OP
OP
Sharpchick
Aquarium Advice FINatic
This pond practically maintains itself. I clean out the pre-filter on the pump and check the pump itself once a week to make sure everything is working properly. The plants in the bog filter have exploded with new growth. I'm giving them root tabs about every six weeks.
There still has been no measurable ammonia in the pond. Our daytime air temps have been in the low to mid 90s for about three weeks now, and the pond temp has held between 76 and 78 each day, falling about 4 degrees at night. My water has stayed clear, and the fish are also eating algae, some of the salvinia, and some roots on the water lettuce, although so far, the lettuce has managed to off-set new plants faster than the fish can eat it.
I'm particularly pleased with the $5 lily-in-a-bag I got from one of the big box stores, although I'll have to pot it up properly this fall. It's a nymphaea Sioux, and is supposed to be fully hardy in my planting zone. Once the lotus got its emergent leaves (as Alspond told me it would), I lowered it about 8 inches deeper in the pond. It continues to put out new leaves.
The wees are not so wee any more. And like Blondie and Gypsy, they love their veggies and fruits. I'm going to have to start feeding a whole orange instead of a half, because the ryukins can tear up a half one in a couple of hours. I go through a half dozen zucchini cut into spears each week.
And now, I "need" an underwater camera.
There still has been no measurable ammonia in the pond. Our daytime air temps have been in the low to mid 90s for about three weeks now, and the pond temp has held between 76 and 78 each day, falling about 4 degrees at night. My water has stayed clear, and the fish are also eating algae, some of the salvinia, and some roots on the water lettuce, although so far, the lettuce has managed to off-set new plants faster than the fish can eat it.
I'm particularly pleased with the $5 lily-in-a-bag I got from one of the big box stores, although I'll have to pot it up properly this fall. It's a nymphaea Sioux, and is supposed to be fully hardy in my planting zone. Once the lotus got its emergent leaves (as Alspond told me it would), I lowered it about 8 inches deeper in the pond. It continues to put out new leaves.
The wees are not so wee any more. And like Blondie and Gypsy, they love their veggies and fruits. I'm going to have to start feeding a whole orange instead of a half, because the ryukins can tear up a half one in a couple of hours. I go through a half dozen zucchini cut into spears each week.
And now, I "need" an underwater camera.
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