Do you like your pond?

I am a complete novice thinking of installing a garden pond (about 500
gallons). I know this will be a biased answer on this news group. But,
is owning and maintaining a pond like the old boat owners saying - "the
two best days are the day it is bought and the day it is sold?" Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience? Thanks.

Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

"B Daly" wrote in message
.net...
I am a complete novice thinking of installing a garden pond (about 500
gallons). I know this will be a biased answer on this news group. But,
is owning and maintaining a pond like the old boat owners saying - "the
two best days are the day it is bought and the day it is sold?" Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience? Thanks.

Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?
=================================
I've had my moments when cleaning a clogged filter on a 99 F day, but on the
whole it's worth it.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

B Daly wrote:

Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience?

Very much so.... mine is largish and earth bottomed, so I have different
problems (marauding muskrats vs. clogged filters), but I wouldn't give it
up for anything. It's a religious thing...



Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

rec.ponds, if you've got a thick skin and know how to ignore idiocy;
rec.ponds.moderated if things are too wild and woolly there and you prefer
enforced civility.

There are good people around at any rate.

Enjoy!



Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Go for it! The advice for ponds is much like the advice for aquariums -
buy/build the biggest one you can afford. I started with an 800 gallon pond
and that lasted me for around five years until we moved and I built one
that's around 3,000 gallons. I've caught myself wishing I'd gone even
larger. There's a lot you can do with 500 gallons but you'd be limited if
you want to have Koi. Find a couple of other ponders and you'll never have
to buy fish or plants.

Helen Nash has some good books and of course the web has a lot of
information.

What kind of pond are you wanting - mostly plants and a few fish? Koi? (Koi
and plants don't mix really well but I have both.)

Ponds are actually less maintenance than an aquarium.

Good luck!


"B Daly" wrote in message
.net...
I am a complete novice thinking of installing a garden pond (about 500
gallons). I know this will be a biased answer on this news group. But,
is owning and maintaining a pond like the old boat owners saying - "the
two best days are the day it is bought and the day it is sold?" Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience? Thanks.

Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

On 30 Jul, 15:15, Gary Woods wrote:
B Daly wrote:
Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience?

Very much so.... mine is largish and earth bottomed, so I have different
problems (marauding muskrats vs. clogged filters), but I wouldn't give it
up for anything. It's a religious thing...



Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

rec.ponds, if you've got a thick skin and know how to ignore idiocy;
rec.ponds.moderated if things are too wild and woolly there and you prefer
enforced civility.

There are good people around at any rate.

Enjoy!

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

As long as the piond is built properly and its equipment is sized
right according to zone and the stocking rate is proper, a pond is not
a problem at all, Its when you cut corners, use improper items like a
filter thats wrong or two small or get carried awayw ith feeding or
stocking, that y9ou get into problems with a pond. Nothing worse than
a pond that is not constructed right. Its like having a car with leaky
tires, its always gonna be a headache. Don;t have money this year to
build it right, don;t do it, wait uintil next year or when yu have the
money to do it right and then get to enjoy it instead of haveing to
constantly be fiddling with it.

Best source for a poind and fish info is KOiphen.com certainly not the
moderated pond group or this one. This group may do in a pinch but the
best info and advice is found on the newer online fourms such as
koiphen.com and koishack.com..............a constant supply of advice
and info and instant posting once your registered, and in most cases
almost an imediate reply to questions as well. Not anywhere near like
a moderated group is, and folks are just so much more friendly, than
the hipocrites on the moderated pond group are..as they tend to make
up the rules of group posting as they go along.............as they do
not pay any attention to their so called charter. Its mopre of an
eyewash thing they had so they could get their exclusive country club
established for the sake of control, nothing at all to do with so
called trolls as they claim.

On Jul 30, 6:20 am, B Daly wrote:
I am a complete novice thinking of installing a garden pond (about 500 ...

I like it. Two days ago I spent 2 hours sitting by the pond with my
son (16 years old) looking at bugs and creatures and plants.
Priceless.

It is less work than an aquarium. For 7 months of the year I don't
touch it. The rest of the time I don't do much compared to the time I
spend just looking at it. It's like watching a camp fire. It's just
fascinating.

Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

That's a good question. It took me years to get my pond right because
a lot of advice I got from very well meaning people didn't help. Some
store owners just want to sell you expensive stuff. Some store owners
are quite helpful. The expertise in this newsgroup didn't cover the
big problem I had (but did help with many other problems). But I did
find a key bit of knowledge on the intenet. For example, my filter
consists of nothing but a 100 gallon stock tank that I pour water in
the top and take out the bottom (twisty pipes keep the tank full).
There is no filter media. Once a week I add a lot of nutrients (other
than phosphates) and when I top off the water I add something to take
the phosphates out of my tap water. My water is clear, I have to throw
plants out, and the fish won't stop reproducing. So, I'm almost an
expert, on MY pond. I don't know that I can help you with yours.

I'd suggest reading from lots of resources and talking to lots of
people. You'll probably get lots of conflicitng opinions. One of them
will work for your situation. In other words, it's probably wise to
have the attitude that this is a learning experience and it won't look
really great the first time you try. If it does, congratulations. If
not, keep tinkering until you figure it out. Hopefully you're a faster
learner than I am. My only hint is that when you buy test kits, make
sure you include a phosphate test kit (algae primarily lives off of
phosphates). That took me too long to figure out.

On 30 Jul, 13:20, B Daly wrote:
I am a complete novice thinking of installing a garden pond (about 500
gallons). I know this will be a biased answer on this news group. But,
is owning and maintaining a pond like the old boat owners saying - "the
two best days are the day it is bought and the day it is sold?" Or has
pond ownership been a satisfying experience? Thanks.

Also, in your opinion, what is the best resource for a beginner?

Its a joy to build and maintain a pond. Its quite easy to. Checkout a
href="http://www.gardenfishpond.co.uk"how to build and maintain a
garden fish pond/a