Biddy

Thanks for that Livingart! I shall seek it out and give it a try. Any idea of costs?

I have an approx 6000L outdoor pond with 10 goldfish and a few plants. Black plastic liner. I currently have a mechanical filter - essentially a big black box that water is pumped in and then through 3 layers of varying coarseness sponges. Water is then fed back to the pond. At this time of year the pond water is pretty green and the filter is getting full of brown sludge and little (1cm) red worms and is requiring cleaning every couple of weeks. Basically it's not doing the job! So is it worth trading up to a mechanical / UV combined filter - such as: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 181789.htm Great Pond Bio Press UV Filter 10000L/H Anyone got any experience with this sort of filter? Do they work? Etc etc. Or what about an 'inline' UV filter to add to my current system such as: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 466439.htm (hope the links work) 11582 PONDMASTER UV-C 9W CLARIFIER Thanks

Sounds like a fab pond Peter - just the sort of thing I'm trying to produce! Apart from some rocks and wood what other substrate have you added to your pond? I'm thinking mud/sand or gravel etc. Stella - just checked out your photos - fantastic!

Another query? What do you put directly on top of the liner - especially on the steep sides of the pond? I'm tempted to chuck in some gravel, stones and sand but am flummoxed as to how to protect the sides - any bright ideas?

So a trip down to the local stream with net and bucket seems in order then!

Where can you buy native shrimps or do you just go and catch them?

Certainly been fun so far - even the digging was Ok as we're on soft sand - phew! Not familiar with WCMM yet so may have to be converted! Would they be visible enough in a big(ish) pond?

Am I not right in thinking that the bulk of natives - ie bullies and kokopu would be a bit boring - ie not too visible and probably living on the bottom - pond is quite deep. Anything that would be a bit more showy and keep the kids entertained. Love the idea of native shrimps but must confess to never having seen a WCMM - however just googled them and they look pretty cool. Presumably they'd be visible darting around?

Apologies - just copied this from the 'Welcome ' section as it seemed appropriate to list here too! Hello all - just registered - found the forum a few days ago whilst googling for affordable pond liners! I live just N of Waikanae on 2 acres of very sandy old beach dunes about 1k from sea. Have just dug a 5m x 3m figure of 8 type pond in back yard. 2 deep sections approx 50cm and 80 cm rest shallowing to edges. After reading a few posts re pond liners I went to my local Crightons today and picked up a 7m x 4m piece of builders polythene (250 microns thick) for $28!! Talk about a bargain. Have filled pond today - the rain sure helped and would welcome advice as to what to put in it! My ideal would be to have fish of some sort - probably a few goldfish to start, a lily or 2, something to oxygenate and ultmately some other wildlife - frogs, invertibrates, etc. Anyone with good advice for low maintenance interest for the family? Also low cost is preferable (as you can tell from my penny pinching pond liner purchase! Idea is to have a variety of borders - decking, boulders, pebbles, sand etc in distinct areas around the edge and ultimately a twee bridge going across the thin bit. Will post pics soon if anyone interested. Cheers Mike

Any recomendations for plants? Can I just nip down to the local stream and grab a handfull of anything thriving there and bung it in?

Thanks for the quick replies guys! I'm new to home aquatic stuff although 20 years ago I did graduate from London University with a degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology! (have been in sales ever since so forgotten everything!) Native shrimp sound good - presumably they'll need a gravelly substrate? I guess it's got to be a good thing to provide a number of different environments? Sandy areas, gravelly bits, rocks to hide under etc?

Hello all - just registered - found the forum a few days ago whilst googling for affordable pond liners! I live just N of Waikanae on 2 acres of very sandy old beach dunes about 1k from sea. Have just dug a 5m x 3m figure of 8 type pond in back yard. 2 deep sections approx 50cm and 80 cm rest shallowing to edges. After reading a few posts re pond liners I went to my local Crightons today and picked up a 7m x 4m piece of builders polythene (250 microns thick) for $28!! Talk about a bargain. Have filled pond today - the rain sure helped and would welcome advice as to what to put in it! My ideal would be to have fish of some sort - probably a few goldfish to start, a lily or 2, something to oxygenate and ultmately some other wildlife - frogs, invertibrates, etc. Anyone with good advice for low maintenance interest for the family? Also low cost is preferable (as you can tell from my penny pinching pond liner purchase! Idea is to have a variety of borders - decking, boulders, pebbles, sand etc in distinct areas around the edge and ultimately a twee bridge going across the thin bit. Will post pics soon if anyone interested. Cheers Mike