My Pond

Cleared some of the plants out of the pond today and cleaned the filters ready for winter. Look who popped up to say hello, I nearly died of fright! I lowered the water level so I could reach the pump without getting wet sleeves, water's been put back in now so she can climb out if she wants to. I saw two baby fish as well a lovely surprise, I hope they survive the winter.
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I love a frogby! You have reminded me that I am going to have to sort my pond Lilly out, it’s outgrown it’s pot! the pond looks really good since I added that little solar fountain, the water is crystal clear. Will have to wait for a fine day though, which is difficult at the moment with all this rain! 😟
 
We've had a dry day today, storm clouds have been gathering but the rain's not stared yet. Our pond was clear until I took the pots out today, it will soon settle again though, especially if we get some rain on it.
 
Really sad to say one of our fish had died over night. It was the female (only one we think) and it looks like she had got trapped behind a plant basket with her head out of the water. They have been chasing a lot the last few days and driving her into that corner amongst the plant roots. I checked a few days ago for sharp edges and all seemed fine but the water level is dropping quickly with this heat so if she'd rested there for a while hiding from the others she could have struggled to get out. 2 of her last years babies have survived so hopefully one of them will be a girl, I do love to see a few babies swimming around.
The fish that had the fungus is looking much better and all the pond plants are thriving.
 
Sorry you lost your female fishy, hopefully if she’s laid some eggs this year and a female might survive. We don’t have fish in our little pond, it’s very small but over the years had many a large pond with lots of goldfish and tiny babies swimming around. Amazing when you see those tiny specs and realise they are goldfish x
 
I had a larger pond when I lived in Cornwall and I used to catch some little lines with eyes and bring them on in a separate little pond or tank. I used to feed them fish milk. In those days I knew lots of people with ponds and could always rehome them. My Mum's still got some of my babies in her pond, they must be at least 15 years old. I am finding it hard to let nature take it's course here but the pond is only 1000 litres so there's no room for lots of fish. Last years 2 babies surviving is about right I think if you don't interfere with nature.
 
piggieminder said:
I had a larger pond when I lived in Cornwall and I used to catch some little lines with eyes and bring them on in a separate little pond or tank. I used to feed them fish milk. In those days I knew lots of people with ponds and could always rehome them. My Mum's still got some of my babies in her pond, they must be at least 15 years old. I am finding it hard to let nature take it's course here but the pond is only 1000 litres so there's no room for lots of fish. Last years 2 babies surviving is about right I think if you don't interfere with nature.
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Yes difficult one, I know you can get 1000’s of eggs and as time goes by they reduce down the two or threes the following year, similar to tadpoles some years too
 
i have a couple ponds, and ducks. sadly i’m moving soon so i’ll only have a little pond. the ducks are going to my country’s equivalent of the rspca ):
 
Teacake said:
i will, as stupid as this sounds i’ve been crying for a little while, i just can’t believe that i’m never going to see her again ):
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Aw, that's understandable :hug: I moved last autumn, so I don't know how the pond of which I posted photos last year is doing now. I can only hope that the new owners haven't filled it in - the wildlife obviously needed it as there were at least 13 pairs of frogs there in the 2 springs after I made it.
The lady expressed an interest in wildlife and when I told her about the pond, but when I showed it to her she seemed a bit disappointed - maybe she fancied a posh formal pond...
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Aw, that's understandable :hug: I moved last autumn, so I don't know how the pond of which I posted photos last year is doing now. I can only hope that the new owners haven't filled it in - the wildlife obviously needed it as there were at least 13 pairs of frogs there in the 2 springs after I made it.
The lady expressed an interest in wildlife and when I told her about the pond, but when I showed it to her she seemed a bit disappointed - maybe she fancied a posh formal pond...
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It’s always sad when you leave your house and pond behind. I often wonder what happens to all the wildlife and hope the new owners don’t rip them out and make the newts, frogs, birds looking for new homes and drinking spots. My last pond was nearly ripped out. The buyer said she had two grandchildren and it would have to go. I said that would be a shame as they would have lots of fun pond dipping and learning about wildlife and that it was only 18” deep in the middle, so she change her mind and thought she would keep it after all.
 
