Natures Corner Store

Way to go Dustin!! A couple people were in the store today that were at the meeting and said it was a good presentation. :thumbs: I am sorry I didn't make it. I wanted too. My trip to the dentist (read KING OF PAIN) :w00t: had me down for the count. :beer:

You say you are in Canada but don't say where? I would guess you are in B.C. It is the only province that seems to have slow CFIA and Customs agents. :ph43r: see previous post(post #11 above) " So far though we still seem to be able to get Hikari from B.C. distributors. Everyone else(Hikari distributors) East of B.C. seems to had their shipments turned around at the border. I called the three biggest. Go figure that the B.C. Canada border is so...??? loose? "

Parknut!!!! Ya found it!!!!!!! :welcome:

Nope, think it will be a ban on all foods by Hikari. I believe you are right DiscusLova. So far though we still seem to be able to get Hikari from B.C. distributors. Everyone else(Hikari distributors) East of B.C. seems to had their shipments turned around at the border. I called the three biggest. Go figure that the B.C. Canada border is so...??? loose? :ph43r: I guess only time will tell. These regulations are opening a lot of other industries eyes. I feel it is overdue. A bit of a hassle in the beginning, but I think good overall. I sell TONS of Hikari so I find it a shame if Hikari cannot comply in a timely manner. BUT what the heck, there less than 35 million people in Canada and OVER 35 million just in the state of California. Does this make Canada a viable place for business? :cry:

That is correct. It is not used to seal anything. It it used to direct water over or around the rocks and fill voids. Used extensively in waterfall and stream building. Not in the ponds itself much. Water generally goes under many rocks that we would prefer it to go around or over. That is when it is used. You can run your falls and see where the water goes. If you want to change the direction of the water, turn the falls off and use the foam in the appropriate places. edit:Have fun and don't get it on your clothing or skin. VERY hard to get off!! Stream & waterfall building video<

:thumbs:

MMAX, The pond looks great, there are hundreds, if not millions of ways to build a pond. With or without gravel, fountains, skimmers, pressurized filters, sand filters, biofalls, bog filters, reverse edge ponds, etc. Just like all the differences there are in keeping and maintaining fish tanks or aquariums. Nothing wrong with yours at all, or the person who has a pre-formed tub from a hardware store, or...whatever. They all work. They are all ponds and all function differently. Kudos to you for taking on such a project. It looks great and will work just fine. You have done lots of research and that's great! JOB WELL DONE MMAX!! :thumbs: :beer: I would like to give you a bit of info to add to the rest of your info MMAX, if you don't mind checking it out. Understanding Gravel Bottom Ponds<link I have been building and maintaining gravel bottom "ecosystem type ponds" for many years, as have hundreds of other professional pond contractors I have met from around North America. Understanding these ponds is the key. I have also built many other types of ponds over the years, but a properly built and maintained ecosytem pond has been the lowest maintenance pond I have seen(amd personally maintained). Ponds have come a LONG way in the last 15-20 years. "Ecosystem ponds can be easy to understand if you have a good grasp of what components go into a basic, functioning ecosystem. An ecosystem pond works with Mother Nature to provide food, shelter, and safety to the wildlife around it. It also provides you with an all-natural, low-maintenance piece of paradise. It’s important to remember, however, that every piece of the ecosystem puzzle must be present in order for a true ecosystem to be in place. Eliminate one of these elements and you’ve got an unbalanced ecosystem that won’t be so low maintenance anymore... ...Having all these things in place makes all the difference in the health and success of your water garden. Use them and work with Mother Nature, not against her, for a chemical-free wonderland of water!..." Check out the things you’ll need to get an ecosystem pond fired up:<link

Looking GREAT!! :beer: When we do bog areas, for plants and wildlife as you are doing, (not ones for bog filters and such) we generally keep them pretty shallow. We go down 2 feet total in the deep areas for the ponds in the city(CITY BYLAW) and the wetland area we generally dig less than a foot. When we put the gravel in the bog/wetland area it is only about 4 to 6 inches gravel (don't want anaerobic gravel, it STINKS!) and about 4 to 6 inches of water. We add a few stones that the birds can sit on and bath that are just below the waterline a couple of inches. The birds really like the shallower water areas so they can stand in it to bath. Short legs on them you know. Way to cool MMAX!! :thumbs: and thanks for posting the pics!

