I've got the bug I suppose

[LeeAnne]

Yikes - upon further examination it turns out that I have not 2 but 4 fish
in my little 'bird pool'. So, the little guys will have to come in for the
winter (I've got a 55 gallon w/one catfish in it that shall become their
home).

A few questions...because I'm going to slightly expand... (and I mean
slightly!!! really I do!!!).

1. Best place to buy a nice 45mil liner - are there place online that are
cheap? Yes I know to stay away from the roofing stuff. I think the liner I
have down now is about 6 x 5 or something like that - I'm going to probably
get at least a 10 x 10 or a 15x15 or something. I want to make sure I've
got plenty of room to do the edges correctly so I don't have the small leaks
that keep developing w/what I have now.

1a. Best place to buy some sort of prefab waterfall thing? I'm not really
great at building stuff.

2. Goldfish are pretty hardy, right? The 55 gallon they will go into for
the winter is kept at a constant 80-ish degrees (to keep Ick away) Ph is
usually a little high, very high phosphates and very hard water. It's the
same town water in the tank that's in the pond, but the pond, of course,
gets rain water and has live plants in it that the 55 won't have. I usually
keep the light off to prevent algae growth (have very high phosphates and
the algae grows like nuts). I just want to make sure they will handle the
transition OK.

I'm still not looking for a 'pond-pond' that will attract all manner of
great blue herons and raccoons. It'll still be a bird-splashing pool, I'm
going to just dig it out a little deeper and make it a bit better for the
fishies I have. I also don't want to really have to deal w/the filtration
and yadda yadda yadda that goes w/a larger pond (mucking about in it, etc.)
So instead of having a 3x5 pond I'm probably going to have something about
twice the size w/a small water fall at one end and my fountain head at the
other end. Probably 12-18" deep at the most (depending on how hard it'll be
to dig out).

Yikes, here I go....
LeeAnne

--
------
If you're an insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic do you lay
awake at night wondering if there is a dog?
-----

[joe]

Try justliners.com. Depending on where you live, even with shipping they are
cheap.

Joe

LeeAnne wrote:

> 1. Best place to buy a nice 45mil liner - are there place online that are
> cheap? Yes I know to stay away from the roofing stuff. I think the liner I
> have down now is about 6 x 5 or something like that - I'm going to probably
> get at least a 10 x 10 or a 15x15 or something. I want to make sure I've
> got plenty of room to do the edges correctly so I don't have the small leaks
> that keep developing w/what I have now.



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[joe]

Try justliners.com. Depending on where you live, even with shipping they are
cheap.

Joe

LeeAnne wrote:

> 1. Best place to buy a nice 45mil liner - are there place online that are
> cheap? Yes I know to stay away from the roofing stuff. I think the liner I
> have down now is about 6 x 5 or something like that - I'm going to probably
> get at least a 10 x 10 or a 15x15 or something. I want to make sure I've
> got plenty of room to do the edges correctly so I don't have the small leaks
> that keep developing w/what I have now.



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http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

[Gail Futoran]

"LeeAnne" > wrote in message
...
> Yikes - upon further examination it turns out that I have
not 2 but 4 fish
> in my little 'bird pool'. So, the little guys will have
to come in for the
> winter (I've got a 55 gallon w/one catfish in it that
shall become their
> home).
>
> A few questions...because I'm going to slightly expand...
(and I mean
> slightly!!! really I do!!!).
[snips - questions other posters answered)

> 1a. Best place to buy some sort of prefab waterfall thing?
I'm not really
> great at building stuff.

I picked one up at Home Depot a few years ago. If you live
anywhere near San Antonio TX you can have it! I was using
it as a bird bath but not now. Anyway, I don't remember
what it cost but don't think it was that expensive (or I
wouldn't have bought it).

> 2. Goldfish are pretty hardy, right?

The common goldfish & shubunkins, sure. Probably the main
thing is not to overstock.

The 55 gallon they will go into for
> the winter is kept at a constant 80-ish degrees (to keep
Ick away) Ph is
> usually a little high, very high phosphates and very hard
water.

I have hard, high pH tap water and my common goldfish &
shubunkins do fine in their pond. I also add some rainwater
but I don't know how much that changes water chemistry.
Temps get into the low 90s (w/ shade) during the summer, and
to the 50s or below during what passes for winter in
Southcentral TX. As far as I know I haven't had any cases
of ick. But maybe goldfish fare differently in ponds than
in aquariums. I only have pond goldfish.

