City pond, meandering waterfall; a few questions...

I'm about to build a small pond and waterfall. The waterfall will
begin about 15 feet from the pond, with about a 4' height above the
pond surface. The pond will be approximately 6' x 3' x 2'deep (all
just theory now; please advise). I could have 2 smaller ponds
connected by a "canal" or deep channel, or another short waterfall.
Some fish would be fine, at the very least to eat mosquitos, though my
daughter is urging me to have koi. I live in the city, and my garden
isn't large, so everything is compact. There are definitely raccoons
here in San Francisco, as well as heron, skunks, mosquitos, etc.

So, the questions:

1) I understand that if I have a 2' drop, the raccoons won't go into
the water for fish. How will that work if I have a narrow channel, or
a "canal"? Does anyone have experience with this? I'm imagining the
raccoons wedging themselves between the sides of the canal and
lowering themselves in. Is there a minimum width I need to keep
raccoons out? (I don't want to install the electric anti-raccoon
fence/wire--too unsightly.)

2) Also about raccoons: If I have a 2 or 3 foot deep pond, with some
shallower (6"-18") ledges for plants in water pots to sit on, won't
the raccoons stand on these ledges to fish?

3) I want to install a do-it-myself filter. It sounds like (from
reading around here at rec.ponds) that the waterfall will provide a
fair amount of filtering, since I plan for plants along the length. I
would like the waterfall to be quiet and barely trickle; will that
provide enough gpm for the filtering process, or do I need it to move
faster? Will I need a canister filled with gravel or filter material
as well. Roughly what volume canister should I use? Should the
canister be in the pond, or at the top of the waterfall, or can I put
it somewhere in between, at say, 2' height above the pond? If it were
in between, can I put the pump midway between the pond and the
canister, thus forcing the water through it, then up to the top of the
waterfall?

4) What's the minimum size pond for 2 koi? Frogs? Turtle? Snake?
Are these animals feasible in a small pond?

I've got a rough hole dug, and the path of the waterfall laid out.
I'm excited to get it it! Many thanks in advance for any responses.

--rgesh

Hi rgesh!

Sounds like a neat project!
My brother and family live in SF and can attest to the
raccoons.

They can be very attentive and inquisitive. Even if they can't reach the fish
they will pull out plants looking for snails and other aquatic delicacies.

I understand not wanting to surround your pond with an electric fence. You
could try blocking them out of the yard entirely with electric fencing. Kind of
depends on the size of your yard and budget.

Another device that works is the motion activated sprinkler system. You might
need more than one. They can be anchored in concrete or to concrete blocks as
raccoons have been known to push them over. They can be put on timers to only
go off during peak raccoon hours of the night.

Animal control in SF might have Hava Heart traps and removal services. Some
localities will lend them to folks suffering from raccoon visits. There are
laws and regulations about trapping wild animals in every state and to their
relocation.

Raccoons can swim. But many times there is so much food for them, especially in
a city, that they won't bother to do it. But they will wade with no problem so
plant shelves are a welcome addition for them. There are ways to put in the
liner to provide planting spaces 'behind and beside' the pond for your plants.
You might visit the library and peruse their books as I know some designers
illustrate that technique in their books.

If you have very few fish your plants and stream can filter the pond. You might
try going with just mosquito fish and see how your raccoon and heron situation
plays out. It is hard to see one of them make off with your pet fish.

The motion detector will work on herons too. But nothing is perfect and these
critters have gotten very good at adapting to city/urban/suburban life. There
are more raccoons in the country that there were in the 1800s. Herons enjoy
federal protection.

For koi we usually recommend at least 1,000 gallons and 100 gallons for every
koi after that. While they do fine in smaller ponds starting out they can grow
very large and put a strain on filter systems. There are some beautiful
goldfish out there who rival koi in their colors and have long flowing fins and
are better for smaller ponds.

Turtles and frogs come and go. You can keep a turtle if your yard is securely
fenced so he doesn't escape. They make decent sized turtle poo so you'll want a
filter, especially in a small pond (I'll let other answer filter questions as
it is technical and that's not my 'thing' ;-).

Frogs will use your pond to breed. Bullfrogs are in CA, though they are not
native and not popular with wildlife biologists, and they like to stick around
the pond as they are very aquatic in nature. But they do eat up pet fish, other
frogs, snakes and mice.
There are lots of other kinds of frogs who will use the pond for breeding and
then generally not stick around much. Toads too.