Hey wonder bread guy, if your aquarium is cycled properly then maybe this article may help a bit to explain a few things even though it is written about ponds. :thumbs: A Word About Water Changes - by E L Johnson DVM this one is about "The Cycle - Probably the Core of Water Quality"

No chemicals are needed but a bacteria is. I am happy that the Mark Weiss product is the ONLY product YOU use. If that works for you GREAT. Seachem Stability has worked FANTASTIC for me over the many years I have used it. I used others too that work, but I have never seen Cycle perform as per directions on the bottle. Once my tanks are established I very seldom find the need to add any more bacteria from a bottle. I do agree that Cycle does not produce results the way it says on the bottle. Stability does, Mark Weiss's product does, Fritzyme does, and so do a few others I have used on the many hundreds of aquariums I have been keeping over the years in this hobby. I have also done the "fishless cycle". A bottled bacteria is WAYYYY faster though. Many products that work are not easy to find at the stores. Some don't even make there way into Canada. Seachem Stability is reliable and easy to get in most places in Canada.

Is it worth spending the extra cash buying 45mil EPDM when every book I've read says to punch holes in it for drainage? Seems like a waste of money. Isn't there a 20 or 30mil that would work? Hey MMAX, I am not quite sure what kind of a wetland you are building that you would need to put holes in your liner. You should not need to in a properly constructed wetland/bog on the edge of a pond. Just one hole small hole in a liner can cause major property damage over an extended period of time and not to mention the cost of the water being wasted. You will not be saving any money only spending more and more to fill the pond and bog. I have seen this happen many times over the years. The wetlands/bogs that I have built for customers and projects I have built with other contractors over the years we have never put any holes in the liners at all for wetlands/bogs. Are you using the wetland/bog as the filter? If this is the case, where are you putting the pump? I totally agree with African Fever to go with proper 45mil EPDM. It will last for decades. Possibly longer if properly installed. I would also use one piece for the pond and wetland/bog rather than two different ones. Seaming two different ones can be challenging. If you would like more information on how we install wetland filters let me know. I know that you are doing a ton of research on this and that is GREAT. Your project looks fantastic and I would like to you succeed with your vision. :thumbs:

Hey MMAX, That is looking GREAT!! Thanks for putting all the great photos of the step by step build. :thumbs:

:well: If you need any hints or tips on waterfall and stream building, feel free to give me a call. I have been building ponds, streams and waterfalls for about 12 years. Here is a pic of one of my old pond built about 8 years ago. It is built in the front yard. A friend of mine helped me and we did it in a weekend. 8ft x 11ft with about 5-6ft of stream split in two. The depth is about 2ft. The fish have never been removed from the pond except for a couple hours during a couple of major cleanings over the 8 years. YES, I do leave them in all winter also. Have fun. BUT be very careful. It can be as addictive as aquariums!! :thumbs: Henry :beer:

Build A Pondless Waterfall in a Day Hands on Seminar on Friday July 10 in West Edmonton Build A Pond in a Day Hands on Seminar on Wednesday July 22 in Spruce Grove Here's your chance to build an Aquascape pond or an Pondless Waterfall alongside the experts most familiar with Advanced Water Gardening Systems. WHAT YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH Working together with other home owners and contractors you will build an Aquascape water feature. Ask questions. See for yourself what the excitement is all about. Learn what needs to be done and why. It's a challenging project, so you'll learn tricks and techniques that will prepare you for design challenges in building you own pond or pondless water feature. The cost is only $99+gst and includes lunch and soft drinks. SEE YOU THERE! For more information call Nature's Corner Store at (780)433-3474 SPACE IS LIMITED

