Fishkeeping - Greetings from a newbie!

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Greetings from a newbie!

I've been lurking and reading for a little over a month now. My husband,
Randy and I decided over Memorial Day weekend to put in a pond -- we just
kinda jumped in a did it! It's small, just a 60 gallon pre-formed liner, but
we like it. My dad had the brilliant idea to put fish in it without our
knowledge about a week after we put it in the ground. I thought the fish
were doomed for sure since it was filled with city water and we had no
plants yet. But, the 8 goldfish (2-3 inches long) and "Big Freddy" the 6
inch guy seem to be doing fine. Very active and they come to me when I go
out to feed them. It's probably too many fish for the size, but what do you
do? My dad was being sweet, y'know?

We need to have a permanent solution for the electricity -- the orange
extension cord running to the garage is not very pretty. And I want to
landscape around it with more rocks and pea gravel. We were lucky enough to
have all the rocks we needed to surround the pond and build the bench from
rocks that used to be a patio. Our driveway is native stone and when the
house was built in the 30s the patio was stone too. Over the years someone
pulled out the stones and piled them in the corner of the back yard. So we
just started going through the pile and building the perimeter. There's
still plenty left over for more landscaping.

I opened a webshots account so I could show you guys pictures and see if you
had any suggestions for me. I really have no idea what I'm doing -- but I'm
reading everything I can get my hands on. We have had consistently clear
water so far -- it did get a little dirty a couple of days ago when we had a
huge rainstorm. And I'm doing a 20% water change once a month.

So...whaddya think? http://community.webshots.com/album/159023062ZIhpAQ

I sure enjoy reading all the posts in the group! There's so much to learn...

Angie
Tulsa, OK

Greetings from a newbie!

I think your hooked, There is plenty of time before Labor Day to put
the bigger pond down stream. You do want "Big Freddy" to be happy,
don't you? ;-} Why does the song "Another one bites the dust" always
pop into my head at times like this.
Congratulations and welcome to ponding. Hank

--
some photos of my little puddle
http://community.webshots.com/user/hankpage1

"AngieB" wrote in message
...
I've been lurking and reading for a little over a month now. My
husband,
Randy and I decided over Memorial Day weekend to put in a pond -- we
just
kinda jumped in a did it! It's small, just a 60 gallon pre-formed
liner, but
we like it. My dad had the brilliant idea to put fish in it without
our
knowledge about a week after we put it in the ground. I thought the
fish
were doomed for sure since it was filled with city water and we had
no
plants yet. But, the 8 goldfish (2-3 inches long) and "Big Freddy"
the 6
inch guy seem to be doing fine. Very active and they come to me when
I go
out to feed them. It's probably too many fish for the size, but what
do you
do? My dad was being sweet, y'know?

We need to have a permanent solution for the electricity -- the
orange
extension cord running to the garage is not very pretty. And I want
to
landscape around it with more rocks and pea gravel. We were lucky
enough to
have all the rocks we needed to surround the pond and build the
bench from
rocks that used to be a patio. Our driveway is native stone and when
the
house was built in the 30s the patio was stone too. Over the years
someone
pulled out the stones and piled them in the corner of the back yard.
So we
just started going through the pile and building the perimeter.
There's
still plenty left over for more landscaping.

I opened a webshots account so I could show you guys pictures and
see if you
had any suggestions for me. I really have no idea what I'm doing --
but I'm
reading everything I can get my hands on. We have had consistently
clear
water so far -- it did get a little dirty a couple of days ago when
we had a
huge rainstorm. And I'm doing a 20% water change once a month.

So...whaddya think?
http://community.webshots.com/album/159023062ZIhpAQ

I sure enjoy reading all the posts in the group! There's so much to
learn...

Angie
Tulsa, OK

Greetings from a newbie!

Yep you are doomed now.....you'll want a bigger one soon enough......but what
you have created is lovely! Enjoy...

maureen

Greetings from a newbie!

You guys got right to it. Very nice.

Now enjoy it and begin to see little visions of a larger pond!