Garter snakes love to swim in the pond for small fish and tadpoles and any
aquatic insects they find.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

(Rob) wrote in message . com...
I'm about to build a small pond and waterfall. The waterfall will
begin about 15 feet from the pond, with about a 4' height above the
pond surface. The pond will be approximately 6' x 3' x 2'deep (all
just theory now; please advise). I could have 2 smaller ponds
connected by a "canal" or deep channel, or another short waterfall.
Some fish would be fine, at the very least to eat mosquitos, though my
daughter is urging me to have koi. I live in the city, and my garden
isn't large, so everything is compact. There are definitely raccoons
here in San Francisco, as well as heron, skunks, mosquitos, etc.

So, the questions:

1) I understand that if I have a 2' drop, the raccoons won't go into
the water for fish. How will that work if I have a narrow channel, or
a "canal"? Does anyone have experience with this? I'm imagining the
raccoons wedging themselves between the sides of the canal and
lowering themselves in. Is there a minimum width I need to keep
raccoons out? (I don't want to install the electric anti-raccoon
fence/wire--too unsightly.)

2) Also about raccoons: If I have a 2 or 3 foot deep pond, with some
shallower (6"-18") ledges for plants in water pots to sit on, won't
the raccoons stand on these ledges to fish?

3) I want to install a do-it-myself filter. It sounds like (from
reading around here at rec.ponds) that the waterfall will provide a
fair amount of filtering, since I plan for plants along the length. I
would like the waterfall to be quiet and barely trickle; will that
provide enough gpm for the filtering process, or do I need it to move
faster? Will I need a canister filled with gravel or filter material
as well. Roughly what volume canister should I use? Should the
canister be in the pond, or at the top of the waterfall, or can I put
it somewhere in between, at say, 2' height above the pond? If it were
in between, can I put the pump midway between the pond and the
canister, thus forcing the water through it, then up to the top of the
waterfall?

4) What's the minimum size pond for 2 koi? Frogs? Turtle? Snake?
Are these animals feasible in a small pond?

I've got a rough hole dug, and the path of the waterfall laid out.
I'm excited to get it it! Many thanks in advance for any responses.



--rgesh

Questions 1 & 2 talk to the racoons. Most people say straight sides
and no shelves will deter them. With kids you shouldn't do that.
Question 3-The filter should be 10 % of the ponds surface area and a
variety of media both course and fine. Don't use sand or lava rock but
rather net bath scrubbers, dish scrubbers, floor scrubbers, fiber
glass window screen, nylon net,strapping and buy a few books by Helen
Nash-Low-Maintanence Water Gardens and the Pond Doctor. And read a
site by Chuck Rush for beginners.
http://www.pondrushes.net/
Koi need 1000 gallons for the first koi and 100 for each additional
koi. Goldfish get large,mine are 6-7" and eat loads of mosquitoes.
Golfish are more forgiving of water conditions. When I was in China
some were in this pool where people tossed food, money, etc. Good
luck.

When it comes to filters, the liner will be home to a large population of
the good bacteria, the inside of the piping will also house large
populations. A veggie filter is both beautiful and effective, at least for
ponds that are not over crowded, and will fit nicely in the head pool for
the waterfall or stream. There are many other filters that will work, but
the ones with lava rock, gravel and other heavy media are a pain to clean,
and clean you must, and if they are in the pond they are hard to lift out.
To mechanically clean the water of floaties, then having some media like
quilt batting will help to remove that trash, but must be removed and
cleaned or replaced periodically. I would plan for the first filter on the
pond, while the fish are small and in small numbers to have a veggie filter,
and if the ammonia and nitrites start to climb over the years, then look at
adding some strapping tape, screen or other media.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Rob" wrote in message
om...

3) I want to install a do-it-myself filter. It sounds like (from
reading around here at rec.ponds) that the waterfall will provide a fair
amount of filtering, since I plan for plants along the length. I would like
the waterfall to be quiet and barely trickle; will that provide enough gpm
for the filtering process, or do I need it to move faster? Will I need a
canister filled with gravel or filter material as well. Roughly what volume
canister should I use? Should the canister be in the pond, or at the top of
the waterfall, or can I put it somewhere in between, at say, 2' height above
the pond? If it were in between, can I put the pump midway between the pond
and the canister, thus forcing the water through it, then up to the top of
the waterfall?
--rgesh

Thanks for yr message Kathy. Much appreciated. Are you a biologist?
You sound very educated on the subjects.

