is good too. I personally avoid any treatments unless absolutely necessary. It can take quite a while for you to achieve what you want but well worth it, you’ll notice a massive increase in wildlife. I have a mature pond, 10mx5m and as well as looking fantastic at this time of year it is teeming with aquatic life, dragonflies, damselflies, sawflies, birds and even had an otter earlier this year…

[Guest WarehamFox]

Have a pond, with fountain and filter, now have about 10 baby newts. Love it 

[TiffToff88]

15 hours ago, Red Squirrel said:

Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur

or what is know as

(Pondlife)

All the koi carp
So many koi carp
And they all go fin-in-fin
Fin-in-fin through their pondlife

[Ecdysiast]

Thought this was a thread about Chelsea/England supporters....

[Jimothy]

17 hours ago, Nalis said:

Thought this was going to be a thread about the press.

I thought it was about the breaking story about Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon/Andrew McMaster/Paul Harris/Wayne King