I sure need pond help..

We kept a crawdad in my son's tank with several goldfish and
two bullfrog tadpoles.
The crawdad spent most of his time inside the Skull Island aquarium
toy.
One day we noticed that one of the tadpoles had a nice slice in his
tail. He survived with his new wavier tail. We suspected the crawdad
had clipped him.
Eventually we took the crawdad out and put him in a small habitat so
my son's creative problem solving team could get an up close look at
him. (They made a boy sized costume based on the crawdad.)
Then the crawdad had babies!
We decided the crawdad was a crawmom.

kathy

On 1 Feb 2005 10:24:42 -0800, "kathy" wrote:

We kept a crawdad in my son's tank with several goldfish and
two bullfrog tadpoles.
The crawdad spent most of his time inside the Skull Island aquarium
toy.
One day we noticed that one of the tadpoles had a nice slice in his
tail. He survived with his new wavier tail. We suspected the crawdad
had clipped him.
Eventually we took the crawdad out and put him in a small habitat so
my son's creative problem solving team could get an up close look at
him. (They made a boy sized costume based on the crawdad.)
Then the crawdad had babies!
We decided the crawdad was a crawmom.

I caught one while living in San Antonio and kept it in an aquarium
with a couple fish bigger than the crayfish and he was constantly
trying to eat them. I saw him get slung off from a rapid take off
after he clamped on a fish's tail a couple times. He was a most
interesting critter to watch. He molted and went into hiding. He
ate the shell he had just shed while in hiding. He would sit for
hours in the aquarium plants with one claw out of the water, I suppose
waiting for something edible to light on the claw. After many
attempts he finally escaped the aquarium and was found dead days later
in the corner of another room.

I wouldn't put them in my pond because they eat anything they can
catch and they dig. I suspect they might do damage to a liner. You
would rarely, if ever, see them and they would probably leave.

Regards,

Hal

Wow thanks a lot everyone, your info is really a big help, and what a
response! It looks like i have already made a few mistakes so far
according to some of you, but thats ok it wasnt anything too big.
For your information I have laid down river rocks on the bottom,
they look really good but now i'm worried about the detritis factor...
but on the other hand I have also bought some baby channel catfish and
they seem pretty happy searching the crevaces between the rocks for
goodies. If they dont end up being enough I may try the snail idea...
very innovative!
This weekend is going to be "pond weekend" for my roomates and I.
Our plan is to plant the reeds around the edges, buy some water plants
and create a cascade at one end of the pond. We plan to harness the jet
from my pump as a water supply for the cascade and build the falls out
of sandstone slabs.
I am also aware that the bass are going to be more work than some
of the pond standards such as goldfish etc. but this does not deter
me. I dont mind taking the extra care because they are the primary
reason for my pond. But anyway I'll keep you all updated on the pond's
progress and thanks again for all the help!

On 3 Feb 2005 01:48:53 -0800, Pondnovice wrote:

Wow thanks a lot everyone, your info is really a big help, and what a
response! It looks like i have already made a few mistakes so far
according to some of you, but thats ok it wasnt anything too big.
For your information I have laid down river rocks on the bottom,
they look really good but now i'm worried about the detritis factor...
but on the other hand I have also bought some baby channel catfish and
they seem pretty happy searching the crevaces between the rocks for
goodies. If they dont end up being enough I may try the snail idea...
very innovative!

How many channel catfish have you bought and what do you plan to do
with them when they grow? As far as I'm aware these are large fish and
I don't think a 160 gallon pond is anywhere near big enough for even
one of them.

Can someone familiar with these comment?

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Rodney Pont wrote:

On 3 Feb 2005 01:48:53 -0800, Pondnovice wrote:

Wow thanks a lot everyone, your info is really a big help, and what a
response! It looks like i have already made a few mistakes so far
according to some of you, but thats ok it wasnt anything too big.
For your information I have laid down river rocks on the bottom,
they look really good but now i'm worried about the detritis factor...
but on the other hand I have also bought some baby channel catfish and
they seem pretty happy searching the crevaces between the rocks for
goodies. If they dont end up being enough I may try the snail idea...
very innovative!

How many channel catfish have you bought and what do you plan to do
with them when they grow? As far as I'm aware these are large fish and
I don't think a 160 gallon pond is anywhere near big enough for even
one of them.

Can someone familiar with these comment?

A channel cat will grow to around three feet - and it'll do it much faster
than a koi and be much more massive than a koi of the same length. A 160
gallon pond is _just_ barely big enough for one.

A channel cat as a device to clean up the detritus is a joke. Most of these
large cats are detritus machines! They will tend to keep it all stirred
up, so as long as you have good filtration and good water flow, it might
work out. You'll definitely be needing a bigger pond - but that's
normal :-)
--
derek

Hopefully he calls me....catfish is my favorite fish food.

Rodney Pont wrote:

How many channel catfish have you bought and what do you plan to do
with them when they grow?