Fish Pond question from the uneducated

I live in a neighborhood where about a dozen homes back up to a small
pond with a fountain. Apparently, our HOA decided to "stock" the pond
with fish this year. I'm not sure how deep the pond is in the center,
but I doubt it is more than 15 feet or so.

Anyway, my neighbor was out trying to push his retired Christmas tree
into the pond this afternoon. Thinking that he was turning our pond
into a trash dump, I asked him what he was doing. His reply was that
he was giving the fish a place to live, and he asked me if I knew
anything about fish. Well, since I don't, I thought I would try to ask
around and get some more expert opinions on this issue. Is this a
reasonable thing for him to do?

I am concerned that his actions will result in a broken down pump
(which obviously, costs all of the homeowners to repair) or some other
problem. He tried to push the tree out there, but because the banks
are so shallow, it only made it out a few feet and got stuck there.
(okay, you can all stop laughing now!)

I would appreciate any words of wisdom you can provide. Thanks for
your advice.

Where I live they only use bunch or reef of trees in streams or moving
water. They do sink ships,etc in the ocean for reefs but that water
does move.
Let you neighbor keep it up and he will be fish food if the pond is
that deep.There must be underwater plants for the fish to hide in.
Happy water gardening.

you are right, he is mistaken. the fish dont need a rotting pine tree in there (nice
water lilies are fine). and yes, pine needles are a bitch to get out of the pond and
it will jam up the pump. get the pine tree out of there. Ingrid

"soonrgrl" wrote:
Anyway, my neighbor was out trying to push his retired Christmas tree
into the pond this afternoon.
His reply was that
he was giving the fish a place to live, and he asked me if I knew
anything about fish. Well, since I don't, I thought I would try to ask
around and get some more expert opinions on this issue. Is this a
reasonable thing for him to do?

I am concerned that his actions will result in a broken down pump
(which obviously, costs all of the homeowners to repair) or some other
problem. He tried to push the tree out there, but because the banks
are so shallow, it only made it out a few feet and got stuck there.
(okay, you can all stop laughing now!)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:23:58 GMT, wrote:

you are right, he is mistaken. the fish dont need a rotting pine tree in there (nice
water lilies are fine). and yes, pine needles are a bitch to get out of the pond and
it will jam up the pump. get the pine tree out of there. Ingrid

I'd be in agreement here, but Xmas trees in a pond of this size, especially
if it is a fairly new pond, is recommended by our Agri department for such
reasons. Course our water has a high pH, and I would hope he had checked
the pond regarding that.

The ponder (closed system/liner ponds) in me says "no way".... you might
want to check that newsgroup K30 often recommends. I'll send her a note to
post it. Let us know what those folks say, if you would. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

I'd be in agreement here, but Xmas trees in a pond of this size, especially
if it is a fairly new pond, is recommended by our Agri department for such
reasons. Course our water has a high pH, and I would hope he had checked
the pond regarding that.

The ponder (closed system/liner ponds) in me says "no way".... you might
want to check that newsgroup K30 often recommends. I'll send her a note to
post it. Let us know what those folks say, if you would. ~ jan

K30 tells me it was misc.rural that can give you some good info on large
ponds. ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Fish do like to hang around overhangs and tree roots. In my garden pond they
think they are hidden under lily pads (with their tails sticking out).

Your pond is much larger than the normal backyard garden pond. You can ask on
misc.rural. And we do have some large pond owners who post from time to time.

Your concern about the pump is warranted but a lot of stuff is going into that
pond on a regular basis, tree leaves, fish waste, insect bodies, blown in dirt
and sand, general debris from wind storms. If you have the right kind of pump
it will be okay. Eventually all pumps wear out. Really depends on the quality
of the pump.