It's the
> same town water in the tank that's in the pond, but the
pond, of course,
> gets rain water and has live plants in it that the 55
won't have. I usually
> keep the light off to prevent algae growth (have very high
phosphates and
> the algae grows like nuts). I just want to make sure they
will handle the
> transition OK.

I'd check water chemistry carefully, and if that's similar
in both settings, plus water temp is the same, I don't see a
problem in moving your fish indoors. One problem I can
foresee is the much larger bioload in your 55 gallon, so you
might have to do more frequent partial water changes for
awhile.

> I'm still not looking for a 'pond-pond' that will attract
all manner of
> great blue herons and raccoons. It'll still be a
bird-splashing pool, I'm
> going to just dig it out a little deeper and make it a bit
better for the
> fishies I have. I also don't want to really have to deal
w/the filtration
> and yadda yadda yadda that goes w/a larger pond (mucking
about in it, etc.)

I'm not sure if you can have a goldfish pond without some
kind of filtration (or a heckuva lot of plants) and/or
regular partial water changes. Two of my small ponds have
no filtration, but they only have minnows, tadpoles and
occasionally baby goldfish. The goldfish pond has a
filter/fountain.

> Yikes, here I go....
> LeeAnne

Sad, isn't it? What is it they say about boats, a hole in
the water into which you throw your money? Ponds are a hole
in the ground into which you throw your money. :) But IMO
it's well worth it!

Gail

[Gail Futoran]

"LeeAnne" > wrote in message
...
> Yikes - upon further examination it turns out that I have
not 2 but 4 fish
> in my little 'bird pool'. So, the little guys will have
to come in for the
> winter (I've got a 55 gallon w/one catfish in it that
shall become their
> home).
>
> A few questions...because I'm going to slightly expand...
(and I mean
> slightly!!! really I do!!!).
[snips - questions other posters answered)

> 1a. Best place to buy some sort of prefab waterfall thing?
I'm not really
> great at building stuff.

I picked one up at Home Depot a few years ago. If you live
anywhere near San Antonio TX you can have it! I was using
it as a bird bath but not now. Anyway, I don't remember
what it cost but don't think it was that expensive (or I
wouldn't have bought it).

> 2. Goldfish are pretty hardy, right?

The common goldfish & shubunkins, sure. Probably the main
thing is not to overstock.

The 55 gallon they will go into for
> the winter is kept at a constant 80-ish degrees (to keep
Ick away) Ph is
> usually a little high, very high phosphates and very hard
water.

I have hard, high pH tap water and my common goldfish &
shubunkins do fine in their pond. I also add some rainwater
but I don't know how much that changes water chemistry.
Temps get into the low 90s (w/ shade) during the summer, and
to the 50s or below during what passes for winter in
Southcentral TX. As far as I know I haven't had any cases
of ick. But maybe goldfish fare differently in ponds than
in aquariums. I only have pond goldfish.

It's the
> same town water in the tank that's in the pond, but the
pond, of course,
> gets rain water and has live plants in it that the 55
won't have. I usually
> keep the light off to prevent algae growth (have very high
phosphates and
> the algae grows like nuts). I just want to make sure they
will handle the
> transition OK.

I'd check water chemistry carefully, and if that's similar
in both settings, plus water temp is the same, I don't see a
problem in moving your fish indoors. One problem I can
foresee is the much larger bioload in your 55 gallon, so you
might have to do more frequent partial water changes for
awhile.

> I'm still not looking for a 'pond-pond' that will attract
all manner of
> great blue herons and raccoons. It'll still be a
bird-splashing pool, I'm
> going to just dig it out a little deeper and make it a bit
better for the
> fishies I have. I also don't want to really have to deal
w/the filtration
> and yadda yadda yadda that goes w/a larger pond (mucking
about in it, etc.)

I'm not sure if you can have a goldfish pond without some
kind of filtration (or a heckuva lot of plants) and/or
regular partial water changes. Two of my small ponds have
no filtration, but they only have minnows, tadpoles and
occasionally baby goldfish. The goldfish pond has a
filter/fountain.

> Yikes, here I go....
> LeeAnne

Sad, isn't it? What is it they say about boats, a hole in
the water into which you throw your money? Ponds are a hole
in the ground into which you throw your money. :) But IMO
it's well worth it!