Phyllis

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"AngieB" wrote in message
...
I've been lurking and reading for a little over a month now. My husband,
Randy and I decided over Memorial Day weekend to put in a pond -- we just
kinda jumped in a did it! It's small, just a 60 gallon pre-formed liner,
but
we like it. My dad had the brilliant idea to put fish in it without our
knowledge about a week after we put it in the ground. I thought the fish
were doomed for sure since it was filled with city water and we had no
plants yet. But, the 8 goldfish (2-3 inches long) and "Big Freddy" the 6
inch guy seem to be doing fine. Very active and they come to me when I go
out to feed them. It's probably too many fish for the size, but what do
you
do? My dad was being sweet, y'know?

We need to have a permanent solution for the electricity -- the orange
extension cord running to the garage is not very pretty. And I want to
landscape around it with more rocks and pea gravel. We were lucky enough
to
have all the rocks we needed to surround the pond and build the bench from
rocks that used to be a patio. Our driveway is native stone and when the
house was built in the 30s the patio was stone too. Over the years someone
pulled out the stones and piled them in the corner of the back yard. So we
just started going through the pile and building the perimeter. There's
still plenty left over for more landscaping.

I opened a webshots account so I could show you guys pictures and see if
you
had any suggestions for me. I really have no idea what I'm doing -- but
I'm
reading everything I can get my hands on. We have had consistently clear
water so far -- it did get a little dirty a couple of days ago when we had
a
huge rainstorm. And I'm doing a 20% water change once a month.

So...whaddya think? http://community.webshots.com/album/159023062ZIhpAQ

I sure enjoy reading all the posts in the group! There's so much to
learn...

Angie
Tulsa, OK

Greetings from a newbie!

On 7/3/04 4:11 PM, in article ,
"Hank" wrote:

I think your hooked, There is plenty of time before Labor Day to put
the bigger pond down stream. You do want "Big Freddy" to be happy,
don't you? ;-} Why does the song "Another one bites the dust" always
pop into my head at times like this.
Congratulations and welcome to ponding. Hank

Yeah, I might just be hooked. Just down from the pond is an indentation in
the yard that water flows along when we get really heavy rains. I think that
would be a good path to take to make a stream to flow into a larger pond.
That would make a good fall project.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Hank! And Big Freddy isn't named after Freddy
Mercury. I did think of Freddy Mercury and his love of Koi after the fact
though. See, my friend and I, that's what we call the one that is bigger
than the others. Like her giant Hibiscus tree -- He's Big Freddy too.

Angie

Greetings from a newbie!

On 7/3/04 4:24 PM, in article ,
"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote:

You guys got right to it. Very nice.

Now enjoy it and begin to see little visions of a larger pond!

Phyllis

Thanks, Phyllis! The water lettuce and hyacinth really have gone crazy. And
the sedum I stuck in between the rocks is really getting established pretty
quickly. I'm actually pretty proud of the progress we've made in just a
month or so.

Is a bigger pond really not that much more to take care of than a small one?
I just worry about maintenance if we put in another.

Angie

Greetings from a newbie!

Bigger is easier, at least to a point. Small bodies of water change
temperature and chemistry so quickly, which can be stressful for the fish.
Larger problems allow for more dilution of the wastes, so they don't jump as
quickly. Of course if the pond is much bigger, like deeper than you stand,
it makes it hard to get in and plant and fertilize the lilies.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"AngieB" wrote in message
...
On 7/3/04 4:24 PM, in article ,
"Jim and Phyllis Hurley" wrote:

Is a bigger pond really not that much more to take care of than a small
one?
I just worry about maintenance if we put in another.

Angie

Greetings from a newbie!

I have taken away the flamingo and iron candle holder
thingie since I took the pictures. After seeing the pond in photos, I
thought my aren't I tacky with the flamingo. Simpler is better. I had a
white trash pond there for awhile! LOL

Oh no I love the flamingo....have two in my whitetrash back yard...LOL....my
neighbor loves it too....oh well to each their own.....

Maureen