Caryl Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I am hoping to clean my fishpond out this Sunday. If anyone is near and would be willing to help it would be appreciated. We need to totally drain it (we have a pump for that) remove the plants, find and catch the fish (and turtle), scoop out the sludge, then put the fish and plants back in new water. I can provide food and drink and grateful thanks :love: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 A pic of some baking may help :smln: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I am hoping to clean my fishpond out this Sunday. If anyone is near and would be willing to help it would be appreciated. We need to totally drain it (we have a pump for that) remove the plants, find and catch the fish (and turtle), scoop out the sludge, then put the fish and plants back in new water. I can provide food and drink and grateful thanks :love: I'd help, but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I'd help, but... It is a long swim and you don't have your water wings?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 It is a long swim and you don't have your water wings?. And I can't swim anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 Well the pond has been half emptied. The major problem is the fine mulm that rises up at the slightest movement. I am worried about it suffocating the fish (no sign yet of the turtle) We filled a stock trough with pond water and the fish we have caught so far have gone into there. The bronze ones are harder as they disappear in the gloom as we disturb the bottom. I have been hauling out handfuls of tree branches, leaves etc and am pulling out all the oxygen weed, as it is easy enough to get more. The current weed had taken over the pond and had quite a bit of algae on it. Any suggestions on the best way of removing the fine mulm? The bottom is uneven so I doubt we can get enough water out of it to scrape it out. It is so fine it goes through nettting. We will try and see if it will go through the non submersible pump (that usually runs the filter and waterfall) without blocking it. If anyone is passing tomorrow and wants to give a hand, you would be most welcome! :love: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 most pumps handle that stuff fine, maybe check & clean the impeller afterwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 You could use gutter guard to build a cage for the pump to stop larger bits going thru the pump, may need to clean the cage a bit though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 We have a bucket through which many holes were drilled. It was then lined with wind break material. This is working well to stop the larger stuff. Fingers crossed the pump will handle the fine stuff. It is easy to pull apart and clean, or replace bits, for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 What are these and are they good or bad for the pond? Alice came over and helped me lift out the plants and catch more fish. Those bronze ones really know how to blend in! Still no sign of the turtle but she may have moved out overnight - if she had sense. Filled a wheelbarrow high with oxygen weed. PS. Alice is looking forward to her share of the baking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Dragonfly nymphs. They're good for the pond. They may eat the occasional goldfish fry and the grow into dragonflies. Guess that makes them double good. Suppose they might be damselfly nymphs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 I suspected damselfly nymphs as we have a lot of them about. I will put them back in the pond in that case :bggrn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 I had one of those in my original catch of bugs for the trough and they ate everything smaller than themselves. I ended up putting them into the fish tank to continue the circle of life.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Damselfly, dragonfly are much fatter and ugly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 :gpo2: +1 damsel fly, probably the native Blue variety, keep them, good food for fish and you'll love the damsels later in the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Why are dragon flys/ damselflys good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Why are dragon flys/ damselflys good? Because they're cool and pretty. Why wouldn't they be good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 So no other bennifits other than looking good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 So no other bennifits other than looking good? Why do you need more? They also eat bugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Because they way all the test read was that they are good for something other than just looking cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Because they way all the test read was that they are good for something other than just looking cool. They can also occasipnaly eat very small fish fry. The only ones in the pond would be goldfish so thats a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 From a Science perspective they are an indicator of good water quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 2, 2013 Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 So are sandflies. It is not uncommon to be pestered with sandflies after an effluent discharge has been cleened up discharging to a stream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 Nice thought! 8) Pond has been refilled. Still waiting for more oxygen weed to be added and fish put back in. Wanted to get the temperature up a bit first. Grant hopes to finish a new filter today. The one we have clogs constantly so he is building a mesh cage around the inlet so it stops sucking up leaves and muck (we hope). Still no sign of the turtle :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Well, that was last October. This is what the pond looks like now... We have hung some ferns off the front of the deck at the far end... This is the view of the pond as you come around the end of the house... PS: Still no sign of the turtle so it must have gone back to its own home :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.