piggieminder said:
It broke my heart to leave my garden and ponds when I left Cornwall - far more than it did leaving the house or friends behind. It sounds silly but my gardens and ponds have always been my relaxation.
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No that’s not silly at all, we are exactly the same. When we buy a house the first thing we do is look at the garden! If it’s a good size and the back doesn’t face north/north west then the house can be sorted. Our bungalow is way too small for us but the garden is a delight! We are outdoorsy people and keen gardeners so spend a lot of time outside anyway so we cope with the small house, could just do with a dedicated piggie/sewing room 😆
 
Bill & Ted said:
No that’s not silly at all, we are exactly the same. When we buy a house the first thing we do is look at the garden! If it’s a good size and the back doesn’t face north/north west then the house can be sorted. Our bungalow is way too small for us but the garden is a delight! We are outdoorsy people and keen gardeners so spend a lot of time outside anyway so we cope with the small house, could just do with a dedicated piggie/sewing room 😆
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Same as me- it was the garden I fell in love with, I didn't want a bungalow (even less so an incredibly small one like I got) , but I love my garden & all its wildlife 🐛 🐦🦋 🦉🐤🐦🦇🐌🦗🐞🦎🐿🦔🌳🌿🌷

It had 2ponds, one wildlife & lily pond, the other a large raised leaking fishpond.
One of my first projects outside was rendering & re-sealing the pond :D
 
GPTV said:
Same as me- it was the garden I fell in love with, I didn't want a bungalow (even less so an incredibly small one like I got) , but I love my garden & all its wildlife 🐛 🐦🦋 🦉🐤🐦🦇🐌🦗🐞🦎🐿🦔🌳🌿🌷

It had 2ponds, one wildlife & lily pond, the other a large raised leaking fishpond.
One of my first projects outside was rendering & re-sealing the pond :D
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yes I love all the wildlife a pond brings in. Our pond is full of newts atm, lots of babies too. We had a beautiful dragonfly last week, the colour was the most amazing turquoise. I’m hoping it’s laid it’s eggs and we get more next year
 
piggieminder said:
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So pleased I got a flower on the lilly this year, looks like it's oing to be the only one. The first orange fish is the one that had fungal disease, fingers crossed he'slooking okay now.
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So glad he’s looking ok now :love: Hope it continues! Your pond looks lovely x
(Arnie’s still fighting on, tumour on her mouth not getting any bigger and she’s still managing her munch for now bless her!)
 
I have some really sad news. Yesterday I noticed a bit of fish on the path, on further investigation 4 of my fish are missing including one of the babies hatched in the pond in 2019. We are both so upset, the pond has been a joy to us especially last year, we've had no trouble with it at all. The trellis has kept the seaguls and heron away from the fish. The only thing I can think is that a cat has managed to scoop them up through the holes in the trellis or a rat has got in the pond and taken them out. We have taken most of the marginal plants out today to give us a clear edge and covered the whole thing in very unsightly bits of old piggy run with very small holed mesh. I suspect the visitor has been coming early in the morning when no one is about so we will be able to take the mesh off during the day to we can see the fish that are left! If it's a rat I'm not sure we will be able to keep it out of the pond, they can squeeze through such small gaps.
 
piggieminder said:
I have some really sad news. Yesterday I noticed a bit of fish on the path, on further investigation 4 of my fish are missing including one of the babies hatched in the pond in 2019. We are both so upset, the pond has been a joy to us especially last year, we've had no trouble with it at all. The trellis has kept the seaguls and heron away from the fish. The only thing I can think is that a cat has managed to scoop them up through the holes in the trellis or a rat has got in the pond and taken them out. We have taken most of the marginal plants out today to give us a clear edge and covered the whole thing in very unsightly bits of old piggy run with very small holed mesh. I suspect the visitor has been coming early in the morning when no one is about so we will be able to take the mesh off during the day to we can see the fish that are left! If it's a rat I'm not sure we will be able to keep it out of the pond, they can squeeze through such small gaps.
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Oh I am so sorry @piggieminder how awful. It’s such a shame when you have watched them grow especially the baby one who you managed to hatch. I have found over the years we have less and less frogs from when we moved in back in 2012. I think it’s all down to the amount of cats coming in our garden especially at night. We have caught one on camera carrying off a frog in the night, it’s so awful and could be avoided if people kept their cats in at night, the same with young birds too
 
piggieminder said:
Some members asked for pictures of my latest project, I can't remember who but I think @alpacasqueak was one.
Any way here are some photos of the still on going project. I decided to use pots around the pond area so that when the plants are going over and/or shedding leaves they can be changed around.


