I have a pond!

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

Not exactly 4x4 related, but a request for advice.

As the title indicates, I have a hole at the end of my garden that was a some point in its life a pond. I have even seen a fish in there!
I would like to keep the pond, as I think it adds to my ethos of being enviromentally aware, by providing somewhere for local wildlife to live, feed, drink and copulate. By local wildlife, I mean frogs, newts and stuff like that, rather than the local Chavs.
The point of all this strange alcohol inspired rambling is this.
When is the best time of year to get in there and give it a good old muck out? I would have thought that late summer, namely now, would be best, as all the critters would have stopped 'doing thar thang' and settled down for aquatic middle age amidst their retirement lily pads.
Does anybody have any advice on my pond related brain teaser?


Cheers

L S-P

[carbore]

Id say now is good for the reasons you state, later yo may find they are starting to hibernate at the bottom.

Are you using tools or by hand, hand is best as you can sift through the weed looking for critters. Have a bucket (ideally white) of water to swill off the weed etc before you chuck the week away or as the lil chaps hide in there.  Use pond water not tap water as tap water is too icky for them (chlorine, flouride etc). Using washing up gloves is a bit cissy but a good idea if you have cuts/get cuts as pond water can be youcky. also if its cold and you are taking your time it sops your hands going numb.

Have fun, dont fall in.

[ben_haynes]

Have fun, dont fall in.

or if you do fall in get your missus to film it :dance: :dance:

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

Have fun, dont fall in.

or if you do fall in get your missus to film it :dance: :dance:

Not a chance of that, matey! I ain't stoopid!

[davidlandy]

want some goldfish for it m8?

got about 10 or so going begging that are about 4-6" in size

[eugene]

best to clean it out in the spring as if you clean it now there wont be anything for whatevers in it to live on
over winter and if you want any small fish i can you some :D

[jiffyman]

Ah, but in the spring you will have tadpoles, newts and young etc etc.

If you can keep containers of the old water handy, it will contain alot of the nutrients etc required to keep your pond water more 'natural'

I would be tempted to do it about now but keep alot of the weed (rinsed off etc) and any snails and 'little critters' etc, and once you have put the original water back in, top up with water, and place the weeds, critters etc back in.

Or get a pond vacuum. Heard about them but dont know how they work etc... google may help....


OR, if it isnt too deep, leave everything in there, scoop out all the sludgy crud from the bottom, it will be murky for a few days, but will soon settle down..... just another option.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

Interesting thoughts. I have a couple of days off coming up, so I'll have a crack at it then. Cheers for the offers of the fish, but there seem to be quite a few in there already! They must have bred like..........fish, I suppose.
As for the other lifeforms in there, so far I've spotted frogs and Great Crested Newts, and some amazingly huge dragonflies on the few warm days we had.
I haven't seen anything like it since we left the Norfolk Broads. All I need now are some hedgehogs in the garden and I'll be happy.
All this in an urban area! Amazing! saying that, I saw a buzzard take a pigeon down onto the road the other day. He managed to get a couple of mouthfulls before the traffic got heavy.
Saying all that, I'd still give my right arm to be back out in the cuds again. I miss my freedom and the silence of a country night. :(

[jiffyman]

Great Crested Newts???

Look after them, they are rare as........

[lee celtic]

If you have newts then call the newt brigade in they will clean it out for you just to count them :lol:

or try this http://www.froglife.org/GCNCH/GCNCH.htm

[J.D.]

If there are fish in there, the best time is during the winter, as water temperatures are colder, meaning oxygen levels are higher and the fish have a better chance of surviving in low water levels if you intend to drain it to clear it out. I do know what I'm on about, I work as a fisheries consultant and am doing my second degree in Fishry Management.

[lee celtic]

Might be worth getting a couple of rain water butts on the go so you have a good supply of fresh water before you start,

And while your at it can you do a couple for me as the welsh water people have stuffed up again and poisoned the whole county :-> :->

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

If there are fish in there, the best time is during the winter, as water temperatures are colder, meaning oxygen levels are higher and the fish have a better chance of surviving in low water levels if you intend to drain it to clear it out. I do know what I'm on about, I work as a fisheries consultant and am doing my second degree in Fishry Management.

