Re: [RML] Ponds
Gary Lange (gwlange at stlnet.com)
Thu, 13 Apr 2000 22:24:55 -0500
Different area but in my 1.3 meter x 2 meter x 2/3 meter deep lined pond I
keep my algae at bay with the higher plant kingdom. I change at least 25%
of the water every three weeks during our summer months. The lily's cover
the surface pretty heavily (2/3) and I think keep the algae to a minimum by
sucking up all the nutrients. Mine are hardy so they keep in the central US
winter's. I also put a quick growing plant like anacharis (sp) out to also
suck up nutrients and provide spawning/hiding areas. I will sometimes add
frogbit (sorry, don't remember the species name) and water hycianth (it's
legal to do so here, check in your area if you are thinking about it). It
makes a great "mop" for rainbowfish eggs. I usually try to throw out
species for all stratifications of the pond. A rainbowfish for the top and
middle. Often a blue-eye can be added to this mix very easily. To the
bottom I'll add my montezuma swords. Flag killifish worked very nicely with
the montezumas last year. I think you need something near the bottom
"hunters" though to keep the dragonfly larvae at bay. When I've just used
rainbowfish I've ended up with dragonfly larvae and smaller amounts of
rainbowfish fry. BTW some mollies eat rainbowfish fry so not a good choice!
Several pairs of bristlenose catfish keep the black plastic liner relatively
free of algae. Everyone, including the bristlenoses breeds and I usually
have 50-100 more of everyone in the fall. Montezuma swords are always a fun
diversion from rainbowfish but when put outside you can easily end up with a
five inch fish that is 3 inches of sword! Two weeks ago I took the clear
plastic cover off of my 1/2 raised pond and did my prelim cleaning for the
spring. Lilies have just started coming to life despite the 2 frosts that
we've had in St. Louis in the last week. The daphnia and the few mosquito
larvae have made a welcome food for the indoors fish, especially for the
scarlet badis species that I am most anxious to breed. By mid-May I'll add
fish and about 10 pounds of dolomite to the bottom of the pond. It's harder
than heck to see fish against a black pond liner so the white gravel helps
to reflect the light.
Before I started using the lily's my water got very hot in the summer, (we
can get 90+ F degrees for weeks on end) and often ended up with algae blooms
and the dreaded hair/string algae. Now the water is almost always clear and
hair algae is a minimal problem. Maybe I should toss out some "Amano
shrimp" this year and that would also no longer be a problem. For sure I
plan to toss out the Hutchingson creek signifers so they can put on some
size and finnage. For the rainbow I'm thinking about putting the wanamensis
out and maybe adding a second very unrelated species like some of the new
Madagascar rainbows that are now coming into the US. The "white-finned"
fish is interesting as well as the oranged finned or yellow finned Bedotia
longinalis. The longinalis are working very nicely with M. boesemani now
and I still haven't been able to obtain any of those so called crosses
between the two groups. If I don't put the wanamensis out then I'll end up
putting out M. parkinsoni. For the 1/2 dozen or so rainbows that I've put
out over the years they get the best color and really crank out the fry.
However I'm open to suggestions on the rainbows. What would you put out and
why?
gary lange
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Stanton <matthews at sf.nsw.gov.au>
To: 'rainbowfish at pcug.org.au' <rainbowfish at pcug.org.au>
Date: Thursday, April 13, 2000 1:11 AM
Subject: RE: [RML] Ponds
>Darrell,
>Can you give us some more info about the pond. Is it deep? How is it lined?
>Is there any water flow or filtration? Is there vegetation that drops
leaves
>(nutrients) into the pond? Do you have pond snails? Have you been feeding
>the fish?
>
>Waterflow and filtration can help reduce algae growth and it helps to
>localise what growth does occur to make it easier to remove.
>Deeper ponds have more "sink" capacity and are more stable than shallower
>ponds.
>