"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the first
fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish

Who has the patience to wait a year? What kind of pond chemistry do you
expect to settle in a year? Algae and bacteria colonies will have
established themselves in a few weeks if not less.

Even if the pH levels settle after a year of exposure to acid rain and
various salts leaching in from the ground, is it really worth it? Will the
pH level be acceptable, or will you need to fiddle with it anyways? A year
is a long time to wait for such minimal gains.

Snooze

Benign Vanilla wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the
first fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

You just acknowledged that it's rocky in spring. In fact (as I expect K30
still reposts occasionally), any pond is just a space that's in the process
of filling in and becoming a meadow. Unless you have a really odd pond,
you must clean out your veggie filter - pulling overgrown plants and
composting the excess. You divide your lilies, don't you? There's no
stability in a pond.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
Benign Vanilla wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too
small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the
first fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It
is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance
quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all
water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

You just acknowledged that it's rocky in spring. In fact (as I expect K30
still reposts occasionally), any pond is just a space that's in the
process
of filling in and becoming a meadow. Unless you have a really odd pond,
you must clean out your veggie filter - pulling overgrown plants and
composting the excess. You divide your lilies, don't you? There's no
stability in a pond.

I was refering to water quality, so I guess we were on two different topics.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly
doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.

Ya see, I don't agree that news species showing up means the pond is out of
balance. I think the reason my pond is so healthy and attractive to the many
species in there, is that it is well balanced.

BV.

Assuming we are discussing an *unlined* pond (which is how I interpreted the
original post), I could see how it could take a year depending on the soil,
size of pond, type of dirt, water source, etc. -- unfortunately, the
poster did not give any details on that.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC

"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish



A year ?
You're kidding, right ?

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a
couple of days, added the plants and filter.
Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
Then I started testing the water quality.
Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you
want).

By this time the water had cleared.
Tested water
After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it functioning
pond.

Peter

Benign Vanilla wrote:


My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly
doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.

Ya see, I don't agree that news species showing up means the pond is out
of balance. I think the reason my pond is so healthy and attractive to the
many species in there, is that it is well balanced.

Sorry, but it just doesn't happen that way. A garden pond is such a small
space that every new animal addition will add to the ammonia input. That
throws the balance out and the cycle starts over.

Obviously, the bigger the pond, the less disruption, but there's no way to
avoid it. You think we're talking about different things, because I
mention pruning and composting plants, but removing the excess growth is
the only way you can hope to keep the whole nitrogen cycle working. You can
argue that your pond is "in balance", but only because your action is part
of the whole balance.
--
derek