"Cichlidiot" wrote in message
...
In rec.ponds ~ Windsong ~ P@p wrote:
"kathy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Carol wrote And in the end only bird netting works

Netting is always an option
but some people really don't want to net their ponds.
For them it spoils the look,

## Yes it does effect the looks of the pond. But so does those tall
gawky
water sprayers and wire/string strung all over the place. I didn't want
to
net mine either considering they're both in front of my house. However
I
was sick and tired of losing koi and GF to these predators. We did try
other methods first. Nothing worked. Perhaps other people can afford
the
endless losses and don't get attached to their fish. I do. It was both
an
emotional issue as well as a financial issue. When herons and King
Fishers
discover your pond all you become is a feeding station for them. Also,
if
you're in an area frequented by these birds you will usually (but not
always) also end up with large fish eating water snakes and bullfrogs.
At
that point you may as well buy a fish hatchery.

Here's a potentially radical idea. How about tolerating the birds and
designing a way for them to gravitate towards the far more replaceable
fish (and less emotionally attached) than the expensive koi? The best
design I've seen so far is a deep, vertically flat sided pond fed by a
long, shallow stream/waterfall at a public koi pond.

$$ Oh that would be lovely if we were rich. :-) Have you any idea what
something like that would cost? If we had that kind of money we could call
in some pond builders and redo both ponds. In fact replace them with one
huge 3 to 4,000 gallon pond. But where would I put the plants then if there
are no shelves? How would this keep the (bullfrogs, snakes, snappers) King
Fishers out of the steep sided pond? Steep sided plants ponds are not
attractive or natural looking.

The stream was
teaming with mosquito fish, crayfish and occasionally goldfish fry. The
herons almost always ate from there instead of attempting to get anything
in the main pond because they could wade into the stream and have pretty
easy pickings.

$$ What stream? How long was the stream,? Herons do not want 1/2" fry or
small crayfish. How did you keep mosquito fish in the stream and out of the
pond itself?

Loosing those kind of fish wasn't a big deal (although I
suppose losing too many mosquito fish could be a problem in mosquito
season, but it's easy to get more).

$$ Mosquitoes do not breed in streams (moving water). I can't believe you
managed to keep the fish in the stream for the herons, and out of your
pond. Did you have a net at the end of the stream? How large were the
mosquito fish?

The only koi lost was due to human
problems when a teen threw a stepping stone from the garden into the pond
and it hit a koi.

$$ Fortunately we don't have problems like that since we live out in the
country.

The stream served a second purpose too. It was planted with milfoil and
other plants, so it acted as a vegetative filter. The whole stream had
pretty good daylight exposure for plant growth while the actual pond was
partially shaded. Actually, the only foreign species in the pond was a
muskrat that kept trying to build its nest in the pump house. Watching the
herons catch the fish in the stream added a nice natural touch I thought.

$$ How did you keep the fish in the stream? And what about those of us who
don't have $10,000+ to call in pond builders or don't have the space for
huge streams?
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~