Gail

[LeeAnne]

Hi Gail,

Thank you for all the information - I live near Boston, so I can't take you
up on your waterfall offer :-( but I will take a look around my local Home
Depot to see if I can take advantage of some year end sales on pond stuff
:-)

I have no idea what kind of gold fish they are - I haven't been able to get
a good look at them, fast little buggers they are. I would say they aren't
the fancy schmancy type you see in the pet stores w/the flowing fins - they
are sort of torpedo shaped. As far as I can tell one is almost all gold,
one is mostly black and the other two are a combination of black and gold,
one having more of one than the other.

The 55 gallon right now only has one catfish in it - the rest died off
slowly and I've not added more stock due to a planned move of the tank -
figured less fish = easier to move, less fish to stress, etc.

The only filtration I have now is a Tetra pond fountain that sits on bottom
of the pond w/the tube extending above the surface -- I have the 'shower
mode' on right now - so it has filter media that I take out a couple times a
week and hose down (gets clogged w/goop) -- it gets plenty of aeration and I
add water to it daily due to evaporation and I had a small leak where the
liner fell, but I fixed that.

Have a great weekend,
LeeAnne


"Gail Futoran" > wrote in message
news:vk46b.127074$>

I picked one up at Home Depot a few years ago. If you live
> anywhere near San Antonio TX you can have it! I was using
> it as a bird bath but not now. Anyway, I don't remember
> what it cost but don't think it was that expensive (or I
> wouldn't have bought it).
>
> > 2. Goldfish are pretty hardy, right?
>
> The common goldfish & shubunkins, sure. Probably the main
> thing is not to overstock.
>
> The 55 gallon they will go into for
> > the winter is kept at a constant 80-ish degrees (to keep
> Ick away) Ph is
> > usually a little high, very high phosphates and very hard
> water.
>
> I have hard, high pH tap water and my common goldfish &
> shubunkins do fine in their pond. I also add some rainwater
> but I don't know how much that changes water chemistry.
> Temps get into the low 90s (w/ shade) during the summer, and
> to the 50s or below during what passes for winter in
> Southcentral TX. As far as I know I haven't had any cases
> of ick. But maybe goldfish fare differently in ponds than
> in aquariums. I only have pond goldfish.
>
> It's the
> > same town water in the tank that's in the pond, but the
> pond, of course,
> > gets rain water and has live plants in it that the 55
> won't have. I usually
> > keep the light off to prevent algae growth (have very high
> phosphates and
> > the algae grows like nuts). I just want to make sure they
> will handle the
> > transition OK.
>
> I'd check water chemistry carefully, and if that's similar
> in both settings, plus water temp is the same, I don't see a
> problem in moving your fish indoors. One problem I can
> foresee is the much larger bioload in your 55 gallon, so you
> might have to do more frequent partial water changes for
> awhile.
>
> > I'm still not looking for a 'pond-pond' that will attract
> all manner of
> > great blue herons and raccoons. It'll still be a
> bird-splashing pool, I'm
> > going to just dig it out a little deeper and make it a bit
> better for the
> > fishies I have. I also don't want to really have to deal
> w/the filtration
> > and yadda yadda yadda that goes w/a larger pond (mucking
> about in it, etc.)
>
> I'm not sure if you can have a goldfish pond without some
> kind of filtration (or a heckuva lot of plants) and/or
> regular partial water changes. Two of my small ponds have
> no filtration, but they only have minnows, tadpoles and
> occasionally baby goldfish. The goldfish pond has a
> filter/fountain.
>
> > Yikes, here I go....
> > LeeAnne
>
> Sad, isn't it? What is it they say about boats, a hole in
> the water into which you throw your money? Ponds are a hole
> in the ground into which you throw your money. :) But IMO
> it's well worth it!
>
> Gail
>
>

[LeeAnne]

Hi Gail,

Thank you for all the information - I live near Boston, so I can't take you
up on your waterfall offer :-( but I will take a look around my local Home
Depot to see if I can take advantage of some year end sales on pond stuff
:-)

I have no idea what kind of gold fish they are - I haven't been able to get
a good look at them, fast little buggers they are. I would say they aren't
the fancy schmancy type you see in the pet stores w/the flowing fins - they
are sort of torpedo shaped. As far as I can tell one is almost all gold,
one is mostly black and the other two are a combination of black and gold,
one having more of one than the other.

