permaculture

[Selwyn Polit <selwyn@austintx.com>]

Hi Anne,

I have a small pond in the direct sun which is about 1 foot deep, 4 feet 
diameter and I have a small bubbler attached to an aquarium pump and that 
seems to keep things alive.  I have some water hyacinth plants which seem 
to keep the water nice and clean and a couple of goldfish which eat 
seemingly anything.  I have put other tropical fish which apparently eat 
the mosquito larvae - can't remember the breed exactly.  There is a branch 
sticking in one side which the various creatures seem to enjoy a great 
deal.  Seems to stay quite clean and I have some pretty happy looking fish 
in it.  I would stay away from trees to minimize the leaves that tend to 
fall into the pond.

Hope this gets you somewhat on your way.

Selwyn



> Hello, my name is Anne Erlandson.
>
> I'm a newbie permaculturist (just discovered Pc last fall and took a PDC 
> last Dec) and am trying to do a Pc makeover on my Seattle, Wa yard.  I've 
> got most of it figured out, but I'm kinda stuck on the pond.  I've got 
> space for a 10'x10' (wavy edged) pond and want to design it to host fish, 
> frogs (and other amphibians if appropriate) and ducks.  My soil is 
> practically pure sand (medial moraine) so I'm going to have to put down a 
> pond liner (probably with old carpet underneath for longevity).  I'd like 
> to design the pond so that it is as self regulating as possible so that I 
> don't have to bother with filtration, aeration etc if possible and so that 
> radical pond cleanout is kept to a minimum.  For the summer (dry) months, 
> I'm probably going to attempt to keep the water levels up with greywater 
> that has been filtered through a constructed wetland .
>
> So my questions are:
>
> Can I do this!?  All of the pond books that I've found at my library are 
> for the ornamental gardener type and the designs all mandate that you keep 
> the water clean and keep the poop out.  But, there must be another way!  :)
>
> What type of fish?  I've heard that fish eat mosquito eggs so we've gotta 
> have them, but what kind would be happy in my small pond.  What will they 
> eat?  I don't really want to have to feed them fish food.
>
> What kinds of plants?  What plants will do all the filtering, aerating, 
> fish feeding, etc so that I don't have to?
>
> Is shade mandatory?  My yard is currently pretty exposed, though I'm 
> working on it with my nascent food forest.
>
> How deep?  For the fish, for the amphibians etc.
>
> Am I overlooking anything?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Anne
>
>
>
> "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents;
> we borrow the Earth from our children." - Anon
>
>
>
>
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__________
Selwyn Polit
(512)926-7876
<mailto:selwyn@austintx.com>selwyn@austintx.com