I don't intend to drain it, just clear some of the excess weed, plant debris and chavs that seem to have built up in the bottom. I also intend to cut back some of the plants that are growing round it to get a bit more light to it. Perhaps I'll try and to some before and after shots! How sad is that? :roll:

[zulublue]

JD is spot on, do it now as Spring is quite a testing time for ponds as all the <edit> has lay dormant on the bottom and when the water warms up is can take the oxygen out of the water, I too have worked in the aquatics game from importing to selling to keeping, if you are unsure once you have done the clean out ask you local aquatic centre to test the water, you will need dechlorinator anyhow to help remove the chemicals in your tap water.

regarding the newts, I think the Great crested are a protected species so you are very lucky to have them, If possible set aside some of the old pond water with some plants in and keep the newts in there while you change the water, providing you have a good surface area in the makeshift pond I would keep the newts in there for a week until the new water has settled, but please make sure the newts can get out if needed.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

today I made a start. Loads of weed comes out with some left in to breathe. Fish? My Gawd, the beggars have been busy! There are loads of 'em! And frogs! Looks like the newts have gone walkabouts though. All the reeds and shrubs around have been slashed back, so I can actually see what is there. It looks like a defoliant has there, but that should grow back in the spring.
Beer now, then shower, coz I ming! I'd forgotren who 'odourific' pond mud is! :->

[eugene]

it can get very smelly down there same as when i do my bio filters make you gag but it has to be done  :lol:

[carbore]

If (and it would be rare) your newts were the Great Crested then they are protected and if you knowingly distrub them you can get in a lot of trouble! And I dont mean deliberatley doing bad things, just cleaning out the pond is a no no (if you know you have GKNs)

On that Vermin Watch Program (I mean Spring watch) they explained that you needed a license to handle GKN's

[Bishops Finger]

If you can get hold of one of those WW1 mines used for blowing up trenches (ebay?) it might help :lol: :lol:

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

If (and it would be rare) your newts were the Great Crested then they are protected and if you knowingly distrub them you can get in a lot of trouble! And I dont mean deliberatley doing bad things, just cleaning out the pond is a no no (if you know you have GKNs)

On that Vermin Watch Program (I mean Spring watch) they explained that you needed a license to handle GKN's

As it happens, one of my many roles as a Plod, is that of a Wildlife Crime Officer. As such, I am licensed by English Nature to handle such beasties. I can also handle badgers, not that I would want to. Bitey things with big claws!

[carbore]

Does a wildlife crime officer get issued with a very small set of handcuffs?

[Bishops Finger]

Possibly 2 sets?

[Yoshi]

As it happens, one of my many roles as a Plod, is that of a Wildlife Crime Officer. As such, I am licensed by English Nature to handle such beasties. I can also handle badgers, not that I would want to. Bitey things with big claws!

I might point out here i have never met LSP and can quite safely say i have never let him handle me!!!! Nor have i bit him and i have cut me nails lately as well!!!! lol

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

It is a very interesting and varied role, usually involving crime against wildlife. However I did have to deal with a case where a guy had made a complaint of theft of goldfish from his pond.
He was convinced that it was schoolkids taking them on the way past his house in the morning. So being the ever resourseful person, I got in a plain car and sat and watched one morning.
The suspect was quite easy to spot. He had a very pointed nose, very tall with spindly legs and was dressed in grey. The bloke thought I was taking the juice when I told him this, and showed him the picture of a heron. :roll:
He wouldn't have it, and wanted me to arrest half the local school. He was told that that would be a waste of money, more so than having me be paid to bird watch!

[Bishops Finger]

Tall,spindly legs and dressed in grey......That would be Basil Fawlty then....

Cruelty to Austin 1100's Garden gnomes and couldn't differentiate between a rat and a hamster as I recall :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: