Beneath the Surface Aug. 2014 issue - Eastern Iowa Pond ...eips.org/newsletter/august2014.pdf ·...
Transcript of Beneath the Surface Aug. 2014 issue - Eastern Iowa Pond ...eips.org/newsletter/august2014.pdf ·...
Aug. 2014 issue
Beneath the Surface
Find us on Facebook as: Eastern Iowa Pond Society www.EIPS.org
In this newsletter:
July meeting info...….…..1
Meeting Minutes………..2-6
Barley Straw ……..……...7-8
DIY a Skimmer grid…….9-11
Quinn Pond……………..12
EIPS Friendship Award...13
Membership form……...14
Contact Information:
Find us on the web at:
www.EIPS.org or
on Facebook
President: Jeff Garner,
550-6893
VP : Jackie Allsup 934-3665
Sec.: Linda Nolan 363-9408
Tress.:Gary Hunerdosse-
364-6627
Next meeting…POTLUCK
AUGUST 23RD, 5:30
LINDA AND TIM NOLAN’S
2055 H AVE. NE
CEDAR RAPIDS,
WITH SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER
JAMIE BEYER
Beautiful Fish for Water Gardens
(AKA—Goldfish)
Time’s Fun When You’re Having Flies!
On the Cover: Frog photo by Lora Lee Gelles and taken from Pond Trade Magazine.
JULY 26, 2014 EIPS MEETING
@ DAVE KELLER'S HOME
Members Present: 23 plus 4 guests
Dave began our meeting by telling us about his pond and filtration system.
He kindly showed us his impressive system and answered many questions.
Thanks Dave!
Jackie had new members, or past members coming back, introduce them-
selves. Terry Brannian and her friend Dean Smith and Don Quinn. Don
said he had been a member four years ago and was returning. He has a
1500 gallon pond in Cedar Rapids. Terry stated she didn't have one yet
but was very interested. Welcome Terry & Don!!
Old Business:
Reunion meeting. We had a wonderful speaker from Chicago and even
though it was a rainy, windy day we had 35 members/past members in at-
tendance.
July Pond Tour information: We brought in $1443, had $992 in expenses
with a profit of $450.00.
Treasurer's Report: $3439 in checking/savings.
Jackie began a discussion on how much $$ we wanted to donate to the
Honors Flight. This is in addition to our $500 scholarship donation to
Kirkwood. Linda N. made a motion to donate enough for two flights.
This would be approximately $1050.00. The motion was seconded by
Rose M., and with a show of hands it was passed with only one opposing
vote. Everyone felt it was a good tour!
We had a discussion on Fish Foods used and other fun stuff we feed our
fish (oranges, sweet potatoes, watermelon) It was noted that if a good
quality fish food is being used, that additional foods are not necessary, this
is simply for our pleasure!
New Business:
It was reported that Ellen Kloubec presented A Friendship Award in honor
of EIPS
at the Chicago Koi Show. Thank you Ellen!!
Brucemore Packet. Did anyone get one this year? It would be an applica-
tion and information to be in the Garden Show in August. With not know-
ing if we've been invited, we may or may not be participating this year.
We talked how our ponds are doing this summer. A few health issues were
discussed.
Next Meeting:
- Saturday August 23rd @ 5:30 PM at the Nolan Pond, 2055 H Avenue
N.E.,
Cedar Rapids.
- Guest Speaker: Jamie Beyers
Pot Luck – Nolans will furnish hot dogs, buns, plates and plastic wear.
Some
drinks will be available but if you have a favorite, bring it and a chair.
Jackie wrapped up the meeting and invited everyone to partake in our
wonderful potluck. Dave provided lemonade and pulled pork. No one left
hungry – our potlucks are the best!!
To finish up the meeting Dave then brought out some of his wonderful
snakes and let everyone touch them that wanted to. Next up he brought
out snake eggs that were ready to hatch and carefully cut them open so we
could see the snakes inside. Quite entertaining and informative. Thanks
Dave!
Submitted by Linda Nolan, Sec.
Dave’s other hobby is raising Pythons. He
brought a few out for everyone to see, touch,
and interact with. Below, Rose gets to feel an
egg with a baby snake in it. (Notice how Rose
is excited about it while Rosie’s face says, she’s
not so sure about it!!) Above, Dave cuts into an
egg that is due to hatch just to show us the
.baby inside.
Barley Straw The LOVE YOUR POND blog is written by Mike Gannon of Full Service Aquatics. Mike is a professional pond builde
Barley Straw the newest old time remedy for algae con-
trol in modern ponds and water gardens! Barley straw has gotten some good buzz in the pond industry the last few years as a
natural remedy for algae control, but this “new” product actually has some history
behind it, besides allowing us to enjoy frosty beers on the weekends! For hundreds
of years barley straw has been in use as a method to control unwanted algae growth
in ponds; and the roots of this type of use can be traced back to Europe when farm-
ing and agriculture was still how most made their livings. Did they ever envision that
their methods would end up being used in modern day backyard ponds?
Farm ponds and ground water reservoirs in Europe, and elsewhere of course, could
often develop problematic algae growths and the employment of barley straw to the
water was a popular and effective way to control this unwanted algae growth for
farmers. In its’ earliest uses barley straw would be bundled into bales and placed,
mostly submerged, along the shoreline of ponds on the upwind side of the pond. As
the barley straw broke down the wind would help to distribute the “algae treatment”.
Later, and currently, the barley straw would be placed inside of netting tethered with
a float to allow water to flow through it without being completely submerged
What would happen when these methods were used is that the partially submerged
barley straw with exposure to moisture and oxygen, would decompose (rots!). Dur-
ing decomposition, chemical compounds are released into the water; these com-
pounds can greatly inhibit algae growth of filamentous and other forms of algae
that commonly occur in ponds. For the traditional use of barley straw applications
it can take from 2 weeks to 6 weeks for the decomposition to occur depending on
factors such as water temperature, oxygen levels, and water movement. Some addi-
tional but often overlooked benefits of barley straw may include: long term algae
control as the barley slowly breaks down, non-chemical treatment with no docu-
mented negative effect to fish, water fowl, or humans, improved gill function with
many fish, increased invertebrate population which provides a food source for fish.
For our modern day ponds it is considerably easier for the pond owner to enjoy the
benefits of barley straw and it is pretty unlikely that a modern pond owner will ev-
er have to lug a bale of barley straw around. These days barley is readily available
and can be found in prepackaged floating mini bales for ponds, it can be found in
pelleted form, and even a liquid barley straw extract has made it convenient and af-
fordable for the pond owner to control their algae without expensive chemicals.
Nowadays barley straw treatments can be found at most pond retail stores or online
pond retailers.
From my personal experiences with barley straw I have had mixed results with the
floating bundles and pelleted forms of barley straw, they both are more sensitive to
HOW they are used and placed in the pond. If they are not placed in just the right
area they may not perform very well or not at all. I do really like the liquid extract
and have seen good results. The liquid extract is also very easy to use as it comes
in a pump dispenser bottle and has a good shelf life. I like to apply the liquid ex-
tract in the waterfall or skimmer area of my pond so it mixes quickly and evenly
throughout the pond. When using the floating bales I like to keep them to the side
of the pond, partially submerged, where there is decent water flow. Completely
submerging the mini bales will reduce their effectiveness so avoid that temptation
if you are trying to hide them from view in your pond. The pelleted form can be
placed into a filter or skimmer when bagged, or spread into the body of the pond to
break down.
The function of the barley is still the same, as is the goal in using it, but today’s
consumer can get that “old time remedy” at just about any pond product store or
online without cultivating acres of barley straw! Sometimes the old ways are still
the best ways. Have you had any experiences with using barley straw? Let me
know about it.
QUICK SKIMMER GRID PROJECT
Submitted by: Tim Nolan So you got some new little fishes, maybe some small Koi, or some tiny Goldfish, and they won't stay out of the skimmer. It happens, just seems like it takes some fish longer than others to figure out that they need to stay out of that box! You need to get yourself some peace of mind and make a skimmer grid to use until they are big enough to be able to fight that current that might pull them into the skimmer box. Here is a quick and easy way to do that that works with any standard
type skimmer that has a window opening of 8x8 inches or less. Our
skimmer window measures approximately 6 inches wide and 6 inches
high. While searching through the Ace Hardware store for a suitable
piece of material to make a quick screen or grid, I was directed by the
Helpful Hardware Woman to the Grill Mark nonstick grill basket. It's a
two piece hinged grilling accessory used to hold difficult to cook piec-
es of food on your barbecue grill. This item has a nice grid structure
that measures 8 inches by 8 inches. The openings in the grid are just 1
inch wide, which allows for pretty good flow through while
keeping most small fish from venturing into the box. Yes, you will have to do some occasional clearing of debris from the front of the grid but that's a small price to pay for protecting your show quality baby Butterfly Koi don't ya think? The cooking basket was only $6.99 and with the addition of a piece of strapping metal, and some screws that were just lying around in the garage, I had the remedy for the problem with minimal investment of money and time. Not only that, but you only use one half of the basket to make one grid. So you can give the other half to a friend and help them make a skimmer grid for their pond!
The pictures are pretty much self explanatory. You just measure the dis-tance where you need to make a bend in the handle of one piece of the basket, put it in a vice and gently bend in over 90 degrees. Then you po-sition it on the skimmer lid while it is in use, place the metal strap over the straight part of the handle, and screw it to the skimmer lid. This can be only as snug as needed which allows for some adjustment play.
Once you get it in the correct position for your skimmer window you can easily pick up the lid with the grid attached to clean out your skimmer as usual. The whole thing can be removed when your little fish get big enough, or can be left in place indefinitely. We use a flower box to sit on top of the skimmer, hiding the lid and dressing up the space just a bit. Simple, easy, quick and cheap. Get some peace of mind and make yourself one!
I love the helpful Hardware Store!!
Returning pond club mem-bers, Don and Andi share a picture of their backyard. They have 1 small pond in which the bio-fall empties into. From that 6 ft. pond, 2 streams (each about 18ft.long) go around a small planting area and their waterfalls empty into their bigger pond (18 ft long and 10.5 ft wide). Their pond holds 1500 gal-lons and is home to 20-12+inch koi and about 10-12 baby koi of various siz-es.
Don and Andi Quinn’s Pond
At the recent MPKS koi show in Chicago on July 11-13, Ellen
Kloubec was kind enough to present a “Friendship Award” in the
name of EIPS!! The club has done this in the past, but Ellen took
upon herself to act as our ambassador of friendship. Friendship
awards are given out at koi shows across the country by other clubs
as a sign of support for having koi shows and all the education that
goes along with them. Whom ever presents the award is allowed to
pick out any fish being shown for any reason and give them the
award. The koi that was chosen was a stunning Doitsu Ochiba
Shigure. It is a blue/gray with a very interesting brown/golden
pattern. This particular koi was selected because the markings were
very artistic and reminded them of a world map!
Thank you, Ellen for doing that for us.
Eastern Iowa Pond Society, Inc.
Membership Application
To become a member of the Eastern Iowa Pond Society, Complete this form and mail
along with your dues to:
Eastern Iowa Pond Society
% Gary Hunerdosse
306 Red Fox Rd. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
————————————————————————————
___ New Membership ___ Renew Membership
Name: _______________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
Phone Number: ______________ E-mail Address: ____________________
Dues are $10.00 per calendar year per family. Make checks payable to Eastern Iowa
Pond Society, Inc. ALL newsletters can now be found on line at www. EIPS.org
Free to a good home: 20-30 Goldfish, call Evelynn in Waterloo.
319-232-5644. She also has tons of mini cattails if you want to
come and get them.
Eastern Iowa Pond Society
Our Mission Statement:
The purpose of the Association shall be to create, promote
and enlarge the hobbies of ponds, aquatic gardening, and
keeping, breeding, appreciating, and exhibiting the wonderful
world of fish.
The Association shall disseminate information about t he
above to the membership to engage in educational and social
activities related to our purposes; and to acquire and own such
property as may be necessary for any or all of the fore going
purposes.
Eastern Iowa Pond Society
Jackie Allsup, Editor
PO Box 148
Quasqueton, IA 52326