Endless questions..

No pix yet. Digi camera died recently. Soon though.
Just put in first plants. Hyacinth (makes me think of Jim Morrison)
and something called Thalia geniculata. Thalia tall & elegant. My
wife wants watercress but I cant find it here in San Francisco. Maybe
at the health food store.
Q's:

What is reasonable evaporation, or do I have a leak? Pond is about
400 gallons, 2.5' deep, and lost about an inch of water this week.

Can I build a plant stand out of copper plumbing pipe, or will the
metal cause weird brain waves (or other ailments) in the fish?

If I put sluggo, or diatomaceous earth, in the garden, and it rains,
and the runoff makes it's way into the pond, will it kill the fish?

Where's the best source of plants on the web? Is autumn an ok time to
introduce them (Zone 8-9 here, very rare freeze over winter)?

Thanks again.

"Rob" wrote in message
om...
No pix yet. Digi camera died recently. Soon though.
Just put in first plants. Hyacinth (makes me think of Jim Morrison)
and something called Thalia geniculata. Thalia tall & elegant. My
wife wants watercress but I cant find it here in San Francisco. Maybe
at the health food store.
Q's:

What is reasonable evaporation, or do I have a leak? Pond is about
400 gallons, 2.5' deep, and lost about an inch of water this week.

An inch in a week is actually less than I would expect considering the dry
climate that you are in.

Can I build a plant stand out of copper plumbing pipe, or will the
metal cause weird brain waves (or other ailments) in the fish?

The copper will corrode, and although copper is good for keeping nasty parasites
out of your pond, toxic levels of copper can occur in your pond over time from
corroding pipes. The high copper concentrations can harm any invertebrates and
some plants you may have (placing copper tubing in the water is also not a
controlled way to dose the pond), and can harm the fish in the long run if the
concentration in the water gets too high. There is a well-known copper mining
district in the mountains of eastern Tennessee where copper-laden water has been
running out of the mines for many years. The streams into which this water runs
are almost completely devoid of aquatic life for miles downstream. If you are
like me, and like to make things that last, and are nearly maintenance-free, try
making a plant stand out of pvc tubing and angled pvc couplings. Once the algae
takes hold on the pipes, you'll likely not even notice them.

If I put sluggo, or diatomaceous earth, in the garden, and it rains,
and the runoff makes it's way into the pond, will it kill the fish?

Diatomaceous earth shouldn't hurt the fish (at least I've never heard of it
doing so), but could alter the water chemistry. At any rate, you should try to
minimize run off going into your pond to avoid sudden water chemistry changes
(and you wouldn't want your prize fish to end up in swimming in a puddle at
Haight-Ashbury when the pond overflows). Considering that you live in SF, you
shouldn't have that much run off anyway, unless you are watering your garden
very often.

Where's the best source of plants on the web? Is autumn an ok time to
introduce them (Zone 8-9 here, very rare freeze over winter)?

Thanks again.

There are many places on the web where you can buy plants for your garden pond,
but personally I like to see them before I buy. Since you live in SF, there
should be several excellent sources locally.

I hope this helps.

Ask the guy/gal who runs the vegetable dept. at your grocery store to order in
some watercress.
When I ordered a case (10 bunches) the stuff came from California. It doesn't
even have to have roots, it will grow roots when put in water.


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

At any rate, you should try to
minimize run off going into your pond to avoid sudden water chemistry changes
(and you wouldn't want your prize fish to end up in swimming in a puddle at
Haight-Ashbury when the pond overflows). Considering that you live in SF, you
shouldn't have that much run off anyway, unless you are watering your garden
very often.-

I can minimize runoff, but what about rain? Sure it is dry around
here for most of the year, but our winter in SF is just a rainy
season. It can downpour like a fiend. Should I prepare the pond
somehow to get rid of excess water? I can easily imagine the pond
overflowing.

Thanks for your answers...

"Rob" wrote in message
m...
At any rate, you should try to
minimize run off going into your pond to avoid sudden water chemistry changes
(and you wouldn't want your prize fish to end up in swimming in a puddle at
Haight-Ashbury when the pond overflows). Considering that you live in SF,
you
shouldn't have that much run off anyway, unless you are watering your garden
very often.-

I can minimize runoff, but what about rain? Sure it is dry around
here for most of the year, but our winter in SF is just a rainy
season. It can downpour like a fiend. Should I prepare the pond
somehow to get rid of excess water? I can easily imagine the pond
overflowing.

Thanks for your answers...

I watch the weather, and when it looks like there will be a lot of rain, I pump
down my pond a few inches, if necessary, to allow for the rainfall. I usually
keep the pond water level six to eight inches below the top, so I don't have to
pump it down very often (my pond is 45" deep, so I have a lot of leeway). You
must be careful though, as excessive rainfall entering your pond can affect the
chemical balance, especially the pH and O2 content. Just be aware of the
possibility and check your water parameters after a hard rain. You might have
to pump some of it out and replace it with fresh water if the parameters get too
out of whack. Honestly though, I've not had any problems with it where I live
(and we get 45" of rain/year here). I have my waterfall set up where I can
connect a clear plastic hose to the pump outlet pipe,and that I can run out into
the yard when I need to pump the pond down. I've seen more elaborate set ups
where the owner actually built a spillway to let overflow run off, but that is
not practical with my set up, since my pond is partially out of ground (18"
above ground, and 27" below ground).

In preparing your pond for winter in SF, you just need to remember that the fish
are cold blooded, so their metabolism slows down considerably (and the microbes
in their gut that helps digest food usually go dormant) during the winter. That
means don't feed them (or feed them very sparingly if they show interest in
eating - I only feed them easy-to-digest Koi food in winter when I feed them at
all, something that is primarily wheat-based) when the water gets below about 52
degrees F. Usually, they will stop feeding on their own below that temperature,
so don't let any food sit in the pond uneaten, and make sure that you keep plant
debris out of the pond. Most of your trees there don't loose much of their
foliage in the winter, but if you have a problem with plants shedding into the
pond in the winter, you can buy a mesh pond screen at a garden supply shop and
cover the pond with it to keep leaves and other plant material from blowing into
it.

By the way, my wife was born and raised up on the side of Twin Peaks. I forgot
what the neighorhood is called.

On 18 Sep 2004 00:23:42 -0700, (Rob) wrote:

===At any rate, you should try to
=== minimize run off going into your pond to avoid sudden water chemistry changes
=== (and you wouldn't want your prize fish to end up in swimming in a puddle at
=== Haight-Ashbury when the pond overflows). Considering that you live in SF, you
=== shouldn't have that much run off anyway, unless you are watering your garden
=== very often.-
===
===I can minimize runoff, but what about rain? Sure it is dry around
===here for most of the year, but our winter in SF is just a rainy
===season. It can downpour like a fiend. Should I prepare the pond
===somehow to get rid of excess water? I can easily imagine the pond
===overflowing.
===
===Thanks for your answers...

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