I guess 76 seems so cool to me I had not seriously considered this. I
have resisted equiptment since I will have to run an extension cord out the
window untill I am move confident of my 'experiment' and also sink the pool.
Tell me more about the pond water. I tried this initially with only
slightly better results, but the mosquitos seemed to be magnetized to it.
Currently I only have 'dechlored' water. The plants seem to be doing
relatively well even in the shade. I havent monitored for water temperature
swings which might be contributing since it is only 70 gallons above ground.
The fish seem partially bloated by the time I find them in the morning,
which I thought meant they were dying early in the evening. So I thought I
would see them searching for oxygen, but they rarely come to the surface.
Any further ideas would be much appreciated. I may just have to run the
cord and refill with pond water to narrow down my problem. I have seen
several small still ponds around the area just loaded with anacharis and
lilies with several fantails or orandas. I am missing something - perhaps
it is the aged water. Kathy - did you aerate to solve your problem? Do
you think an airstone will move the water enough to deter the mosquitos. I
may just be striving for too much from too little. At least one of the
still ponds I saw was using dunks. I'm just so dad blasted cheap
Heck
thats half of my motivation - to keep from having to compost overgrowing
plants. Thanxx
Bill Brister
"grubber" wrote in message
...
"Newbie Bill" wrote in message
m...
I'm still trying to get my still water kiddie pool going, but I cant
keep
the fish alive. I have been using small rosey reds or feeder comets 2
or
3
of each. The comets frequently die over the first night. One of the
roseys
made it a week. Lethargy and hiding is the only symptom I have seen.
The
water parameters are perfect but the fish sure arent. I have a couple
of
baby lilies, a handful of submerged plants, some floaters and a small
taro.
The only thing different than my thriving pond is no filter or pump,
its
shaded and water temp is 12 degrees lower (76), it is not sunk yet, and
unknown plastic content. I have been floating the new fish bags for
about
30 minutes. I used it in the spring to hold plants while doing a PP
treatment (also treated it) and numerous tadpoles and several 'can
barely
see them they're so small' fry were fine. It was in the sun then but
water
temps were probably similar because of the season. My two best guesses
at
the problem are 1)toxic plastic, although it is the same blue plastic
variety you see all over and many report using successfully and 2) no
algae=starving the fish. I have tried giving them a little flake food
but
never seen them eating it. This was going to be my ultra low cost
temporary
fix for wanting more plants and no mosquitos. Any ideas?
Bill Brister
Did you fill it with pond water or 'hose' water? Also, hotter water will
hold less oxygen, so these lovely fall days in Austin may be the issue.
Try
an airstone to add O2.