Wildlife pond

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #15 on: July 05, 2017, 11:55 »
The dozen goldfish introduced into the pond over a week ago have not been seen since. There are no dead fish floating on the surface and as the pond is quite large and nearly four feet deep, I'm assuming they are just lurking on the bottom and feeding on insect-life etc. Certainly the flake I've scattered on the surface on two occasions has had no takers.

Is this non-appearance by newly introduced fish into quite a large ( 20ft x 15ft) pond quite normal?

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JayG

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #16 on: July 05, 2017, 12:18 »
Even after they get used to their new surroundings, goldfish will remain quite nervous and dive to the bottom if frightened - you may get to spot them nearer the surface if you stand a bit further away and don't move or make any noise.

Assuming it's too big to net, there is a possibility of course that a heron has visited your pond - time will tell.

I stocked my pond about 15 years ago with 5 young goldfish which bred freely initially, but unfortunately the pond was too small to support such large numbers and there are only about half a dozen quite large ones in there now (including one completely black one - in fact none of them are entirely orange!)

I bought summer flake food and special winter food for them to start off with, but they never showed any interest in either, so I stopped feeding them several years go. They all look plump and well fed though - I suspect a large part of their diet is frog tadpoles, although I have gone to great lengths to provide underwater hiding places for them to make sure at least some of them make it out of there as froglets.
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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #17 on: July 05, 2017, 21:08 »
Another question please, given the size, I estimate about 10,000 litres, can anyone recommend an effective solar-powered bubbler or oxygenator please? The pond is about 100 metres from any power source, so solar power is my only option. Again, given its distance from the house, I don't want to tempt any opportunist theft, so something fairly low-tech and cheap would be ideal - if there is such a product!

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8doubles

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #18 on: July 06, 2017, 20:57 »
Wind powered generator for a low voltage bubbler another way to go ?

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #19 on: July 06, 2017, 21:13 »
That's a cracking good idea. Being where we are, not too far from the Solway firth, the wind is a constant factor. I'll start searching now, but to be honest, I've never seen anything advertised

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JayG

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #20 on: July 07, 2017, 11:52 »
Alan: A pond with plenty of healthy plants and not overstocked with fish (which yours certainly isn't) shouldn't need any artificial aeration, and solar powered fountains don't produce much anyway.

My goldfish pond has never had any filtration or artificial aeration, yet remains clear apart from early in the season when it sometimes temporarily gets 'green water' until the plants get going.

Of course if you want a fountain for ornamental reasons that's a different matter.  ;)

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #21 on: July 07, 2017, 12:01 »


No, I've no interest in an ornamental fountain. It'd be way out of place an a wildlife pond. My problem as a newbie to such ponds is all the conflicting advice re necessity of things like filtration and aeration. Obviously the various stockists say they are indispensable, as does a friend who keeps Koi carp in his pond

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JayG

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #22 on: July 07, 2017, 12:12 »
Ponds 'in the wild' get by without filtration and aeration - Koi carp are much more demanding than goldfish, although I have seen them in a lake at Thornbridge Hall which has neither filtration or aeration (although it is part of a continuous flow of water which also supplies all the other watery features in the gardens.)

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sunshineband

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #23 on: July 07, 2017, 15:31 »
JayG is quite right in what you says, and if you have plenty of oxygenating plants then the fish will cope even with hot weather if there are only a few of them in a largish pond like yours.

The solar powered small fountains I have seen probably won't make a huge difference in that volume of water
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RubyR3d

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #24 on: July 07, 2017, 20:03 »
I think you have to make up your mind whether you want a " wildlife pond " or a pond with fish in. We have 2 wildlife ponds. One is similar size to yours the other is smaller. Twenty years ago we bought 3 golden rudd. Big mistake. The wildlife we had there were frogs, newts various beetles, water shrimp everything to keep a pond healthy. The fish as they got bigger ate more and more of the life in there. They also poo a lot which if you read up helps to cause the pond to go green. That's why filtration is necessary. Also the pond needs to be covered on the surface by 2/3. This can be by lily leaves and other floating greenery. This also helps keep the pond clear. As has already been mentioned ponds in the wild have no help but continue to thrive and I've noticed with one round my way that it does go through changes through the year ie blanket weed, but it seems to sort itself out.  Both my ponds are fish free, have lots of oxygenaters,loads of wildlife and clear. Leave your fish for a Friday night treat ( wrapped in batter )

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2017, 09:53 »
I think you have to make up your mind whether you want a " wildlife pond " or a pond with fish in.
Hahaha, I'm afraid that unless I can persuade a heron to find the damned fish and eat them, I have now no choice. The pond is alive with beetles, water-skaters, various other unknown crawlies, oxygenating weed and introduced margin plants. Somewhere 3 ft down are a dozen goldfish that since their introduction 2 weeks ago are refusing to make an appearance. As there is a four ft high mesh fence around it almost to the water's edge,  until youngest grandchild gets a bit older, I doubt there's been any heron in it as It'd have to land in a couple of feet of water and then swim

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #26 on: July 08, 2017, 18:18 »
Right, after being in hiding since they were put in the pond 10 days ago, the goldfish have shown themselves. All 12 of them chasing each other around near the surface. They even took some flake! My heron-proofing of a netting fence all the way round, so close to the pond's edge that there's no room for a heron to land, seems to be working. Just need the fish to show themselves when grandchildren are here!

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snowdrops

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #27 on: July 08, 2017, 21:44 »
Herons are wading birds so need to land then walk in to the pond, then they need 3 to 5ft of runway to be able to take off, well that's what we read when we saw a heron on our fence eying up the fish, so we have planting round the only edge that they can wade in then 2 strategically placed washing lines so they can't take off
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sunshineband

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #28 on: July 09, 2017, 09:00 »
I am glad your fish are still alive and well, Alan 😀 Sounds like they should be safe from herons. We have strategically placed shrubs and washing lines like Snowy does, but they still land on the apex of the greenhouse and eye up the pond from time to time

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arh

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Re: Wildlife pond
« Reply #29 on: July 09, 2017, 16:55 »
So, tell me how those storks that nest on the top of minarets, and chimneys in Istanbul and Milan, (to name but 2), take off if they need 3 -5 feet of runway,  :lol:, :lol:.
It's all right, I know how, just joking.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2017, 16:57 by arh »



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