pond problems

[marie1]

hi, i'm new on the site & i've got loads of probs with my pond & wonder if anyone can help? i've got rat-tailed maggots, ooh er missus. in the summer i noticed all these drone flies hanging around the pond. then i began to see these awful maggoty things in the pond. found out they were r.t.maggots (the larvae of drone-flies) which are normally found in stagnant water apparently. fine but i've got a pump-fed small waterfall leading into my pond. should i be worried or should i just let nature move on & the maggots will turn into more drone-flies?
problem 2 concerns leaves in pond. my pond is sited under a tree, yeah i know not ideal but the pond evolved from something else. anyway loads of leaves fall off tree into pond-most are removed straight away but lots now in bottom. should i leave them to rot, providing lots of nitrates for pond or should i remove them, maybe taking lots of snail eggs & crawly things with them? any help at all would be greatly appreciated. thanks, marie.

[Gill Catton]

well drone flies are harmless - actually I quite like them, but yes if you have only rat-tailed maggots this can be an indication that your pond is perhaps a little polluted with lower oxygen levels (perhaps caused by the rotting leaves) - I think personally I would hoik out a lot of the leaves when it warms up a bit and leave them beside the pond for a day or two before removing them - this gives the beasties on the leaves the chance to return to the pond.
If you have lots of other types of aquatic insects in the pond too then I probably wouldn't worry too much.

[Kayleigh]

I had lots of rat tail maggots when I first built the pond. Then some newts came along and rat tails no more
So I wouldn't worry about them as I think they will get eaten by something and do as gill suggests with the leaves. good luck..

[naturelover]

Please tell me what a rat tail maggot is,thats a new one to me.

[GME]

Personally I'd pull some of the leaves out too. They will rot and could start to create a bit of a smell. As Gill suggested, put them at the side of the pond for a short while to let the 'bugs' slip back in.
With my pond I had to buy a UV filter to fit in the loop with the pump and filter. I had real green pond problems. That cleared it up though. Crystal water afterwards. If you don't have fish you shouldn't need to worry too much about all the oxygen and nitrate levels, etc. You could also put a fine netting over the top of course to prevent a lot leaves getting in in the first place. Might be a bit unsightly though. Good luck with it all

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by naturelover

Please tell me what a rat tail maggot is,thats a new one to me.

its the larva of a type of hoverfly (also known as a drone fly) it looks like a maggot with a long white tail - which is actually more of a snorkel that the little animals uses to breathe through at the pond surface (they don't need to obtain oxygen directly from the water so they are able to thrive in ponds where the lower oxygen levels kill off or repel other animals)

[ron1863]

Are there fish in the pond?, and would they not eat the maggots?

[marie1]

no fish in the pond as yet. pond has only been up & running since start of last year. had major disaster. went on hols for 2 wks, pump broke 1st day, neighbour thought we'd switched it off. came home to find disgusting smelly mess absolutely full of midge larvae. started again and pond is crystal clear now. wanted to put some sticklebacks in but can't buy them & don't know if i'm allowed to take them from wild? pond place suggested some red belly things(can't remember) but really wanted sticklebacks. got some frog spawn last year and had loads of frogs. hoping to have them again this year but the birds love using the pond and the waterfall to have a bath in so they'll have a field day with tadpoles! had 2 resident big frogs last year. i know they can shut down & stay at the bottom of a pond for months so i'm hoping mine are still there but haven't seen them yet. had one damselfly last year from start to finish. it was lovely watching it come out of the water and stick on a leaf then emerge as a damselfly.only 1 but i was ecstatic.

[marie1]

just another thing. anyone know what ramshorn snails do in winter? put some in pond last year and they were doing fine but haven't seen any for months. worried too. neighbour looked after pond last october when went on holiday. regularly scooped out fallen leaves for me with sieve - only problem is i know snails like to hang on the underside of leaves so always check before throw away - neighbour doesn't know this so may have thrown them all out by accident. can't see any of my large pond snails either. seen some babies but no adults and do have snail eggs on leaves. i don't want to buy any more ramshorns just yet.

[GME]

Not sure what they do in the winter particularly. My snails always seem to thrive no matter what I do! I think the word is infested If you have snails and no fish chances are they will be fine and the population will steadily grow. I'd be impressed if your neighbour managed to rid your pond of all of them by accident!