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Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

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Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#41

Post by skyfaller »

pvaldes wrote: post #38
coffeebeqn wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking fish or frogs. I’d imagine little fish are easier? Do they just live on the “wildlife” or do you feed them ?

They are basically incompatible. Fishes eat frog eggs. Frogs eat small fishes. Ponds without fishes sustain a much higher diversity of invertebrates and amphibians (and this means more clear water). If the pond is of a decent size and amphibians could hide in the margins, fishes could work. Yes. Native species are much better. In very small ones just toads and newts are a satisfying choice. Add frogs if you don't min…

What constitutes a small pond rather than a mini pond in your opinion? Like, what do you think is the minimum size for a stable pond ecosystem? Does depth or surface area matter more?

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#42

Post by Guest71022 »

Kev has a great site and videos on all things ponds ranging from mini container ponds to full on landscaping ponds with waterfalls and things.

https://ozponds.com/about/

His specialty though is “bog filters”. These are a natural solution to keeping pond water healthy and crystal clear. They work even for small container ponds.

I followed his tutorials and dug a 8x5m lined pond with a 3x3m bog filter and a mini stream connecting them. It’s the highlight of our garden.

Highly recommend.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#43

Post by xsmasher »

WhatsTheBigIdea wrote: post #37
froglets wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can buy tiny tablets to add to the water that prevent mosquito larva from developing but don’t harm anything else. I’ve used the Mosquito Killer larvicide in my patio pond for years and it works well. Garden centers sometimes have pond sections with water plants like hyacinth (very invasive), water lettuce, lily.

I'm doubtful of the "...but don't harm anything else" statement. Why do you believe this statement to be true?

It's true.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis_israele...

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#44

Post by modeless »

pvaldes wrote: post #40
modeless wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In California you can get mosquitofish for free from your local county. In many cases you can just put a few in your pond once and they will live there indefinitely without needing any care, eating all the mosquito larvae they can find. Here's an example for San Diego but most if not all counties will have a similar program: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/deh/pests/wnv/pre...

Take in mind that the common species of mosquitofish is a nasty invader in Europe and this is "advice from 70's". We know better currently. --Don't do it--. Some mosquitofishes and many killifishes in America are endangered. The common Gambusia will eat every egg of native fishes. If you spread the invasive ones in the ponds of the endangered ones, this can have serious consequences even in USA. Irreversible genetic…

I'm talking about California, not Europe. Mosquitofish are native to North America. Sure, don't spread them in natural rivers or lakes but there's nothing wrong with keeping them in a manmade pond in a backyard in California.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#45

Post by pvaldes »

skyfaller wrote: post #41
pvaldes wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are basically incompatible. Fishes eat frog eggs. Frogs eat small fishes. Ponds without fishes sustain a much higher diversity of invertebrates and amphibians (and this means more clear water). If the pond is of a decent size and amphibians could hide in the margins, fishes could work. Yes. Native species are much better. In very small ones just toads and newts are a satisfying choice. Add frogs if you don't min…

What constitutes a small pond rather than a mini pond in your opinion? Like, what do you think is the minimum size for a stable pond ecosystem? Does depth or surface area matter more?

Less than 100 Liters is very difficult to manage but aim for 500-800 Liters at very minimum because you will want to make your pond bigger later. This can fit in any a little boring coin of a garden and will became the best part of the garden. Everything in a range of four to ten liters is not a pond, is a dog bowl and will became a mosquito nursery. I see those often adviced by youtubers that never tried to manage a pond seriously.

Beware. Ponds of all sizes are dangerous for toddlers and ponds must have a side with a gently slope so falling pets and animals can climb out. If you have children of less than five years, you --must-- cover the pond with a solid iron pond cover:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pond+cover&t=newext&atb=v411-1&iax...

Apart of this the "deeper" the pond the more animals will fit for the same price. More than 1 meter is normally unnecessary in a small garden

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#46

Post by pvaldes »

modeless wrote: post #44
pvaldes wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take in mind that the common species of mosquitofish is a nasty invader in Europe and this is "advice from 70's". We know better currently. --Don't do it--. Some mosquitofishes and many killifishes in America are endangered. The common Gambusia will eat every egg of native fishes. If you spread the invasive ones in the ponds of the endangered ones, this can have serious consequences even in USA. Irreversible genetic…

I'm talking about California, not Europe. Mosquitofish are native to North America. Sure, don't spread them in natural rivers or lakes but there's nothing wrong with keeping them in a manmade pond in a backyard in California.

