Fishy in a different way - also ongoing
So bought a new place a couple of years ago and have spent most of that time doing stuff inside.
Decided it was time to prepare the pad for my eventual shed as the backyard was pretty baron.
Hired a bobcat and got my son Ryan on it to help start clearing the lawn for the pad.
And with the help of mate Garbo.
Was wondering what to do with all the crap dirt we were pulling up and decided to pile it near the fence. Thinking about it I thought Hmmm, I could make a garden out of this and hey, let's build a pond.
Pulled all the retic up and got the pad concreted.
And then started to dig the pond out.
Put a pond liner in and put weed mat over the mounded dirt area.
bought a pump that does 25,000 litres per hour as well as a good filter which eventually will be set in the ground.
Put rocks around the pond I managed to get from a friends property in Burekup and used agregate to lay over the weed mate.
I'm going to build decking between the house and the pond.
I've stocked 24 Goldfish but also 30 Silver Perch which are growing exceedingly fast, along with Marron and Yabbies and to date, nearly 4 months now since they've been in, they all seem to be living in harmony.
Put the gopro in the pond and got some awesome footage, the next pic is a still from that. I've also enjoyed dragging a small lure with no hooks across the pond and the Silver Perch go ape.
Will keep you updated on more progress as time goes bye.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
Sam_Wood
Posts: 175
Date Joined: 15/09/15
Nice
Nice
"Life is Hard, it is even harder if you are stupid,"
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Looks awesome, good work!
Looks awesome, good work!
cobia15
Posts: 300
Date Joined: 04/01/12
Luv it ....
Luv it ....
THE BEST BILGE PUMP IS A SCARED MAN WITH A BUCKET
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Great work BJ, say g'day to
Great work BJ, say g'day to Garbo for me!
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Cheers Liam. He'll be round
Cheers Liam. He'll be round here a bit more often soon as he's going to build my man cave for me. Haha! not sure if he know's it yet?
Will keep putting up pics as the progress happens.
Bloody Silver Perch grow over night, they were fingerlings when I put them in and now some are close to 300 grams.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
robert1979
Posts: 224
Date Joined: 13/05/12
that's cool, laughing at the
that's cool, laughing at the thought of your neighbours watching you casting lures into your pond! Haha fishing addiction.
OOH YEH
Posts: 384
Date Joined: 16/06/15
ponds
I built my ponds and grew rainbow trout which love being tickled and chasing a barbless plastic and they grew up to 3kgs then the pest controller decided to poison some bugs close to the pond and killed them all ....... Sowatch out when they come to spray
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Well aware of that mate and
Well aware of that mate and can asure you the home boundry spraying with the chemical I used well before putting the pond down won't require me to do it again for many, many years. I'll say no more.
But yes it is something you have to be careful of.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
Awesome
well done, looks like a good size pad too.
Perry Home
Posts: 434
Date Joined: 07/10/10
Try
And keep count of the other species as the silver perch get bigger. They are fast growing with a healthy appetite. Are you feeding them to reduce the possible carnage? You may need to shade the pond depending on its depth to keep water temp down. May make my bloody swimming pool into a "Put n Take'... get more use and be more fun!
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Silver Perch have small
Silver Perch have small mouths and don't generally attack other species as they are predominately herbavores but the goldfish will attack anything small enough.
Yes feeding them small amounts 4 times a day with a combination of sinking and floating pellets as well as shelled peas on the weekend. The love the peas!
Pond is actually 1.5 metres deep in the middle and I've put plenty of structure in for the Marron & Yabbies. Also a number of Water Lillies for shade for the fish.
My biggest problem has been the String Algie but water clarity has been fine. String Algie is a food source for the Perch but at one stage I was thinking, "shit!" I could harvest this stuff and sell it to the pharmceutical market. I've use zeolite to maintain the Algie and all seems to be good at the moment. Excess String Algie has gone into the compost heap and on the garden beds in preparation for Winter veges, it's awesome compost.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Less lawn to mow, how good is that!
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Yep Dale, One of the reasons
Yep Dale, One of the reasons I did it was precisely for that reason.
Whole pond area is also fully reticulated.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Whaaaat I love mowing lawn
Whaaaat
I love mowing lawn haha
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
Wow
That is a great pond build! Well done!
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
Poppy
Posts: 98
Date Joined: 19/01/13
Wandering marron
I put 6 blue marron in my pond, with goldfish and koi. They looked terrific when they came out at night, however, one by one they took off and we found them, sometimes alive, sometimes dead, scattered all over our block. It seems that they do that and are very intollerant of temperature and chemical change in the water. They usually went walk-about after heavy rains.
A pessimist is never disapointed
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Hey Poppy, sides of the pond
Hey Poppy, sides of the pond are steep enough the Marron won't get out but you are correct about them being temperamental to weather change. I've lost a few now but think it is more down to the fact I got sh#t loads of yabbies from a mate and the yabbies are all doing fine but they are super aggresive.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
Brock O
Posts: 3163
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Looks Mint
What a great back yard, man cave plus the sound of trickling water.....Stress relieve right there, cracker on a sunday arvo once thats decks finished with the footy on and a beer in hand.
Didnt get joints added to avoid cracks, and have you had any major cracking since ? always wounder way they mention it for shed slabs but its never done on house slabs etc, look like a smooth finish too...carefull with water and crocks on, almost gone C6%t up a few times on mine.
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Yep Brock O, Know what you
Yep Brock O, Know what you mean about wearing Crocs on the pad,... gone close.
Mate is the concrete manager of a major home building mob in the South West and he said no need to go with joints. Pad is 100 mm thick with plenty of re-bar and only some very minor surface cracks but the slab was laid nearly a year ago now. It's seriously been exposed for nearly 12 months and I can't see a problem with it.
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!
Cruise Control
Posts: 971
Date Joined: 03/11/10
The pool looks great and
The pool looks great and there is nothing quite so relaxing as the sound of running water.
A mate did similar with an old disused pool on his property. Has some cracker Koi and plenty of other fish varieties. Lots of water lilies topped it off, it was its own Eco environment. . . . . .until the herons arrived . . . . . . . Then one by one the herons got them all. He even put bird netting over it to keep the buggers out but even with the netting and a very active kelpie he couldn't stop the carnage.
Hoping you don't have the same issue. If you do, a ging does work well until the herons associate people with ball bearings !
Bluetonic
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 09/01/08
Yep,Had a few Herrons and
Yep,
Had a few Herrons and Spoonbills look interested when I first put the fish in but the pump has a fountain in the middle of the pond and to date I've lost no fish.
The pond is also deep in the middle, nearly 1.5 metres so I think this helps as most of the Herron and Spoonbills like to wade and catch their prey.
I haven't gone a full year with the fish in the pond so maybe there is a time of year I haven't seen yet where this might happen...? At the end of summer when normal wet lands are dried up for example...?
Blue Sky, Blue Water, Bluetonic!