Pond Care : Mon Apr 09, 2012 7:15 pm  

Looking for some advice..... Can't get to the library until the weekend and google not very forthcoming so far, looking for help with a pond I have inherited with the house we have just bought.

I don't know any of the terminology so its a bit tricky to describe what I have, but its a pond around 12' x 6' and I reckon maybe a couple of feet deep - the water is very murky (I think I have seen a fish around 8" or so long, but i only saw it once so could be mistaken, but there is a tub of fish food in the shed so presumably there has been some recently), there's plenty of frogspawn round the edges and a load of kit hooked up to it in the shed next to the pond. In the shed are a couple of pump type things, something that says UV on the plug and a tank thats around 4' long by about a foot wide thats split into 3 separate chambers each with what looks like a valve on them. Will be able to take a pic and upload soon.

So, I need to decide if I get shut of the pond and maybe stick all the gear on ebay (if its worth bothering) or try and clean the whole thing up and keep it as a feature in the garden.

Anybody know out about ponds please?

Thanks

Re: Pond Care : Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:06 pm  

Musky wrote:

Looking for some advice..... Can't get to the library until the weekend and google not very forthcoming so far, looking for help with a pond I have inherited with the house we have just bought.

I don't know any of the terminology so its a bit tricky to describe what I have, but its a pond around 12' x 6' and I reckon maybe a couple of feet deep - the water is very murky (I think I have seen a fish around 8" or so long, but i only saw it once so could be mistaken, but there is a tub of fish food in the shed so presumably there has been some recently), there's plenty of frogspawn round the edges and a load of kit hooked up to it in the shed next to the pond. In the shed are a couple of pump type things, something that says UV on the plug and a tank thats around 4' long by about a foot wide thats split into 3 separate chambers each with what looks like a valve on them. Will be able to take a pic and upload soon.

So, I need to decide if I get shut of the pond and maybe stick all the gear on ebay (if its worth bothering) or try and clean the whole thing up and keep it as a feature in the garden.

Anybody know out about ponds please?

Thanks

Another week ain't going to kill the job, so I'd wait until you can get to the library.

I can't understand your difficulty in finding information from the internet though, there are loads of sites dedicated to pond building, maintenance etc.

If you have no problem putting the work in to get it all going again and there are no other issues, such as a hazard to children or pets, then I'd make the effort. A pond attracts more wildlife, is a pleasing garden feature and you'd be surprised just how relaxing it is to sit by the side of running water.

The equipment you found in the shed is obviously filtration equipment and from the sounds of it the guy who built it has an external pump with various bit & pieces for cleaning the water, the plug with UV on it is for an ultra violet water steriliser and although I'm assuming the multi-compartment tank is for filtration, it may be a holding/quarantine tank for koi

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:51 am  

The multi compartment tank is most likely to be a filter and it sounds as though whoever owned it has gone a bit over the top with the equipment described as you don't really need all of that to keep a 12x6 pond clear, however you have it all now and the good news is that you shouldn't really need to do anything other than switch it all on and leave it running until the water clears (which it should do in anything from a few days to a few weeks), personally I'd leave it running constantly as your fish deserve clean and aerated water and you should always be wary of switching the pump(s) off and leaving the UV filter on as the lamp will overheat and blow (yes, my wife did this to my new uv filter last year and I now need to replace it).

Take some pics if you can but undoubtably you have a decent set up there and its worth preserving.


PS - don't overfeed the fish and enjoy the tadpoles when they hatch because they won't last for long with fish in the pond, however thats one reason not to overfeed the fish for a while, they only really need feeding towards the autumn.

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:48 pm  

If there's any cats close by, buy your-self a super blaster water gun if not something more powerful. Not only will dear, cuddly pussy kill most of the extra wild life you attract to the garden, it will also sit patiently dangling it's paw in the pond waiting for the expensive coy you will inevitably end up buying, to cruise near enough for it to scoop them out.

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:06 pm  

Ovavoo wrote:

If there's any cats close by, buy your-self a super blaster water gun if not something more powerful. Not only will dear, cuddly pussy kill most of the extra wild life you attract to the garden, it will also sit patiently dangling it's paw in the pond waiting for the expensive coy you will inevitably end up buying, to cruise near enough for it to scoop them out.

Or plant a whole shed load of catnip, which will interest them far more.

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:47 pm  

Or own a big dog

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:01 pm  

McLaren_Field wrote:

Or own a big dog

Because everyone knows they just don't get on at all

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:34 pm  

*Dr Who fans leave thread disappointed*

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:15 pm  

Didn’t ponds used to be all the rage back in the day?

There’s a place in Farsley called Mill Ponds and I‘ve always wondered why it’s remained closed to the public. It’s not like anyone fishes they anymore and Farsley could do with a water feature other than puddles that cars drive through to splash people with. Most of the people I speak to from round here aren’t even aware there’s a gigantic pond.

Re: Pond Care : Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:34 pm  

Damo-Leeds wrote:

Didn’t ponds used to be all the rage back in the day?

There’s a place in Farsley called Mill Ponds and I‘ve always wondered why it’s remained closed to the public. It’s not like anyone fishes they anymore and Farsley could do with a water feature other than puddles that cars drive through to splash people with. Most of the people I speak to from round here aren’t even aware there’s a gigantic pond.

There's a place called Fishponds in Bristol but you try finding any fish or even a pond there.

If you saw a bus with DAZ on the side, would you take your washing there?