frogspawn

[Berr]

What I don't know about ponds would fill a lot of books, but I remember hearing or reading that to be viable a pond needed to have a surface area of 35 square feet. I think the point was that smaller results in temperature fluctuations that make it impossible to create a healthy environment. But somebody must know about this, surely?

[blackkitty]

I'm not an expert by any means but have picked up one or two things. We're lucky to have a garden centre near us with a good aquatic section and a helpful owner. When we bought the house four years ago the pond was terrible, the water was murky as all hell but the fish and frogs seemed okay. The advice I was given was to add plants. marsh marigolds are good if you can get them and things like water forget me nots (also attract newts). I'm also trying watercress at the moment, I bought a bag and rooted some in a jar on the windowsill and have tucked it in the rocks where our 'waterfall' comes down and it seems to be growing. I've read that you can put it in a container of compost and place it in the pond so the compost is an inch or so below the surface. That's suppossed to help clear the water as well. the oxygenating plants will start to grow again as the water gets a little warmer.
Don't try to clean out the pond or replace the water as the eco system then has to cope with tap water (unless you can use rain) which takes a while to lose the chemicals and actually makes your pond more murky. You should only vac them around Feb. (ask your local scuba diver if you can borrow a drysuit and gloves because then the temp of the water from the tap is about the same as they temp in the pond and all the life is dormant. Remember that a completely clean pond won't support life.
I've also had my lilys outgrow their pots and float to the surface. I bunged it in a new pot, cut off any bits that didn't fit and which weren't actually leaves and its thrived.
Morrissons has waterlilies for sale for £3.49 if you're looking but they're the very vigorous ones so you have to keep them under control.

[blackkitty]

Cute newt

[eskymo]

ok - you guys are talking about lakes compared to my tiny pond which I could stand is and the water would just reach my knees and I couldn't really walk around in it either - no need for scuba diving equipment here!

I would love something bigger, but at the time we put the pond in we didn't think we could accomodate anything but a tiny one, which I guess is still true.

[eskymo]

did anyone read that article in one of the w/e newspaper magazines [can't remember which paper as we get a different one each week] all about Natural Swimming Pools? I'd love something that size in my garden, but if we did that, we would have no garden as it would all be water!

[Nicos]

eskymo- that is huge compared to ours!!!!! 3ft x 18" and 18" deep! It was the second smallest in the garden centre, and the smallest looked like a grey tub! Ours is in the border under a willow tree(no good for fish) and is really just somewhere for the birds to drink and the frogs to swim/ breed in. It contains one plant which is a type of reed and a few water snails. (and frogspawn now!)Oh yes..and ?mosquito lava in the summer. I'd love to create a pond on the allotment as we had one on our last plot. We get toads down there too living under the shed.

[eskymo]

I think ours is about that size, maybe just a bit bigger. Glad to hear you get frogspawn in yours. We're off on a hunt over the w/e to see if we can find some and bring it back.

[nick the grief]

.....I remember hearing or reading that to be viable a pond needed to have a surface area of 35 square feet. I think the point was that smaller results in temperature fluctuations that make it impossible to create a healthy environment. But somebody must know about this, surely?

The surface area dosn't matter until ypu put fish into it Berr. What will keep the temperature stable is the depth of water as the bottom will be at the same temperature as the surrounding ground & this doesn't vary much throughout the year. They always reccomend a minimum depth of 18" this is so the fish have somewhere to go as the top layers freeze in winter.

If you put fish into a pond without any form of filteration you need to allow 2 sq feet of surface per 6" of fish (not counting the tail) so if you have a fish that is 12" long you need 4 sq ft Sticklebacks only grow to about 2-3" so youocould keep a couple of these in a barrel pond etc. If you keep Koi well you need to allow a lot more because they will grow to bigger fish( anything up to 3' long in the right condidtions). If you have a water fall or a filter, you can increase the stocking level becoause there will be a bigger surface area to exchange the gases with the air & a filter will break down the waste products. Plants help of course especially the oxgenators, as they use up the nitrates in the water & give out oxygen during the day. This keeps things like Algae in check because it will starve it of both light & food.

The trick is keeping all this in balance.

[eskymo]

We've got frogspawn!!! yippee!!! wee found tons in a stream in a wood where we occassionally walk the dog - not sure we'll be taking her there again though as she disappeared today chasing deer and we were searching and calling for her for what seemed like hours!!! But anyway got the frogspawn out of the stream and drove it home, gave it a once over in a bucket to get rid of what might be invasive and spreading plants and then put it in the pond!

We cleaned most of the old water and sludge out of the pond last week as it had gone rather stagnant and it's been gradually filling up with rainwater and the oxygenating plants have been helping clear the water too.

I hope the little froggies will like their new home and I hope the birds don't eat them for breakfast! I would hate to go out tomorrow morning to find them all gone. I don't think the water level is high enough for the birds to reach them though...unless it pours overnight!

[Jaxom]

As soon as the spawn hatches and they grow their first limbs, start to feed them mince beef. This will provide them with food and stop the larger ones eating the smaller ones. Very little meat is needed. The grains of meat can be put in a shallow part of the pond. A thimble full is all you need at a time. Feed once a day until numbers increase. When there are about 100 Tadpoles with legs you can use two thimbles full.
Jax

[eskymo]

really? or is this a late april fool?

[Nicos]

No -it's true...only I had no idea how much to put in! Now I know- thanx jax!

[eskymo]

still think you're having me on!

[Nicos]

No really!!! They usually eat algae, but if there is not enough to sustain them all, they will start to eat each other and the idea of minced meat is to try to prevent this.
I found this interesting site on my travels though....

www.erodent.co.uk/GardenPond/April2004.htm

[Jaxom]

Honest Indian.. Eskymo! Would I lie to you? Feeding meat to tadpoles is something my uncle and cousins used to do 30 years ago. It is fascinating to watch the tadpoles suck the meat juices out of the grains of meat.
Jax