Oh you guys yours ponds are awesome I'm soooo jealous,I don't really want to put fish in my pond as I don't think they will last long,and it is suppose to be a wildlife pond,so really want frogs and stuff.I ve fillled it up with tap water earlier,hate having to use it but not got any rain water so only option,would have to be heavy showers every day to fill it up other wise and not forecast for any thing that bad lol,so any way my 2 plants that I saved from cleaning my pond earlier are in buckets waiting till the tap water as matured!
Our pond was filled with tap water Wendy - we then left it a week before putting any plants in, and went to the local marshes with a jam jar on a string and did some 'dyke dipping', bringing back a jar full of water and mini-beasts. It didn't take long for them to 'go forth and multiply' A week later a diving beetle had found the pond and shortly after the damsel flies and pond skaters appeared - think they must have posted good reviews on 'Pond Advisor' 'cos the frogs soon turned up and we've seen one common newt in the water. There's a toad in the garden too, but I think he's been here longer than the pond.
“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh
I'm sure that just taking a jar of water with some invertebrates is fine. It needs to be clear and healthy as far as you can tell - taking it from a local source makes sure you're not transferring any problems to a new area.
“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh
Well done you for that amazing photo., and thank you for sharing it with us. I am afraid that if a snake made an appearance in my garden I'd run a mile.
Ok the new worry for me is mosquito,how do I stop them from laying eggs in my small wildlife pond?Because last year I was for ever go out with my net scooping them out,I dont have any preditors in there yet as only put tap water in 2 days ago,any idea's?I have seen them solar fountains and read there not that good but then it would'nt be a wild life pond,so i'm stuck!
They love shallow water which heats up quickly Wendy. As the others have said, once you get more wildlife in, they'll get eaten.
I've always used tap water for ponds. We have soft water here but even if you haven't, by the time you've left it for a few days and organised planting and generally tootled about, it will be fine.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Wendy, earlier in the thread you mentioned that on your first attempt the tadpoles didn't develop into frogs. Did you feed them? I know there should be no need to if the pond is established but mine is new, as your pond was, and I have been surprised at how much the little things eat judging from the faecal matter they produce. I took five of them indoors to be able to watch their development more closely and they have produced quite a film of excrement on the bottom of the bowl. I have given them boiled lettuce leaves and will be experimenting with tiny amounts of hard boiled egg yolk soon plus insects such as greenfly and fruit flies once they have legs. Please note that I have less experience than you so my approach may be completely wrong. I mention it because I read that insufficient food in wild populations causes a freeze in development. I can't believe how much the indoor ones have grown in just one week. The ones in the pond are now about 3 days behind their brothers and sisters indoors so temperature must be important as they have been fed the lettuce too.
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Oh you guys yours ponds are awesome I'm soooo jealous,I don't really want to put fish in my pond as I don't think they will last long,and it is suppose to be a wildlife pond,so really want frogs and stuff.I ve fillled it up with tap water earlier,hate having to use it but not got any rain water so only option,would have to be heavy showers every day to fill it up other wise and not forecast for any thing that bad lol,so any way my 2 plants that I saved from cleaning my pond earlier are in buckets waiting till the tap water as matured!
Our pond was filled with tap water Wendy - we then left it a week before putting any plants in, and went to the local marshes with a jam jar on a string and did some 'dyke dipping', bringing back a jar full of water and mini-beasts. It didn't take long for them to 'go forth and multiply'
A week later a diving beetle had found the pond and shortly after the damsel flies and pond skaters appeared - think they must have posted good reviews on 'Pond Advisor' 
'cos the frogs soon turned up and we've seen one common newt in the water. There's a toad in the garden too, but I think he's been here longer than the pond.
There is a pond not to far from us,but not sure if it's allowed to take stuff from ponds is it?
Dove,
Well done you for that amazing photo., and thank you for sharing it with us. I am afraid that if a snake made an appearance in my garden I'd run a mile.
Ok the new worry for me is mosquito,how do I stop them from laying eggs in my small wildlife pond?Because last year I was for ever go out with my net scooping them out,I dont have any preditors in there yet as only put tap water in 2 days ago,any idea's?I have seen them solar fountains and read there not that good but then it would'nt be a wild life pond,so i'm stuck!
Wendy, you can't stop them - but when the other invertebrates and amphibians set up home in the pond they'll eat most of the mosquito larvae.
I react badly to mosquito bites, but I really don't have a problem with mosquitoes in our garden since we've had the pond.
They love shallow water which heats up quickly Wendy. As the others have said, once you get more wildlife in, they'll get eaten.
I've always used tap water for ponds. We have soft water here but even if you haven't, by the time you've left it for a few days and organised planting and generally tootled about, it will be fine.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Wendy, earlier in the thread you mentioned that on your first attempt the tadpoles didn't develop into frogs. Did you feed them? I know there should be no need to if the pond is established but mine is new, as your pond was, and I have been surprised at how much the little things eat judging from the faecal matter they produce. I took five of them indoors to be able to watch their development more closely and they have produced quite a film of excrement on the bottom of the bowl. I have given them boiled lettuce leaves and will be experimenting with tiny amounts of hard boiled egg yolk soon plus insects such as greenfly and fruit flies once they have legs. Please note that I have less experience than you so my approach may be completely wrong. I mention it because I read that insufficient food in wild populations causes a freeze in development. I can't believe how much the indoor ones have grown in just one week. The ones in the pond are now about 3 days behind their brothers and sisters indoors so temperature must be important as they have been fed the lettuce too.
What do you think?