Another concern is the kind and amount of fish which were put in the pond. They
will breed. This is where mother nature can help out by sending predators to
your pond. Depending on where you live snapping turtles will show up,
bullfrogs, herons, kingfishers, snakes, raccoons, mink - there are a host of
hungry critters out there, including little kids with fishing poles, and they
will help keep the fish population within reasonable limits.

good luck!

kathy

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 23:23:58 GMT, wrote:

you are right, he is mistaken. the fish dont need a rotting pine tree in
there (nice
water lilies are fine). and yes, pine needles are a bitch to get out of
the pond and
it will jam up the pump. get the pine tree out of there. Ingrid

I'd be in agreement here, but Xmas trees in a pond of this size,
especially if it is a fairly new pond, is recommended by our Agri
department for such reasons. Course our water has a high pH, and I would
hope he had checked the pond regarding that.

I'm guessing that someone with an email address of "soonrgrl" is both a
Sooner and female. Not being of an American persuasion, I can't remember
where Sooners are, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in that limestone,
highish pH, heartland :-)
--
derek

"soonrgrl" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in a neighborhood where about a dozen homes back up to a small
pond with a fountain. Apparently, our HOA decided to "stock" the pond
with fish this year. I'm not sure how deep the pond is in the center,
but I doubt it is more than 15 feet or so.

Anyway, my neighbor was out trying to push his retired Christmas tree
into the pond this afternoon. Thinking that he was turning our pond
into a trash dump, I asked him what he was doing. His reply was that
he was giving the fish a place to live, and he asked me if I knew
anything about fish. Well, since I don't, I thought I would try to ask
around and get some more expert opinions on this issue. Is this a
reasonable thing for him to do?

I am concerned that his actions will result in a broken down pump
(which obviously, costs all of the homeowners to repair) or some other
problem. He tried to push the tree out there, but because the banks
are so shallow, it only made it out a few feet and got stuck there.
(okay, you can all stop laughing now!)

I would appreciate any words of wisdom you can provide. Thanks for
your advice.

The tree if submerged would act as a nice spawning ground, but I'd be
hesitant do sink my tree simply because I'd be afraid of other following
suit. Next thing you know, you have ornaments in the water, people start
dumping their yard waste, etc.


--
BV
Webporgmaster of iheartmypond.com
Check out the IHMP forums, ihmp.net/phpbb
I'll be leaning on the bus stop post.

No. It is unsightly, but the tree limbs provide hiding places from
predators. If it were completely sunk, all the better. I question
about any toxins generated from the decaying needles and limbs.

IOn 2 Jan 2005 14:26:36 -0800, "soonrgrl" wrote:

I live in a neighborhood where about a dozen homes back up to a small
pond with a fountain. Apparently, our HOA decided to "stock" the pond
with fish this year. I'm not sure how deep the pond is in the center,
but I doubt it is more than 15 feet or so.

Anyway, my neighbor was out trying to push his retired Christmas tree
into the pond this afternoon. Thinking that he was turning our pond
into a trash dump, I asked him what he was doing. His reply was that
he was giving the fish a place to live, and he asked me if I knew
anything about fish. Well, since I don't, I thought I would try to ask
around and get some more expert opinions on this issue. Is this a
reasonable thing for him to do?

I am concerned that his actions will result in a broken down pump
(which obviously, costs all of the homeowners to repair) or some other
problem. He tried to push the tree out there, but because the banks
are so shallow, it only made it out a few feet and got stuck there.
(okay, you can all stop laughing now!)

I would appreciate any words of wisdom you can provide. Thanks for
your advice.

acidic, probably not toxic, but needles are really hard on pumps. had em dropping
into big pond from neighbors tree and pumping out the pond was punctuated with
stopping the pump to clean out the needles. It is the dead organic stuff that fouls
ponds and forces cleaning. why put dead organic stuff into the pond on purpose?
Ingrid

Phisherman wrote:

No. It is unsightly, but the tree limbs provide hiding places from
predators. If it were completely sunk, all the better. I question
about any toxins generated from the decaying needles and limbs.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.