Bloodsucking, Immigrants or Visitors?

[ladaok]

Brazilian BIG HEAD disease next .... lol

 

[Swarm]

mmm,
so the bog garden was a bad idea then?


Next door installed a pond last year but it has moving water & fish.

Well at least the ones remaining after the Heron Netting went up!

Not a bad idea but try not to have areas that 'pool' shallow areas of water. Shallow, still water is ideal for them, just leave a bucket of water in the garden to see that.
I've dabbled with all sorts of aquatic features for thirty odd years, ornamental, Koi, wildlife and wouldn't be without a pond in the garden. I even had all sorts of pitcher plants growing alongside one in the past.
Dragonfly nymphs are pretty powerful predators, my daughter once saved a full sized Common Newt from one only for this thing to turn on her!
You can get by without running water but you'll need loads of oxygenating plants and some deep water.
Personally, I'd introduce a pump and run the hose to a biological filter or series of filters and return it to the pond via another hose. The whole thing can be hidden from view and you don't need a raging torrent to get the oxygenation going. It will improve the quality of the water and the gentle current created should help deter the mozzies.

 

[MartinL]

Not a bad idea but try not to have areas that 'pool' shallow areas of water. Shallow, still water is ideal for them, just leave a bucket of water in the garden to see that.
I've dabbled with all sorts of aquatic features for thirty odd years, ornamental, Koi, wildlife and wouldn't be without a pond in the garden. I even had all sorts of pitcher plants growing alongside one in the past.
Dragonfly nymphs are pretty powerful predators, my daughter once saved a full sized Common Newt from one only for this thing to turn on her!
You can get by without running water but you'll need loads of oxygenating plants and some deep water.
Personally, I'd introduce a pump and run the hose to a biological filter or series of filters and return it to the pond via another hose. The whole thing can be hidden from view and you don't need a raging torrent to get the oxygenation going. It will improve the quality of the water and the gentle current created should help deter the mozzies.

Have a pump at the deepest point of lower pool, pumps to a shingle bank above the higher level.

Stinks the first time it's switched on every year! suppose I should run it in the winter too. It was struggling this year so haven't used it as wanted to clean it out but not done that yet!

I'll give it a go, Duck weed has become an issue lately, around same time as the Frogs disappeared. but prefer the duckweed to the blanket algae!

 

[Swarm]

Right, so things are a bit clearer now. On and off pumping renders your filter system useless, it will help to physically filter the water and remove debris but the biological part will effectively 'die' when the pump is off. The filter in my Koi pond has run continuously since 1999, with no fish in your pond, oxygen levels are less important.
You need to have it running in Spring, Summer and into Autumn, basically when algae will grow. Incorporate a UV clarifier and algae and green water will be a thing of the past.
Get a pond tester kit and check your water, the chemical balance is out if you are getting blanket weed, again a biological section in your filter system will keep this in check. All you need is a loose woven, plastic sack filled with small items that offer a large surface area (things like hair rollers are ideal) put this into a tank of some sort and connect it to the return system. Have mechanical filters like brushes, foam or gravel before the bio one and return the water to the pond from the bio filter.
The water should also return to the opposite side from the pump so a slight current is created.
Duckweed is a royal PITA, if you leave one tiny bit it will multiply and cover the pond in no time. Get rid and guard against it with your life.

 

[MartinL]

We haven't had a blanket weed problem since the frogs disappeared so had put that down to the water being cleaner without their using it as a toilet.

To be honest, (under the duckweed) the water is pretty clear, I was just thinking about introducing something to eat the mozzi lava.
I wouldn't mind if it ate any frog tadpoles (they are squidgy under foot in the dark).
I expect that Toad spawn comes under the countryside & wildlife act these days and it's illegal to transplant it in spring. Just with all the weird pets people have these-days I thought live Dragonfly lava may have been available as a pet-food?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Do you know of any good quality solar powered pond pumps?