pond opinions?

hey.....after about 2 months of figuring out what my pond wants to become
clear, it finally is clear!! i have one problem...i have alot of floating
brownish algea that sticks to all my plants. is there anyway to get rid of
this? i also want to know if i can buy pebbles or somekind of rocks for the
bottom of my pond to make my pond look more unnatural...its very brown and
nasty looking on the bottom. id like it to look ornimental? i also want to
know if it makes sense to buy a deep tub and put it next to my pond and make
it a biofilter.with plants and stuff inside and maybe build up bricks along
it. any ideas for new things i can do to make my pond have a better
presentation now that its healthy and clear.

"Thenewguy" wrote in message
.. .
hey.....after about 2 months of figuring out what my pond wants to become
clear, it finally is clear!! i have one problem...i have alot of floating
brownish algea that sticks to all my plants. is there anyway to get rid of
this?

The brown algae actually sounds like dirt/muck that has collected on the
algae that normally fixes itself to the ponds surfaces. All you should have
to do is brush it away into the water column, and let the filter take care
of it.

i also want to know if i can buy pebbles or somekind of rocks for the
bottom of my pond to make my pond look more unnatural...its very brown and
nasty looking on the bottom. id like it to look ornimental?

Generally, rocks in the bottom of the pond aren't a very good idea. They
make it hard to clean, and harbor the bad bacteria in the pond.

i also want to
know if it makes sense to buy a deep tub and put it next to my pond and
make
it a biofilter.with plants and stuff inside and maybe build up bricks
along
it. any ideas for new things i can do to make my pond have a better
presentation now that its healthy and clear.

How big is your pond? Do you have a filter on it now? if so what kind: Bio,
mechanical, chemical? What is your fish load? Check out rec.ponds, another
usenet newsgroup for more help.

Bob

"Thenewguy" wrote in message
.. .
hey.....after about 2 months of figuring out what my pond wants to become
clear, it finally is clear!! i have one problem...i have alot of floating
brownish algea that sticks to all my plants. is there anyway to get rid of
this?

The brown algae actually sounds like dirt/muck that has collected on the
algae that normally fixes itself to the ponds surfaces. All you should have
to do is brush it away into the water column, and let the filter take care
of it.

i also want to know if i can buy pebbles or somekind of rocks for the
bottom of my pond to make my pond look more unnatural...its very brown and
nasty looking on the bottom. id like it to look ornimental?

Generally, rocks in the bottom of the pond aren't a very good idea. They
make it hard to clean, and harbor the bad bacteria in the pond.

i also want to
know if it makes sense to buy a deep tub and put it next to my pond and
make
it a biofilter.with plants and stuff inside and maybe build up bricks
along
it. any ideas for new things i can do to make my pond have a better
presentation now that its healthy and clear.

How big is your pond? Do you have a filter on it now? if so what kind: Bio,
mechanical, chemical? What is your fish load? Check out rec.ponds, another
usenet newsgroup for more help.

Bob

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob

On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 18:43:11 -0400, "Bob in PA"
wrote:

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob


That's ok. It sure made me look and see where the heck i was!

On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 18:43:11 -0400, "Bob in PA"
wrote:

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob


That's ok. It sure made me look and see where the heck i was!

LOL me too thought i was where i didn't belong lol
"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 18:43:11 -0400, "Bob in PA"
wrote:

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob


That's ok. It sure made me look and see where the heck i was!

LOL me too thought i was where i didn't belong lol
"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 18:43:11 -0400, "Bob in PA"
wrote:

Ignore my suggestion to check out rec.ponds... I thought that I was in
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. I guess I should check what group I was in
before I post...

Bob


That's ok. It sure made me look and see where the heck i was!

"Thenewguy" wrote in message ...
hey.....after about 2 months of figuring out what my pond wants to become
clear, it finally is clear!! i have one problem...i have alot of floating
brownish algea that sticks to all my plants. is there anyway to get rid of
this? i also want to know if i can buy pebbles or somekind of rocks for the
bottom of my pond to make my pond look more unnatural...its very brown and
nasty looking on the bottom. id like it to look ornimental? i also want to
know if it makes sense to buy a deep tub and put it next to my pond and make
it a biofilter.with plants and stuff inside and maybe build up bricks along
it. any ideas for new things i can do to make my pond have a better
presentation now that its healthy and clear.

rocks on bottom of pond - I covered the bottom of my pond (a 300
gal. Rubbermaid stock tank) with a layer of large river rock. After a
few weeks, algae began to grow on the rocks. Actually I like this
more natural look, so I didn't change anything. The rocks also
provide a place for the fish to hide and snooze, especially in the
winter when the aquatic plants that cover the pond have died back. I
vacuum between the rocks on the bottom once in the spring and again in
the fall, just using a 1" diameter clear plastic siphon hose. That
way, if I accidentally suck up a fish, I will know it immediately and
can rescue it. The only other thing I do is sprinkle some pond enzyme
powder on top of the water about once a month. Read the directions on
the container to determine how much, depending on the size of your
pond. The Beckett company makes a pond enzyme product called Crystal
Pond, and there is another product made by another company (can't
remember who) called Pondzyme. Both of these products seem to keep
the water clear and the fish and plants seem to be healthy & happy.
You should be able to find something like this at a place that sells
other pond supplies. I think I got my last can of Crystal Pond from
Home Depot. My pond is in its 9th year. The plants and many of the
fish are original stock. My "system" actually requires very little
maintenance, other than cleaning out the filter regularly and pinching
off a few dead lily leaves and spent blossoms from time to time. (My
water lily has about 100 blooms every year over the course of the
season.)

I don't think gravel is a very good idea because, as someone else
said, it is hard to clean. Also, I don't know how you would ever keep
it looking decorative, as you wanted. In time, it would probably just
turn greenish brown with algae. Sorry, no suggestion there. My
parents have a small pond and waterfall at their house, but they don't
keep any aquatic plants or fish. My mom just dumps some Clorox bleach
in the pond every once in a while to keep the algae away, but if you
have fish and live plants, that won't work.

I'm rambling - hope this was somewhat helpful.
Gary