The two species of mosquitofish used normally aren't native from California but its main problem is that they are boring as a can. There are much more interesting options:

Like the Coastal Threespine Stickleback. Sticklebacks are the choice fish for small wild ponds in Europe, and is a californian native also.

or Fundulus parvipinnis, the Californian killy fish. Stands saltwater to freshwater. Common near the coast and better than Gambusia (avoid the invasive species Lucania goodei that is similar).

Or a single species of a pupfish like the Amargosa river pupfish or the Salt Creek pupfish, small native tolerating an extreme range of temperatures. Some pupfishes are endangered so each new pond counts. I assume that there are legal exchanges of this species breed on captivity among serious aquarists but check your local laws.

Or the California Roach

If you don't mind natives from California, the fathead minnow, or the American Flagfish are two small US extremely hard species. First stands poor oxygen levels and complicated alcaline water. The second is from Florida and a really cool species, much more interesting to watch than a dumb mosquito fish. They will eat mosquitoes and algae also.

All this species are small fishes (growing less than 10cm normally) so will fit in most garden ponds. Just one species in a small or medium-sized pond. Pupfish species shouldn't be mixed to keep the genetic lines pure. Goldfishes disturb the mud and make the water turn green.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#47

Post by stcredzero »

zevv wrote: post #7

One of the delights I discovered over the last few years is constructing and maintaining sweet water "jarrariums"; I take whatever glassware I fancy - pots, jars, glasses - collect some soil and plants from an interesting pond I find somewhere, put it in and just let it do it's thing - don't interfere, just wait. It's amazing how much life lifts in with just that bit of soil; I have a few jars from three years ago (t…

I suspect hermetically sealed enclosed mini ecosystems are going to take on tremendous economic and technological importance as we move out into the solar system.

I've started to wonder why there aren't more closed loop experiments out there. These would be very cheap to make! (By space research standards.) A closed water loop habitat could be built in the middle of isolated land, like West Texas. Go from there to incrementally incorporating more of an ecosystem. Try and recycle the air last, of course, as that is potentially life threatening.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#48

Post by aidos »

nightowl_games wrote: post #25
ilamont wrote: post #10

The article is correct in my experience. If you build a pond, wildlife will come. I would only add that having a simple pump to create a little flow and oxygenation really helps reduce algae and mosquitoes. If the pond is deep enough (18"/50cm), it will frustrate raccoons. I've done two small fish ponds using heavy duty rigid plastic liners expecting only the fish (koi and shubunkin) would enjoy it. We live less than…

From what I've read, winterizing your pond and making it healthy enough for fish to survive the winter is difficult. Did you find it challenging? Many failures?

We inherited a couple of ponds when we bought our place 4 years back. One has fish in.

To our surprise, every winter the pond freezes over and the fish are fine come spring. In fact they’re thriving and we don’t touch the pond at all - it doesn’t even have a pump.

The other pond could definitely do with cleaning out, but again it’s teaming with wildlife. There’s not a huge window between when the newts leave for the summer and when it freezes in winter. By the time it thaws and we think to do something about it the newts are back again.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#49

Post by technothrasher »

zevv wrote: post #7

One of the delights I discovered over the last few years is constructing and maintaining sweet water "jarrariums"; I take whatever glassware I fancy - pots, jars, glasses - collect some soil and plants from an interesting pond I find somewhere, put it in and just let it do it's thing - don't interfere, just wait. It's amazing how much life lifts in with just that bit of soil; I have a few jars from three years ago (t…

I sort of fell into making one of these as a kid. I had a left a jar of water on the window sill in my bedroom absentmindedly. I noticed later that a wasp had fallen into it and drowned. Then I noticed it was starting to get fuzzy. Then a couple flies also fell into it. I thought it was interesting, so I threw a bit of algae from a fish tank in and sealed the jar closed. It grew into a big green blob and stayed green and "healthy" for at least twenty years, certainly well after I'd left home. But one day I went back to my parent's house and it was gone.

Re: Mini ponds are 'tiny universes' of biodiversity for gardens and windowsills

#50

Post by pvaldes »

voisin wrote: post #14

I have seen people online dig a pit, let pigs hang out in the pit and in a process called “gleying” the pigs seal the pit making it watertight. I have some acreage and would love to try this out to create a pond, but there are never any real good details on this - what areas it works best, etc etc. Anyone here have experience with making their own pond without using a liner?

You either had clay in the soil, or need to add a thick layer of clay for that. Then you use machines to compact the clay layer, remove air and made it watertight. Put water, will turn into a brown mess, wait for the clay sinking eventually, done.

If you don't have clay, ducks can provide manure that turns into fine mud with the same properties and pigs can provide the compact work, but will taint the water later with nitrogen. Machines are better.

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