I finally started my pond

[bindian]

thought i'd better say hi on ur great pond thread Brandi - yes this pond & fish thing gets in ur blood a bit........ if u want to know a bit about another form of fish/vegie growing, we have a wonderful Oz forum at :-
Backyard Aquaponics • Index page
great place to learn about keeping fish - only a few of us r "ponders" most grow fish & vegies in tanks in their backyards! we have quite a few US members.

regardless where u live or what fish u keep, there r species that do better in harder conditions (ie lower hot water) in Aquaponics in our part of the world people grow trout in cold winter water and barramundi in hot water periods - they buy in a bit bigger fish & grow out to plate size in about 6 months - quite amazing. i'm doing it a bit different, i have trout in my first pond now, but the one i'm building will be to buy trout in at about 2" fingerlings & keep in AP system over winter then release into the pond to grow out for a year or so.

i'll be interested to see how u progress to second pond now u have had such interesting experiences - wishing u very good luck - cheers Oz G

OzG,
Thanks for checking in here. I will check out Y'alls Aquaponics website. All that fascinates me. Back in High School I was in Agriculture and did a paper on Aquaculture.

It is too hot here for trout. My second pond will most likely average 4 feet or so deep and I might be inclined to stock crawdads (crayfish, Mudbugs if you are from Louisianna!) Now those are good eatin'.:laughing:
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

My second pond

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Funny how one pond is never enough!!!!!!!!

Eddie

 

[jinman]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Funny how one pond is never enough!!!!!!!!

Eddie

AMEN! You can never be too rich, too thin, have too many tractors, or too many ponds.

 

[RobertBrown]

Neatest duck so far to show up is a Mud Duck. He kept diving off the pier post 3 or 4 times then left.

My daughter saw some Mud Ducks on another pond and told me I need some on my pond, but I haven't found a pair to purchase.
hugs, Brandi

Any duck is better than no ducks....
Same log, 6 days later(today). I'm thinking it's a time share scenario. There goes the neighborhood!
You may want to add a log to your pond. I put this on in, got it from the neighbor who was glad to see it go.

 

[bindian]

Any duck is better than no ducks....
Same log, 6 days later(today). I'm thinking it's a time share scenario. There goes the neighborhood!
You may want to add a log to your pond. I put this on in, got it from the neighbor who was glad to see it go.

A log might be nice, but my son is too deadly with his 22 to have any turtles around.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Eddie and Jim,
Yeah, that second pond keeps calling my name.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

My pond is down now about 5 feet. In the photo, Booger is on a ledge about 3-4 feet down trying to catch frogs. We need rain, but if it does not come soon and the pond level goes down another foot or so, I plan on expanding the shallow end of the pond and decreasing the slope.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Hope you get some rain soon!!!!! It's starting to look like we're in for a long, hot summer this year.

Eddie

 

[weldingisfun]

Hope you get some rain soon!!!!! It's starting to look like we're in for a long, hot summer this year.

Eddie

You forgot a decriptive word for this summer, Eddie. Dry.

 

[EddieWalker]

True, but the last real rain that I received was LAST summer when I got 8 inches in one day!!!!! Since then, it's never been more then an inch, and it seems like that's only happend a couple of times since last summer.

Eddie

 

[bindian]

Hope you get some rain soon!!!!! It's starting to look like we're in for a long, hot summer this year.

Eddie

Eddie,
Yeah, if it doesn't rain soon, I will have to add a longer rope to the PVC pipe feeding ring floating in front of the pier/deck.

I let the last of the slack out yesterday morning on the existing rope!
hugs, Brandi

 

[scoutcub]

My pond is down now about 5 feet. In the photo, Booger is on a ledge about 3-4 feet down trying to catch frogs. We need rain, but if it does not come soon and the pond level goes down another foot or so, I plan on expanding the shallow end of the pond and decreasing the slope.
hugs, Brandi

Brandi -

I've just read the last few pages, including the finished pond and dock, beautiful pond/setting!
Just curious, did you add something in the water to get this color, or just water/soil type? I have a similar size pond that was created after strip mining, and it has a very unwelcome color......


Frank

 

[bindian]

Brandi -

I've just read the last few pages, including the finished pond and dock, beautiful pond/setting!
Just curious, did you add something in the water to get this color, or just water/soil type? I have a similar size pond that was created after strip mining, and it has a very unwelcome color......


Frank

Frank,
Thanks! The pond is a natural muddy to a muddy/clear color. I added the blue pond dye to help with algae. It is the stuff TSC sales by the gallon. I add about 7 ounces at a time. It could go to a deep blue, but I am leery of doing that after killing all my blue cats last year. Now that the level is low, I am hesitate to add more dye.

I also use cornmeal in the water.:thumbsup: These two items keep the algae at bay.
hugs, Brandi

 

[scoutcub]

Frank,
Thanks! The pond is a natural muddy to a muddy/clear color. I added the blue pond dye to help with algae. It is the stuff TSC sales by the gallon. I add about 7 ounces at a time. It could go to a deep blue, but I am leery of doing that after killing all my blue cats last year. Now that the level is low, I am hesitate to add more dye.

I also use cornmeal in the water.:thumbsup: These two items keep the algae at bay.
hugs, Brandi

OK, thanks! I didn't know TSC carried that stuff. Think I'll try it out on my and my Dad's ponds. I've also heard that throwing chunks of drywall will clear up water, but has a bad side effect....now I can't remember what!

Frank

 

[bindian]

OK, thanks! I didn't know TSC carried that stuff. Think I'll try it out on my and my Dad's ponds. I've also heard that throwing chunks of drywall will clear up water, but has a bad side effect....now I can't remember what!

Frank

I heard the drywall can make it smell funny.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Since we are in an "exceptional" drought, my pond level was low enough to move my fish motel and "plant" a new pallet for fathead minnow spawning. The pond was down over 6 feet now, but right after I took these photos today, it came a down pour and raised it about a foot and a half.................with just 1.62 inches of rain. It is so dry here, nothing soaked in and everything ran off.
hugs, Brandi

 

[tony Cecil]

Is that the natural color of the water? even though it is low.....I think the drought is over here in S C , but this is the second year with very little rain after March....and really hot earlier than normal....Tony ps I only ask asI think you put some sort of chemical in the water, and it killed the catfish??

 

[bindian]

Is that the natural color of the water? even though it is low.....I think the drought is over here in S C , but this is the second year with very little rain after March....and really hot earlier than normal....Tony ps I only ask asI think you put some sort of chemical in the water, and it killed the catfish??

Tony,
I am using Aquashade as a color filter to keep sunlight from the algae. That and Cornmeal is all I use now to combat algae blooms. I am slowly increasing the amount to get a blue shade.

I used too much Algaecide and killed all my Blue Catfish a year or so ago.

We got another 1/2 inch of rain today. That still puts us about 16 inches short (since last fall) of our normal rainfall.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

I found a good "before" photo of the pond with my daughter and her new to her truck back in 2008, a year before I started on the pond. So here is a before and an after photo of the pond.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Nice before and after pics!!!!! If fits in there like it's always been there and looks very natural. You did a great job of it.

Eddie