The 55 gallon right now only has one catfish in it - the rest died off
slowly and I've not added more stock due to a planned move of the tank -
figured less fish = easier to move, less fish to stress, etc.

The only filtration I have now is a Tetra pond fountain that sits on bottom
of the pond w/the tube extending above the surface -- I have the 'shower
mode' on right now - so it has filter media that I take out a couple times a
week and hose down (gets clogged w/goop) -- it gets plenty of aeration and I
add water to it daily due to evaporation and I had a small leak where the
liner fell, but I fixed that.

Have a great weekend,
LeeAnne


"Gail Futoran" > wrote in message
news:vk46b.127074$>

I picked one up at Home Depot a few years ago. If you live
> anywhere near San Antonio TX you can have it! I was using
> it as a bird bath but not now. Anyway, I don't remember
> what it cost but don't think it was that expensive (or I
> wouldn't have bought it).
>
> > 2. Goldfish are pretty hardy, right?
>
> The common goldfish & shubunkins, sure. Probably the main
> thing is not to overstock.
>
> The 55 gallon they will go into for
> > the winter is kept at a constant 80-ish degrees (to keep
> Ick away) Ph is
> > usually a little high, very high phosphates and very hard
> water.
>
> I have hard, high pH tap water and my common goldfish &
> shubunkins do fine in their pond. I also add some rainwater
> but I don't know how much that changes water chemistry.
> Temps get into the low 90s (w/ shade) during the summer, and
> to the 50s or below during what passes for winter in
> Southcentral TX. As far as I know I haven't had any cases
> of ick. But maybe goldfish fare differently in ponds than
> in aquariums. I only have pond goldfish.
>
> It's the
> > same town water in the tank that's in the pond, but the
> pond, of course,
> > gets rain water and has live plants in it that the 55
> won't have. I usually
> > keep the light off to prevent algae growth (have very high
> phosphates and
> > the algae grows like nuts). I just want to make sure they
> will handle the
> > transition OK.
>
> I'd check water chemistry carefully, and if that's similar
> in both settings, plus water temp is the same, I don't see a
> problem in moving your fish indoors. One problem I can
> foresee is the much larger bioload in your 55 gallon, so you
> might have to do more frequent partial water changes for
> awhile.
>
> > I'm still not looking for a 'pond-pond' that will attract
> all manner of
> > great blue herons and raccoons. It'll still be a
> bird-splashing pool, I'm
> > going to just dig it out a little deeper and make it a bit
> better for the
> > fishies I have. I also don't want to really have to deal
> w/the filtration
> > and yadda yadda yadda that goes w/a larger pond (mucking
> about in it, etc.)
>
> I'm not sure if you can have a goldfish pond without some
> kind of filtration (or a heckuva lot of plants) and/or
> regular partial water changes. Two of my small ponds have
> no filtration, but they only have minnows, tadpoles and
> occasionally baby goldfish. The goldfish pond has a
> filter/fountain.
>
> > Yikes, here I go....
> > LeeAnne
>
> Sad, isn't it? What is it they say about boats, a hole in
> the water into which you throw your money? Ponds are a hole
> in the ground into which you throw your money. :) But IMO
> it's well worth it!
>
> Gail
>
>

[LeeAnne]

yeah and you don't have to put gas in your pond :-)

~LeeAnne
-waiting for comments on feeding fish beans or something.....

"~ jan JJsPond.us" > wrote in message >
> The nice thing about a pond is it is always in use and can be enjoyed at 5
> minute intervals if need be. Unlike a boat. ;o) ~ jan
>
> See my ponds and filter design:
> http://users.owt.com/jjspond/
>
> ~Keep 'em Wet!~
> Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
> To e-mail see website

[LeeAnne]

yeah and you don't have to put gas in your pond :-)

~LeeAnne
-waiting for comments on feeding fish beans or something.....

"~ jan JJsPond.us" > wrote in message >
> The nice thing about a pond is it is always in use and can be enjoyed at 5
> minute intervals if need be. Unlike a boat. ;o) ~ jan
>
> See my ponds and filter design:
> http://users.owt.com/jjspond/
>
> ~Keep 'em Wet!~
> Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
> To e-mail see website