An Isaan Pond

[David48atTD]

^ ... and the light ... you know you want to give it a try

[Mendip]

^ Yep, that's the plan tonight as well!

The excitement is palpable!

[lom]

A ridiculous suggestion Lom,

To my defense I must say that I never expected you to follow my suggestion.
Speaking of ridiculous nah I think we'd better stop here..

[Mendip]

Anyway... back on track and after throwing out the veg I re-baited the fish trap with another of the gardener's fish I found in the freezer... a big one this time.

I added a handful of the wife's stinky shrimps from the fridge. Every pla chon this side of Surin should sniff these out!



Fingers crossed...



And Dave... here's my attempt to replicate your 'light' fish trap. Not perfect but good enough for a trial run.



Roll on tomorrow...

[David48atTD]

Net, all the way in the water next time?

PlaNin are top feeders, other fish are bottom feeders so may not swim near the surface.

I want to see if you can catch some prawns

[Mendip]

Major excitement this morning... two fish traps to check.

This has become the daughter's job... in civvies today as her has closed due to the coronavirus.

First the bottom trap baited with the gardener's strange frozen fish and the wife's stinky shrimps...

It took a while to pull in... felt heavier than usual...



But nothing... it was just stuck in the mud!



So on to the light trap... maybe not perfectly set up but still very hopeful...



And.... nothing!

Look at the disappointment.



Not a single prawn... mind it would be a miracle if we did catch a prawn as there aren't any in the pond!

Same again tonight but with the light trap set all the way underwater. To be honest though I'm starting to think I need a new hobby.

[lom]

But nothing... it was just stuck in the mud!

Are you sure there is any life left in that pond? Seen some?

But... maybe Yogi didn't catch it... maybe it had left the pond on it's own to try and find a new home.

I think you are on to something there..

[David48atTD]

Are you sure there is any life left in that pond? Seen some?

I think you are on to something there..

[Mendip]

^^, ^, I threw in a handful of pellets today... and the pool became alive with fish.

Admittedly, mainly catfish (pla duuk and pla siwai), but also a fair few pla nin and pla tabtim.





And a couple of...



I'm glad that we do have some fish left... this month's electricity bill just came through and it's over 2000 Baht more than usual, must be due to having the pump and waterfall pump on 24 hours a day for the past three weeks. Will have to get this sorted out somehow next week.

[Mendip]

Can't say that I was very optimistic this morning...



And rightly so... the dogs however remain ever hopeful!



And another blank...



I'm giving up for the time being.

I pulled the bait fish out of the fish trap and it had gone mushy and rotten. I'm on my way to Bangkok for a couple of days now and I'll be arriving with a hand stinking of rotten fish... just can't get the smell off.

[Klondyke]

Perhaps it will help you against the bloody virus...

[CalEden]

Get Ultra Violet light(s) in line with your pumps. It will allow you to control algae levels and eliminate the need to have pumps on 24 hours and save money. Then you can sit back enjoy your pond and have 20 Corona Beers, not 19.


pond ultraviolet light - Bing video

Summer high temperatures in the Sacramento area can get up to 113 f.

[NamPikToot]

^ Bingo UV & Oxygenation.

[David48atTD]

Mendip, if you want to see what is in your pond, maybe try this method.

It's a different way of catching fish/viewing the pond life and also an easy 'catch and release' ...

... Some use this common method.



And I've seen guys, with a smaller version of this net walking the canal and trying his luck.
He manually lowers the net, waits a while then pulls it, tilts the net towards him and what he
catches he put in a shoulder bag.

[baldrick]

bait your traps with a pellet mash ball wrapped in a cloth

[Mendip]

^ Will try that tomorrow.

I'd only been back a few hours and in the middle of cooking tea the dogs went off, so the littlun and I went out to see what was going on.

The dogs were going nuts running around the pond, and then I spotted Nessie...



A snake about 2m long was swimming around the pond. I'm pretty sure it was a common rat snake, but not 100%...



Yogi at the front as usual. He's turning into a great little dog.



I managed to get the dogs away, and went back down to have a good look at this snake. I was pretty sure that it was a rat snake, but it's nose looked very blunt and that always makes me worry about a cobra.

It was on the other side of the pond now, having a rest. There was a small wound on it's neck, just behind the head. Maybe one of the dogs had made contact?



This snake was strange and wasn't the least bit disturbed my me being only a few feet away with a torch and the camera flash. I'm sure it was a rat snake... I chucked a mango at it and it didn't show the least bit of aggression. I left it be in the end and went back to cooking tea.

[NamPikToot]

Mendip, i really do like Yogi, i think you should get a liter off him - just for his facial expressions alone.

