Bare Bottom or Chunky? Different ponds for different needs

 There's Koi Ponds and there's Pond-Ponds, aka "natural" ponds. I love them both, but they are really different ecosystems sometimes. 

Koi ponds are often (not always!) maintained as semi-sterile, bare bottom "pools", because koi poop a LOT. And eat a LOT. There's a ton of mechanical and biological filtration needed. But these ponds these can be beautiful! I maintained one of these with a great friend at the La Brea tar Pits and Museum for 10 years. I loved the fish so much, and once we got the filtration under control, it was a joy to be in there cleaning and commiserating with the fish

~I miss the Pok Pok! sounds of of demands for snacks~

Here we are moving the fish to a new location- that's a whole blog in and of itself! I'm just lucky to have to many good friends with good equipment. 

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Natural History Museum's Nature Gardens Pond

 

THIS pond is a whole other ballgame. I have the pleasure of co-managing the life in this pond to this day, and I was a part of the design plan to take it from a concrete pool to a beautiful breeding ground for Arroyo Chub (Gila orcutti) our native fish, a permitted Species of Special Concern in CA. Here is a very pregnant Leslie introducing fish that she hoped would become very pregnant, too. (They did, and are.)

The waterfall keeps this pond very well oxygenated and drowns out the sounds of the city. We originally had plans for turtles so we have many basking sites, but could not agree on the fencing measures needed to keep them from wandering onto the road nearby. The occasional visiting ducks rather like these spots too, though. 

We have shallow areas for the fish to breed, and for us to feed and observe the fish health. We used cobble on the bottom for invertebrate breeding, carefully planned a filtration retrofit to be fish-appropriate, and planted the edges to blend in with the grounds. The plants were chosen by, and are watched over by a group of skilled horticulturists that work on the grounds.

Balancing the plants, algae, fish and invert life is the goal here without the standard koi pond chemicals. There's a bit more manual labor, but so worth it. Allowing some growth and natural functions make for a much more healthy ecosystem.