After reading your post I've been thinking: "Hmmm, I'm a laissez-faire
gardener; maybe I should let natural selection work it's way and let
the critters eat any fish I have." Are goldfish expensive? Will they
procreate quickly enough to keep ahead of the hungry raccoons? I like
your suggestion of trying just mosquito fish...

By the way, we have a 1-way cat door, going out, and have trained our
cats to pull the cat door outward, so they know how to get in but
other animals don't. Well, one night we saw the nose of a raccoon
poking into the cat door. I got out of bed and went to open the door
and scare him (or her), and there it was, lumbering down our fire
escape (we're on the 3rd floor)with 3 little one's following behind.
Our yard is a hiking trail for them.


Hi rgesh!

Sounds like a neat project!
My brother and family live in SF and can attest to the
raccoons.

They can be very attentive and inquisitive. Even if they can't reach the fish
they will pull out plants looking for snails and other aquatic delicacies.

I understand not wanting to surround your pond with an electric fence. You
could try blocking them out of the yard entirely with electric fencing. Kind of
depends on the size of your yard and budget.

Another device that works is the motion activated sprinkler system. You might
need more than one. They can be anchored in concrete or to concrete blocks as
raccoons have been known to push them over. They can be put on timers to only
go off during peak raccoon hours of the night.

Animal control in SF might have Hava Heart traps and removal services. Some
localities will lend them to folks suffering from raccoon visits. There are
laws and regulations about trapping wild animals in every state and to their
relocation.

Raccoons can swim. But many times there is so much food for them, especially in
a city, that they won't bother to do it. But they will wade with no problem so
plant shelves are a welcome addition for them. There are ways to put in the
liner to provide planting spaces 'behind and beside' the pond for your plants.
You might visit the library and peruse their books as I know some designers
illustrate that technique in their books.

If you have very few fish your plants and stream can filter the pond. You might
try going with just mosquito fish and see how your raccoon and heron situation
plays out. It is hard to see one of them make off with your pet fish.

The motion detector will work on herons too. But nothing is perfect and these
critters have gotten very good at adapting to city/urban/suburban life. There
are more raccoons in the country that there were in the 1800s. Herons enjoy
federal protection.

For koi we usually recommend at least 1,000 gallons and 100 gallons for every
koi after that. While they do fine in smaller ponds starting out they can grow
very large and put a strain on filter systems. There are some beautiful
goldfish out there who rival koi in their colors and have long flowing fins and
are better for smaller ponds.

Turtles and frogs come and go. You can keep a turtle if your yard is securely
fenced so he doesn't escape. They make decent sized turtle poo so you'll want a
filter, especially in a small pond (I'll let other answer filter questions as
it is technical and that's not my 'thing' ;-).

Frogs will use your pond to breed. Bullfrogs are in CA, though they are not
native and not popular with wildlife biologists, and they like to stick around
the pond as they are very aquatic in nature. But they do eat up pet fish, other
frogs, snakes and mice.
There are lots of other kinds of frogs who will use the pond for breeding and
then generally not stick around much. Toads too.

Garter snakes love to swim in the pond for small fish and tadpoles and any
aquatic insects they find.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Are you a biologist?

No, just the area of ponding that really interests me. ;-)
And the 75+ reference books
I've collected (Barnes and Noble loves me!).

You can buy what are called feeder goldfish that folks buy to feed certain
kinds of pets. Ask at your local petstore when they get their shipments in.
You'll have the best chance of finding healthy fish. Be prepared for some
deaths. There are ponders who stock with feeder goldfish just to attract herons
(I suppose these are birders rather than ponders ;-)

Given the right conditions feeder goldfish could outbreed the raccoons and
herons ability to eat them up. Most people construct ponds to see and enjoy the
fish so they a wide open buffet for predators. Constructing a pond with that in
mind as in overhanging rocks, rock 'caves' marginal plants that trail into the
water (creeping jenny is good for that), underwater plants such as anacharis
(your state will dictate what aquatic plants are avaliable, many states are
banning popular pond plants because people dump them in natural waterways) -
the idea being places to hide and areas for the goldfish fry to grow up (their
parents will eat them too).
It will give the fish a headstart. Predators will hang around a long time
waiting for lunch to appear so it's all a tossup but many times they will get
scared off by homeowner activity.

Or on the other hand the mosquito fish have better protective coloring to
protect them from predation. They breed like crazy but don't put that big a
bioload on the pond as they stay fairly small.

we have a 1-way cat door,
chortle! I have a friend who had a skunk show up in her kitchen at midnight who
came through the cat door.



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html