Hey Ken, Good to see you here :welcome: :beer: Henry and Gillian Nature's Corner Store 9082-51 Ave NW Edmonton, AB T6E 5X4 780-433-3474

230 gallons. 4 liters would treat it for over 8 months So sorry.. :shock: ouch. 1 litre = 10,000 gallon treatment 40,000 gallons worth of Prime

here is a bit of Bat House location and installation info Jerry... Great pictures Partick...AWESOME! :thumbs: I forgot about Bat Conservation International ... TONS of bat info.

here is a bit of Bat House location and installation info Jerry... Great pictures Partick...AWESOME! :thumbs:

NOOOOOO!!!!! :cry: Sorry Nick

Henry - while I have great respect for Dr. Erik Johnson I disagree with the following comment; In an aquarium setting, by not binding/neutralizing the free ammonia (via Prime etc) the fish are exposed to ammonia for at least a few hours (in many cases much longer, depending on ones filtration system) which is never a good thing. Even in small doses, repeated exposure to free ammonia is very harmful to fish. Of course this only applies to tap water that is treated with chloramine. I agree with your disagreement :pff: I think that was why he said " should be no match for a cycled (properly functioning, well colonized) filtration system." When I attended one of his classes I did ask him the same thing about the ammonia. His answer was something like that the amount of water compared to the fish load is different than an aquarium and the filtration system. As you said Neil. A small dose of ammonia in an aquarium may be a problem. Small doses of ammonia in a properly built ecosystem pond, I have never been able to find any traces of ammonia. Even while adding water. Smaller ponds without proper or adequate filtration or no signs of a balanced ecosystem I have tested and found ammonia and also nitrites. BALANCE.....ahhhhh yes.........balance......

Water Changes Are Critically Important<link (this article was written for pond owners but aquariums are no different) "Chlorinated and chloraminated water is usually supplied to hobbyists "at the tap" from municipal water supplies. The water company adds these two chemicals to disinfect the water. Each day, municipal source-water is tested for eggs, spores, ova and cysts of various pathogens. If any are found, it may be that the municipal water authority will double or triple the chlorine or chloramine concentration. Spritzing the water into the pond slowly WILL dissipate a lot of chlorine, but will it dissipate all of it? Dechlorinate. By dechlorinating the water, you can be 100% sure the chlorine is gone and will not harm your fish. When your municipal water supply uses Chloramine, you will be relieved to know that dechlorinator can still bind the harmful Chlorine. The remaining Ammonia should be no match for a cycled (properly functioning, well colonized) filtration system." "...about forty percent of the hobby is not doing ANY water changes at all. This accounts for recurring illness among the fish, slow growth, and poor color. " ""Topping Off" the pond is not a water change. You should know this about water: The solids in water do NOT evaporate, nor do many of the chemicals in the water. This means that the nitrates, phosphates, a good bit of the carbon dioxide, all the salt, minerals, etc NEVER leave the pond and accumulate over time. As the pond water level goes down by evaporation, you may notice that the fish perk up as you add water back. There is a transient increase in water quality after the addition of 'new" water but it's rapidly offset by the dissolution of the existing background pollution. So, "topping off" actually concentrates solids and organic chemicals in the water over time. Real water changes should be endeavored." The complete article written by one of the top fish veterinarians Dr. Erik Johnson DVM can be found here<

Habitattitude<<<Canadian link

This issue is relevant to everyone, but especially to those who enjoy aquaria, backyard ponds and water gardens. Habitattitude<<<Canadian link This could make an excellent topic for an aquarium club. edited to put the correct website in

The long history of rainwater collection, can be traced (in recorded history) as far back as ancient times some 3,000 years ago (850 BC) if not even farther. article on> The History of Rainwater Collection

I found this a bit interesting. I had no idea that it could be illegal to collect rainwater off your roof?? Harvest your own water (news article) Wow. :shock: