Messages

1

Pond Chat / Re: Complete beginner questions

« on: September 13, 2008, 04:08:14 AM »

Thank you Philly Bill, I will email you. So far things seem to be going well with my pond and 24 or so goldfish, but I am a bit nervous about the winter, so I will go to the seminar on preparing for the winter - thanks again. A local (to me) pond/fish store I have gone to is The Ponds and Gardens of Limekiln. They seem knowledgable and are very nice.

Also, hard to be sure, but I think the black fish I had mentioned earlier are dark brown and one may be turning gold (orange) as someone had suggested.

Thanks again everyone.

2

Pond Chat / Re: Complete beginner questions

« on: September 12, 2008, 01:36:05 PM »

Thank you everyone, this information is very helpful.  Ed

3

Pond Chat / Re: Complete beginner questions

« on: September 11, 2008, 09:56:06 AM »

Thank you everyone for your advice.
Sorry I did not thank you sooner but my life has been crazy - moving from house in Mass. to apartment in Philadelphia to house in Philadelphia in 5 months, dealing with packing, contractors, job search, etc., etc. Anyway.
Here is what I  have figured out - there is no leak - the water loss was from water leaking out over the liner (was hard to see this as pond is lined with slate on top of the liner edge, that hangs a few inches over the water), which I kept adding to as the lower pond (water flows from big upper pond to small lower one) water level kept going down. I have experimented with diffferent water levels and flow rates and I think I am pretty close to where I need to be.
Feeding the fish is a blast! Most of them let me handle them a bit under the water while I feed them. I have added 2 more lilly pad plants (?) to give them more cover, and tehy seem happy.
Here is latest question: after I cleaned the filter and got things running a lot better, the water was still pretty murky. Then we got the tail end of Gustav last weekend, maybe an inch or two of rain, and now the water is VERY clear! So while this is good, I am trying to figure out why it happened. Is this likely a PH or other balance issue? The volume of new water relative to existing could not be the answer, so the chemical balance must have changed? Any ideas?
I will try to post some pictures soon but I am a techno-phobe. Oh, and I have more like 2 dozen fish - about 7 black ones I did not know about! I don't know if these are goldfish or not.
Thanks for your help - Ed.

4

Pond Chat / Complete beginner questions

« on: August 22, 2008, 08:02:53 AM »

Hello all,
My wife and I just bought a lovely house, complete with goldfish pond, so I am trying to get educated quickly. The previous owner went over some basics with me, but I have lots of semmingly dumb questions.
The pond is approx. 1,000 gallons, and we have approx. 15 goldfish (I don't know what kind), most of them small, several babies. The pond flows into a small (60 gal.) lower pond, where the pump is located. The system seems to work well, though I am surprised how much water evaporates daily (we live in Philadelphia). The water is pumped through a filter (I need to learn more about the filter).
Okay, here are the newbie questions!
Besides bugs, what do these fish eat (self sustaining pond, with several healthy looking plants in it, frogs, etc.)? I see them munching on plant and leave matter that falls into the pond. Is that all? How do I tell if they are getting enough food - I don't know what a healthy goldfish looks like.
Does the filter adequately clean the waste from the water? I wonder about all the waste never getting cleaned out - how does this happen (I probably should know all this from high school science classes!).
Is the size pond adequate for 15 or so fish - most small? There are numerous babies, but not sure what happens in a year.
Any advice on these topics or things I need to focus on at the beginning would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!