The Mud Pond and High Water Tables

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by PapaBear If you plan to have multiple ponds anyway your thought of rotating them might not be a bad one. It is a common practice in wastewater treatment ponds to rotate seasonally for much the same reasons. I guess it really just comes down to space considerations, so if you have plenty why not? Another thing to bear in mind about your water table is underground water flow. If you have that shallow of a water table in the winter/spring seasons there will be a great deal of water exchange within the ponds as the water table beneath you slowly migrates fresh water in and out of your ponds from beneath. Location relative to water wells and subterranian water flow is also a factor to keep in mind. Percolation/migration from your ponds will introduce nitrates into the shallow aquifer. You want your ponds to be downstream from your water wells to prevent potential cross-contamination of your fresh water supply. The State is pretty narrow minded about anything that elevates nitrates in aquifers and you definitely don't want them up your @$$

All really great points, Larry, and I'm glad you brought that up because I would never have thought about it otherwise. I think Fortuna is with me on this one. The Sacramento River (just behind me) runs to the south. The proposed (and only place to put) pond site is to the south of the well by another 5 acres. I am assuming here that the current in the aquifer runs in the same direction as the river. Is that assumption viable?

Speaking of the state and aquifers, my son worked for the CA Dept of Water Resources from high school through college on his way to his Civil Engineering degree at Chico State. He'll be the one surveying and checking things according to my plans, so if there is a potential problem we should know it and be able to rectify it before we dig.

Marie

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko Drying them in the autumn is fine too - if there is enough time. What are you going to do with these ponds Marie? -stev ehop k

Cool. We usually have nice Autumns (not always, but usually, like this year. Just got the first rain this week and still no frost)

What shall I be doing with these ponds, Steve?

*great big shyte-eating grin*

Why testing my gene-weaving art on koi, of course. Breeding and growing out. Maybe even rent mud-pond space for the have-nots when I'm confident this thang will fly, Wilbur. And a token bass pond for my counterpart to fish in since he refuses to buy a license.

Marie

[bekko]

You will want to keep fry ponds dry until about two weeks prior to spawning. You fill and fertilize just prior to stocking eggs/fry so that that the rotifer bloom will occur just as the fry are ready for first-feeding. The copepods will bloom up next and be there when the fry are ready for a slightly larger food.

If the pond is filled too early, there will be a lot of predaceous insect larvae and other larger life forms which eat zooplankton and the fry themselves. There are predictable successional stages in the pond biota after filling which you want to take advantage of.

One of the primary advantages of spawning koi using hormone injections and stripping is that you have more control over the timing of the spawn. If the pond zooplankton bloom is ready but the fish are not ready to spawn of their own accord, you may have to drain and refill the pond to start the successional process all over again. Artificial spawning is tricky, dangerous and not for the faint-of-heart. However, the growth rate of the fry can be remarkable when the timing is right.

When you have some time, you might want to do a KoiBito search and read the trials and tribulations of (user name) koifishgirl. It will be entertaining, if not informative.

-stevehopki ns

[PapaBear]

Speaking of KFG, I got a line from Judy a few weeks ago. She'll be back online one of these days but in the meantime she has managed to sell some of her tosai (that the heron didn't get ) and she's hanging tough.

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko You will want to keep fry ponds dry until about two weeks prior to spawning. You fill and fertilize just prior to stocking eggs/fry so that that the rotifer bloom will occur just as the fry are ready for first-feeding. The copepods will bloom up next and be there when the fry are ready for a slightly larger food. If the pond is filled too early, there will be a lot of predaceous insect larvae and other larger life forms which eat zooplankton and the fry themselves. There are predictable successional stages in the pond biota after filling which you want to take advantage of. One of the primary advantages of spawning koi using hormone injections and stripping is that you have more control over the timing of the spawn. If the pond zooplankton bloom is ready but the fish are not ready to spawn of their own accord, you may have to drain and refill the pond to start the successional process all over again. Artificial spawning is tricky, dangerous and not for the faint-of-heart. However, the growth rate of the fry can be remarkable when the timing is right. When you have some time, you might want to do a KoiBito search and read the trials and tribulations of (user name) koifishgirl. It will be entertaining, if not informative. -stevehopki ns

Good thing I'm not faint-of-heart!

I've been wading through the KFG mudponds thread in between my busy times since day before yesterday. Still reading as there's a lot to digest.

Personally, I had thought that I'd use my larger liner pond for my first spawn. Seems like it would be the easiest to prepare and keep balanced for the fry to grow before transferring them to a mudpond as fingerlings. But all of this is just ideas and theory, subject to much change by the time I'm ready to start a breeding program.

Speaking of fertilizing ponds--did you happen to take a look at the pond management software I posted about in the ponds forum? Part of the program is geared towards fertilizer choices for what types of microorganisms one wants to bloom, and tracks (man, that's not the right expression but the hot flashes are getting me this morning) their development on a timeline. I haven't had time to finish studying this either. This is my busiest time of year...

Marie

[Sangreaal]

Steve,

You and Ranskye have the patience of saints.....

I am just now on page 8 of the KFG saga. What a read.

Marie

[mitten]

Marie-

Many things I've learned have come from that thread. Or, more accurately, many things I had learned from all over and through years became orderly in that time when KoiFishGirl was getting "full operating instructions" from arouond the globe.

There's more info and more info heroes coming. Read on.

There were always a couple side threads going also, many of them being the two of the one-two punch of that main thread.

Remember, many more read Bito than post here. I lurked for way more than a year and I am sure there are hundreds reading Bito that will never post, but are learning and enjoying and loving the fish all the same, and are as thankful for the archive of KoiFishGirl's saga as we are. Wouldn't it be nice to be in a somewhat different world where a computer gifted to KoiFishGirl could be feasible and realistic? Like Toys for Tots only different.


Mickey the windowman

[Sangreaal]

It's a great thread like you said, Mickey! I've already begun to visualize what I need to do in order to get my own designs to fly. And I'm still reading....

I may need to study all winter instead of digging this fall (though that notion can change in a nanosecond). All of my experiments in water flow and oxygenation in the liner pond is going to pay off in the ponds. Once I get a complete grip on what is perkolating in my brain I'll post my ideas for feedback. And hopefully I'll figger out how to get a pic of the property from Google Earth so I can draw on it placement of ponds and water lines and stuff so it can be more intelligently discussed. Even the topography of flatland is important. Especially if it's flood plain like mine.

Marie

[mitten]

I don't remember if I was in Registrar of Deeds or Accessing or Where but the coounty printed an aerial for me to use for planning. Didn't even charge me the $2 fee that was posted on the wall.

Mickey the windowman

[bekko]

Thank you Marie. I keep forgetting that there is a pond forum here.

-ste