Has anyone built a pond in your garden
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Has anyone built a pond in your garden
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06-07-2008, 04:19 AM
Noel, if you want information on aquaculture, the place to go is the Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resources Center:
http://pacrc.uhh.hawaii.edu/ Kevin Hopkins is very helpful & may even give you a tour of their Hilo facilities 
06-11-2008, 11:23 AM
hi carey,
thanks for the heads up on the organization, look forward to visiting both locations.. by the way congrats on becoming the moderator of the gardening forum. weeeee....noel
06-14-2008, 04:33 AM
I've built a number of ponds and I've got one now that I use for mosquito control and it works nicely. It's getting pretty loaded with koi at the moment and I may well be giving some of those away in the near future, if anyone is interested. They're nice fish, and almost hand feed tame at this point. They'll be 8 to 10 inches here soon.
The key is size to avoid hassle, disease, and PH problems. I wouldn't build a pond of under 3000 gallons at this point, but all in all that's not a real big pond. It will take care of itself if well designed and won't need pumps or other stuff, which is key, because it's pretty costly. The important thing is that you've got to build an ecosystem, not just a pond, but if you do, it will be all but maintenance free.
06-14-2008, 04:46 AM
quote:3000 gallons - how it reads in feet demention and how much would you charge to build one?
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Whatever you assume,please just ask a question first.
06-14-2008, 06:24 AM
JWFiTZ,
What you have said is very interesting. Could you please elaborate on how to build "an ecosystem". thanks canh quote: canhle
canh Le
06-14-2008, 07:19 AM
Hi,
Actually came back to the topic here because I noticed I've got myself a koi hatch out there and I'm definitely going to be giving some fish away, it looks like. Hard to say how many are going to survive, but at this point they're about an inch long and looks pretty fancy colored. We'll see! Anyhow, to paint with a big broad brush. A pond in the wild and a pond made by people often are very different. A pond in the wild is an expression of a natural site that, well, water settles to and sits. Your artificial pond should do the same. If you don't, you're going to have to rely on non-permeable liners and thats where the problem starts. A pond in nature leaks. Yours should too, controllably. If it doesn't, you end up with concentrating toxins as water evaporates, and there you go, pond problems and disease. There's a lot of ways around all that. It depends mostly on the rainfall in an area, and the more the better, as your water changes out more regular and stays cleaner. Obviously we have all that in spades. So, understanding the principle dependent on the site different techniques arise. In good sites with a hard lava bottom and a lot of rainfall you need pretty near nothing but a pit and a handful of cheap tarps that more or less cover the bottom. Really, I'm not kidding. In more difficult areas where things may settle, rock and ferrocement may be in order. It MUST reflect the site. If not, you're going to have to compensate with pumps and all that bit. The key is A)controlled flowthrough in the pond B)adequate shedspace area surrounding the pond to keep it full in all conditions C)ph stability. The rest more or less takes care of itself. A 3000 gallon tank with a natural profile may be 2 to 3 feet deep, maybe 10 - 12 x 14 - 16. You'll have topography in the bottom so you don't have a strict 8 gallons per cubic foot metric. The edges for bug control should be quite steep so there isn't any shallow water that fish can't get into, as all the bugs will end up there. Even so, the big dragonflies with quickly populate those areas and it will be pretty tough for a bug to hang in there. Taro works really well in the margins and looks great. Water lettuce provides good forage for the goldfish. You need some heavy moss in places so the fish can spawn in that, and you want to try to keep little rocks out as much as possible, as fish choke on them. The biggest problem with planting the pond is all the nurseries use that crappy acetate stuff in their potting soil--I hate that plastic crap--and it gets into a pond and is a impossible mess. There's ways around it, but what a pain. In terms of costs, I love to build a ponds as it's more or less fun, but I'd have to see the site and see what it needs to give any guess in ideas. At any rate, it isn't real expensive. I think it's important as well to put a deck in the pond, as it's nice to get out on it and enjoy feeding the fish. If the pond is natural with natural banks it will be fragile to some degree and you won't want to really walk there a great deal. Mine has the bridge to the front gate of my house running across it. I had pictures posted of it and I'll try to get those back up. If you'd like me to take a look, let me know at oarclub@hotmail.com I am looking for work at the moment and certainly prefer to take on the fun jobs like this. Bugger sheetrock!
08-13-2008, 06:22 AM
Just got this e-mail about an talk on aquaculture by Kevin Hopkins:
"Sorry for the late notice. Hope you can join us tomorrow at 6:00 PM for our monthly meeting. Kevin Hopkins, Interim Director and Professor of Aquaculture will be presenting: Research & Development Programs at UH-Hilo's Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resources Center (see attached poster). This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the UHH aquaculture program. The Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center(PACRC) is a project of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the County of Hawaii, the Keaukaha Community Association, with collaboration from the State of Hawaii Aquaculture Development Program and UH Sea Grant. It is a newly developed research and development center with a mission to advance long termsustainable use and conservation of coastal areas worldwide through aquaculture and resource management. The PACRC operates aquaculture projects worldwide. Time: 6:00 - 7:30 PM Location: Mokupapapa Discovery Center (308 Kamehameha Avenue in Downtown Hilo,next to Café Pesto) See you there!" You can take the Pahoa 4:25 bus to Hilo & arrive around 5 pm, right across from the Mokupapapa Discovery Center.. for free (return on the 9pm bus to Pahoa at 10:05 (& get a free evening tour around Hilo, the university & around Hawaiian Beaches, Shores, Rec...)
08-14-2008, 08:13 AM
quote: Carey - How are Kevin's sturgeon doing? Since our hanai kid moved to SF we havent heard how the nursery is going. |
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