Not keen on a pond with oil floating on the surface!
Do you ever get a rainbow iridescence on the pond surface. Usually caused in my pond by rotting water lilies. That is oil, I am not suggesting a reallly thick film.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
If you add any oil at all it will will spread and cover the entire surface of the pond and prevent CO2/O2 exchange, so would be very bad for a wildlife pond.
Shaky science! C02 and O2 will go straight through a thin film of vegetable oil.
In contrast to glass or metal packaging materials, packages made with plastic are permeable at different degrees to small molecules like gases, water vapour, and organic vapour and to other low molecular weight compounds like aromas, flavour, and additives present into food.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Pond skaters and loads of other invertebrates need the surface tension on the water in order to exist … destroying the surface tension will destroy the wildlife in the pond. Birds and bats need the mosquitoes to feed on. What do you think swallows are feeding on when they swoop low over a pond or river? And why are there fewer swallows year after year? Cos it’s harder for them to find the food for their nestlings … that’s why 😢
Why are we encouraged to have a wildlife pond in our gardens? … To provide habitat for all the wildlife … not just the pretty cuddly ones.
What is it some people don’t understand about the importance of not interfering with the biodiversity of our ecosystem?
It’s human beings thinking that we know better that got us into this mess. 🤯
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If you add any oil at all it will will spread and cover the entire surface of the pond and prevent CO2/O2 exchange, so would be very bad for a wildlife pond.
Shaky science! C02 and O2 will go straight through a thin film of vegetable oil.
In contrast to glass or metal packaging materials, packages made with plastic are permeable at different degrees to small molecules like gases, water vapour, and organic vapour and to other low molecular weight compounds like aromas, flavour, and additives present into food.
Now that is shaky science!
The Effects Of Oil On Dissolved Oxygen Levels In Water
Oil can affect the dissolved oxygen level in water in a number of ways. First, oil can coat the surface of the water, preventing oxygen from diffusing into the water. Second, oil can absorb oxygen from the water, reducing the dissolved oxygen concentration. Third, oil can release pollutants into the water, which can consume oxygen or reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration through other means.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Pond skaters and loads of other invertebrates need the surface tension on the water in order to exist … destroying the surface tension will destroy the wildlife in the pond. Birds and bats need the mosquitoes to feed on. What do you think swallows are feeding on when they swoop low over a pond or river? And why are there fewer swallows year after year? Cos it’s harder for them to find the food for their nestlings … that’s why 😢
Why are we encouraged to have a wildlife pond in our gardens? … To provide habitat for all the wildlife … not just the pretty cuddly ones.
What is it some people don’t understand about the importance of not interfering with the biodiversity of our ecosystem?
It’s human beings thinking that we know better that got us into this mess. 🤯
Just quoting in the hope that more people will sit up and take notice
We have a small pond in our garden which up until last year had fish in it, they did keep the mozzies down by eating the larva. Sadly the fish all died in the heat last year so we decided to keep it as a wildlife pond as the temperatures have now changed due to climate change. I'm always bitten by insects as soon as I poke my nose outside the door but that is something for me to sort out with sprays etc to my body and the clothes I wear, and not to interfere with the eco system of the pond which has changed now. With climate change I now have to be more circumspect regarding my attitude to the garden.
I would add that all my life I’m always the first one to be bitten by mozzies and I react badly to the bites … I’ve even shocked a gp when he saw my back and legs after a summer evening’s sketching in a garden.
But mosquitoes are one of the must important food sources there is for wildlife … so I leave them for the birds and bats.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
This thread surprised me. I live in leafy Surrey and have had a wildlife pond, without fish, for decades. I haven’t noticed mosquitos about there. Maybe the newts and larvae eat them? Perhaps you need to give the ponds time to achieve a natural balance? Pleas don’t add chemicals though, it just destroys the whole point of a wildlife pond!!
I would have been more than happy to leave the mozzies in our inherited pond alone @Dovefromabove but complaints from our elderly neighbour forced us to act
This thread surprised me. I live in leafy Surrey and have had a wildlife pond, without fish, for decades. I haven’t noticed mosquitos about there. Maybe the newts and larvae eat them? Perhaps you need to give the ponds time to achieve a natural balance? Pleas don’t add chemicals though, it just destroys the whole point of a wildlife pond!!
I've never seen any in my w/l pond either, nor in my fish pond. The w/l pond has many newts so I guess they eat them. My fish pond has one huge koi (Kevin) so I imagine he eats those in the fishpond. It's all wildlife and it's all part of the food chain.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Posts
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Why are we encouraged to have a wildlife pond in our gardens? … To provide habitat for all the wildlife … not just the pretty cuddly ones.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The Effects Of Oil On Dissolved Oxygen Levels In Water
by Moses Donell | Jan 2, 2023 | Water FAQ
Oil can affect the dissolved oxygen level in water in a number of ways. First, oil can coat the surface of the water, preventing oxygen from diffusing into the water. Second, oil can absorb oxygen from the water, reducing the dissolved oxygen concentration. Third, oil can release pollutants into the water, which can consume oxygen or reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration through other means.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I would add that all my life I’m always the first one to be bitten by mozzies and I react badly to the bites … I’ve even shocked a gp when he saw my back and legs after a summer evening’s sketching in a garden.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The w/l pond has many newts so I guess they eat them.
My fish pond has one huge koi (Kevin) so I imagine he eats those in the fishpond.
It's all wildlife and it's all part of the food chain.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.