[Mendip]

NPT, he's a most peculiar dog. He hates to be touched, but is always only about 2 feet from you. Bend down to give him a pat and he jumps back. It's been a lot of work to get him to accept a bit of affection, but finally he will allow a ruffle of his ears or a scratch of the neck. The main thing is he's never shown the slightest bit of aggression, he dotes on my daughter (from about 2 feet away), he's happy and good natured and is a very welcome member of the pack.

As for breeding from him... he's fully intact so I guess it will always be an option, but how can I justify that... I've two street litters that will be wanting homes in a month or so (hint hint to anyone reading... free delivery and neutering for females...)



Anyway... yesterday was deja vu for me... I sensed rain in the air so thought it was a good time to pump the sludge out of the pond.

I must admit to being slightly nervous after seeing the bladdy great rat snake in the pond the day before. Also, I've read that pla chon can bite through thick leather work boots! I had a nice thick pair of shorts on for this work.... but even so, made me think... I didn't want any part of me to become fish food.



The bubbles surrounding me were coming up from the mud as I walked around... honest!

The hose went out the back and I'm hoping for a good banana crop this year... lucky I'd put a damp proof course in the dog's kennels.



The muddy water from the bottom of the pond. I had to kick my feet about to break the sludge up before the pump could suck it up. I had hung the pump from rope around my neck so that it was just a few inches above the bottom.



And the neighbour's parking area! i hope he's got 4 wheel drive. According to the highway code I lay down a couple of warning palm leaves.



Anna and Vigo looked on with interest, unaware of the rising water level!



I started this operation around 8:30am and by 1pm was knackered... 38 degrees heat and a heavy pump hanging from me neck. I was hoping to pump more sludge out but knackerdness and my daughter (who is being home schooled at the moment) needing lunch, put an end to activities. I hung the pump from the jetty for another couple of hours while I had to do other stuff, but it was soon pumping out good water. The operation finally ended at 3pm when the pumped out water started flooding back into the garage.

But anyway, not a bad effort. I reckon the worst of the sludge has gone and I can now turn my attention to an aeration system.



And don't call me Michael Fish, but around 6pm it started raining!



I reckon that rain will have saved a couple of days refilling with the hose.

[HuangLao]

The attempts to reinvent nature....

[Headworx]

The attempts to reinvent nature....

Says this fucking fraud, while pretending to know anything about life in rural Thailand.
FOJ.

[HuangLao]

Little do you know.....which is pretty much commonplace.
Deeply drench in assumptive ignorance.

[helge]

And don't call me Michael Fish

Michael, do you believe the myth of small creeps crawling up the inner Mendip, or do you just tie a knot on your dick.

I don't know what to believe

[Mendip]

^ Well, thanks Michael!

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot today and reckon this is the way to go.

How about some small paddle wheel aerators to help with oxegenating? I've seen some in the klongs in Korat so I suppose they must work to some extent.

A smaller version of this, perhaps.

I think a solar powered version (as Vocalneil mentioned) of this for aeration is the answer. No wiring to worry about, and no underwater pipes just waiting to be broken every time someone walks around the pond to pump out the sludge. Also, no small holes in the pipework to constantly get blocked up. I don't these paddle wheels look so nice, but could just be temporarily removed on the rare occasion we have a visitor.

I've checked on Lazada to no avail... it seems a lot of these systems are made in India, but there must be Thai suppliers. I will search on.

Get Ultra Violet light(s) in line with your pumps. It will allow you to control algae levels and eliminate the need to have pumps on 24 hours and save money. Then you can sit back enjoy your pond and have 20 Corona Beers, not 19.


pond ultraviolet light - Bing video

Summer high temperatures in the Sacramento area can get up to 113 f.

I like the idea of installing an ultra violet light inline with the water intake for the waterfall. I have no idea what is possible or even feasible. There will be a heavy stream of dirty water through this pipework moving at a fair rate of knots. This is the arrangement within the waterfall...

The pump, intake from below from the pond, up-pipe towards the waterfall reservoir.



The up-pipe to the waterfall reservoir. This section is about 4 to 5ft long and would be the obvious location for an inline ultra violet light (I would think...). There is an electricity supply already at this location.



The up-pipe heading up to the waterfall reservoir.



This needs some research!

bait your traps with a pellet mash ball wrapped in a cloth

Yes thank you, this is the plan tomorrow... Keeps the daughter focused in these hard times!

[Headworx]

Little do you know.....which is pretty much commonplace.
Deeply drench in assumptive ignorance.

And as usual you add absolutely nothing to this or any other threads besides hinting you know something nobody else does, but never expanding past that point.

You're a tedious fucking oxygen thief and a fake, seriously.
FOJ.

[Klondyke]

The UV light is used for swimming pools and the effect is just the light and a wish...

Your problem is a huge sludge produced by plenty of fish (why the poor English doesn't recognize whether 1 or 2 fish(es)?), That has to removed or left at the bottom. So it is with every fish pond, unless it's not for Koi carps with a huge filtering system 24/7.