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Ohh my gosh. I love your pond so much I was just talking to my boyfriend today about how much our goldfish have grown and in particular our loach who is huge now! Literally a monster! and how they may be happier and have much more space in a nice pond! How big is your pond? Width and depth? Roughly how many litres? Looks amazing and love your wooden net that's what I need! Does it keep the birds out? Where did you get it from?! :)
 
piggieminder said:
I have some really sad news. Yesterday I noticed a bit of fish on the path, on further investigation 4 of my fish are missing including one of the babies hatched in the pond in 2019. We are both so upset, the pond has been a joy to us especially last year, we've had no trouble with it at all. The trellis has kept the seaguls and heron away from the fish. The only thing I can think is that a cat has managed to scoop them up through the holes in the trellis or a rat has got in the pond and taken them out. We have taken most of the marginal plants out today to give us a clear edge and covered the whole thing in very unsightly bits of old piggy run with very small holed mesh. I suspect the visitor has been coming early in the morning when no one is about so we will be able to take the mesh off during the day to we can see the fish that are left! If it's a rat I'm not sure we will be able to keep it out of the pond, they can squeeze through such small gaps.
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I'm so sorry I have only just read this. :( Take care. Hope the other fishes are ok and the majority are safe. X
 
@Tara it's only a small pond about 1000 litres. 175 cm x 140cm approximate guess working on the number of C&C grids I used to cover the trellis to make the holes smaller. The wooden cover is a garden trellis from The Range. The wood was treated with something but I weathered it in the garden for a winter so that it didn't contaminate the water. We put the pond in in September and didn't put plants or fish in until the following spring so it wasn't needed then. Yes it kept seagulls and herons out (we have been visited by both) and the fish were safe until this year, we've never worked out if it was a cat or a rat. All has been well since 🤞. The small birds like to sit on the trellis and drink from the pond despite having bowls of water around the garden especially for them.
 
piggieminder said:
@Tara it's only a small pond about 1000 litres. 175 cm x 140cm approximate guess working on the number of C&C grids I used to cover the trellis to make the holes smaller. The wooden cover is a garden trellis from The Range. The wood was treated with something but I weathered it in the garden for a winter so that it didn't contaminate the water. We put the pond in in September and didn't put plants or fish in until the following spring so it wasn't needed then. Yes it kept seagulls and herons out (we have been visited by both) and the fish were safe until this year, we've never worked out if it was a cat or a rat. All has been well since 🤞. The small birds like to sit on the trellis and drink from the pond despite having bowls of water around the garden especially for them.
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Thank you! I do have a lot of magpies around the area (not sure if they'd go for fish) Will look into the trellis design it looks alot nicer than most nets! Is it alot of work over winter with the goldfish and the water freezing? :)
 
Tara95 said:
Thank you! I do have a lot of magpies around the area (not sure if they'd go for fish) Will look into the trellis design it looks alot nicer than most nets! Is it alot of work over winter with the goldfish and the water freezing? :)
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Sorry to take so long to reply, I've been away.
It's very little work in the winter. We don't often get it cold enough to freeze the pond here but just in case I put a football in it. The water freezes round the ball which I lift out during the day to let gasses out of the pond. The ball goes back in at night to stop the hole freezing over.
 
piggieminder said:
Sorry to take so long to reply, I've been away.
It's very little work in the winter. We don't often get it cold enough to freeze the pond here but just in case I put a football in it. The water freezes round the ball which I lift out during the day to let gasses out of the pond. The ball goes back in at night to stop the hole freezing over.
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Ooh what a clever idea!
 
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