Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Pond safety

[James Kacki (jimkacki]

Lynn Nadeau wrote:

> If you want a genuine living pond, this involves building up a whole food 
> chain, which takes patience and some expertise. 
My experience with my own pool is different..  Some Koy and /or goldfish 
are easy to keep in that they eat the algae that grows naturally and 
abundantly and the myriad of insects that also grow naturally and 
abundantly.  The fish droppings form a natural layer of growth medium 
for plants etc. but it is good to start with some aquatic plants in soil 
in pots.
Jim

Lynn Nadeau wrote:
Around here, it's quite hard to keep any fish in a pond, as the local 
herons (and maybe raccoons) think the pond is a sushi bar. A visit by a 
pair of mallards will also clean a small pond of almost all fauna.

In my area, the northern prairies, in an urban setting, the only natural 
predators have been racoons and cats and while they pay attention (quite 
entertaining to watch), the 2'-6" depth ensures that they are not very 
successful (lost 1 fish in 5 years)
Jim

Lynn Nadeau wrote
If your pond is not running water, you may also have to contend with 
mosquito breeding.

This has not been a problem at all for me due to the koy & goldfish.  We 
are  a world centre for mosquitos but the fish have such voracious 
appetites that I am sure not one mosquito has got past the delicious 
squiggly larva stage.  The fish love them and are fat, healthy and happy!

Here's another interesting fact for would-be pond makers in the north. 
Our winter temperatures (Winnipeg) are regularly minus 20 degrees 
celcius and in that range.  Rivers freeze several feet thick.  I tried 
an amazing experiment that worked very well.  I have a little pump in 
the pool that pumps water to the top of a little stream  so that the 
water always circulates and is oxygenated.  On the theory that moving 
water does not freeze I decided to try and keep the fish in the pool all 
winter. (Carp live naturally in the bottom of our rivers all winter).  I 
moved the tube from the pump so that is was always blowing a small  jet 
of water (like a little fountain)a few inches above the surface of the 
pond.  While the pond did freeze over most of the surface, there was 
always a small 2-3 inch diameter hole in the ice at the pumped water 
'fountain'.  Snow cover got to be 2-3 feet thick but there was always a 
small hole in it above the fountain.  One could look down the hole in 
the snow (like looking into a little volcano) and see the fountain of 
water bubbling away at the surface of the water.  It was so cold that 
the fish lived in a semi-hibernation state in the leaves and mud at the 
bottom of the pool.  Since this was an experiment, I took half of the 
fish inside to overwinter in a large indoor tank (what most people with 
ponds in our climate do).  These fish were sluggish, lethargic and did 
not look too happy as the winter dragged on.  Well imagine my surprise 
when, in the spring, the fish kept outside were much, much healthier and 
more colourful and lively than those which were kept inside!  
This technique of keeping the goldfish outside lasted for 3 winters, 
with the outdoor fish almost double the size of the indoor fish. . 
Nature knows best! However, during the forth winter, there was an 
electrical failure in the line to the pump that went unnoticed.  The 
pool froze to the bottom and and the fish became popsicles.  A sad end 
to a fascinating pool adventure.  It's worth a try, but keep an eye on 
the pump during the winter!
Jim

>  


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