response 1 of 34:

Jun 24 03:35 UTC 1995

My husband says that in the class he took, they told him the pond has to
go through its "green" stage each spring in order for the proper bacterias
to form.  So maybe this is nothing to worry about.

response 3 of 34:

Mar 3 12:50 UTC 1997

There are a lot of great books available on ponds and water gardening.
I am seriously considering putting in a small pond this summer.
I'm curious to know if mcpoz is still succeeding with his pond.

response 5 of 34:

Mar 4 11:39 UTC 1997

So, do we have herons in Ann Arbor?  I don't really like the
idea of stocking lovely fish only to have them all eaten by
predators.

response 7 of 34:

Mar 5 00:19 UTC 1997

It really shouldn't be a problem unless you have herons in the area anyway.
They are pretty shy, normally, but they have a PhD in eating stuff that grow
in shallow water.  We have a natural pond and wetlands and they fly over all
the time.  I have not seen any close to the house, though.

response 9 of 34:

Mar 8 00:05 UTC 1997

Initially I got a book from the Ann Arbor library.  My wife picked up one of
those paperback 8-1/2 x 11 garden type books th{at dealt with water gardens.
I picked up a sheet of rubber seamless roofing material from Gundrum Roofing
Co. on Jackson Ave. I think it was 15 x 20".  I dug a small hole with 4
depths.  It went approx 8", 15" 24" and the deepest was 34".  The total size
of the finished hole was perhaps 6' across.  After folding in the rubber sheet
and triming it about 1" around the edge, I put thick slabs of Michigan
Sandstone all around the edge.  In the 8" depth, I put a few field rocks. 
Nancy planted some kind of unstoppable sedum all around the rocks on the
edges, and she put other low bushy plants randomly around the edge.  On one
side of the pond is a huge wooded area with dense periwinkle and wild flowers.
On the other side of the pond is a planted shade area with lots of varieties
of Hostas.  Near that is a brick walk.  The snakes and the frogs come in from
the periwinkle.  Usually after a heavy rain, there are frogs all over my yard.
Some of these take up permanent residence in the pond.  They get pretty used
to us.

The tame frogs then will let me get very close to take pictures or even feed
them.  If I turn over rocks and find bugs or especially worms, the frogs will
gladly eat them if I drop them off right next to them.  I have even had them
go after a worm dangling from my hand.  

Back to the pond.  I have put a few wild plants in the water and they do ok
but do not flourish.  I put marsh grass in the water at the edge and that
grows.  Mosses grow on the rocks.  Water lilies live for the summer. 
Duckweed gets eaten by the fish.  

I aerate it with the cheapest aquarium pump found.  ($4.95 variety).  It puts
up a stream of fine bubbles and seems to be ok.  This year, we had a surface
heater in it and the fish were active all winter.  They were eager to eat the
fish food anytime I offered it.  By the way, when I feed them, I tap the can
of food on a rock, and they all come to the surface and wait for food.  

I have had a problem with the water going too high in pH.  I added vinegar
and dropped it back down, but I do not know what chemical method is
recommended.

By the way, I started out with wild panfish.  They stayed on the bottom and
you could never see them.  They are dark on top and even if you did see them,
you did not know for sure it was a fish.  When I decided to get rid of them,
I could not get them all out.  Then adding goldfish resulted in a smorgasbord
for the remaining bass and warmouth bass.  I had to drain the pond to get the
predators out.  They were too fast and too hard to see to net.  

Lots of fun.  

response 11 of 34:

Apr 5 11:54 UTC 1997

I really want to put in a pond, but I'm not sure I'll be able to
do it this year.  I'm definitely buying a fountain soon, though.
No reason not to have two water features in my yard.

response 13 of 34:

Apr 5 20:03 UTC 1997

 :-)
 The first frog of spring showed up in my tiny yard pond.

response 15 of 34:

May 10 22:47 UTC 1997

my pH is way too basic.  Does anyone know what to add to bring it back toward
neutral?  

response 17 of 34:

May 14 01:45 UTC 1997

Hmmm  - white vinegar - Maybe ? ? ? 
My well is 200 ft deep and very basic.  Ann Arbor city water is surface water.

response 19 of 34:

May 14 20:12 UTC 1997

I was talking about rain water, not processed city water.  There were several
articles a year or so ago about how extremely acid rain had become in the Ann
Arbor area.  They listed pH readings for a while, but I just looked and the
weather section of the A2 News doesn't seem to have that data now.  

response 21 of 34:

Jul 26 01:32 UTC 1997

Well today, I bought some stuff for my decorative pond.  I now have a 0.8 amp
(300 gal/hr) submersible pump with a removable, washable, cartrige filter on
it.  I am hoping it will clear up the water.  I bought some "Ph Down" to lower
my pH.  (This stuff is Citric Acid).  

I also bought some floating water plants for shady areas.  They look real nice
and the frogs went right to them.  

I have been feeding my fish "Special K" breakfast cereal.  I tap a rock before
I feed them and they all come to the surface.  I break up the cereal and toss
it in.  It floats for a long time and the fish go after it like piranhas. 
They make all kinds of slurping sounds and get every spec.  I have 11 gold
fish and a few black or multi-colored "goldfish."  Current frog inventory is
around 8 or 9.  

The entire edge is planted in sedum and it is real thick, now, with some
hostas a little further back.  

Even though this is a very small pond, it is great fun.