Awesome, it looks great!!! Are all the little critters happy?
pond
- Thread starter Yvonne G
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It's been in operation since last Autumn. They all hibernated in there. So far this Spring, I've seen 2 RES (I kept 3 females that were "special", 3 legs, bumpy shell, no nose, etc) a handful of pond turtles, three soft shells and the Argentine sideneck. So its lookin' alright!! I guess its time to start digging worms and buying turtle food.
Did all those turtles, that you mentioned hibernate? I love that pond Yvonne. I know you don't want to water, but you could put ground cover (creeping jenny would spread fast). Damn! I'm so jealous, I'm wanting my pond again.
On the intake pipe to the filter, what do you use to keep it from sucking in muck and fish and debris?
wow! I saw the old one.. and this is NICE!!!! Did you get s swing for Maggie?
If you put Barley hay in the pond, its supposed to keep the green algae sludge away..
Fill a potatoe sack and float it.. or barley grain in a sack..
If you put Barley hay in the pond, its supposed to keep the green algae sludge away..
Fill a potatoe sack and float it.. or barley grain in a sack..
I've tried the barley. It might work in a pond that doesn't have mud for the bottom, but it doesn't work in my pond.
John: The pump is a 3/4 hp sump pump sitting in a 5 gallon bucket. It will suck in up to an inch diameter. The mosquito fish usually stay close to the top and the bucket is on the bottom, so I don't think too many fish will go through it. And we WANT the sludge and fish poop to get sucked up. That's the whole reason for a filter!
When all that gunk gets into the biological filter, the little no-see-ums and bacteria will eat it all up and make the water clean. Hopefully. The filter is just a big tub with cut up scouring pads in it, then I have some of the penny royal floating on the water in there. I bought tons of scouring pads at the dollar store and cut them in half diagonally. This makes them better able to withstand stacking together. And with all those surfaces, the gunk gets better distributed.
John: The pump is a 3/4 hp sump pump sitting in a 5 gallon bucket. It will suck in up to an inch diameter. The mosquito fish usually stay close to the top and the bucket is on the bottom, so I don't think too many fish will go through it. And we WANT the sludge and fish poop to get sucked up. That's the whole reason for a filter!
When all that gunk gets into the biological filter, the little no-see-ums and bacteria will eat it all up and make the water clean. Hopefully. The filter is just a big tub with cut up scouring pads in it, then I have some of the penny royal floating on the water in there. I bought tons of scouring pads at the dollar store and cut them in half diagonally. This makes them better able to withstand stacking together. And with all those surfaces, the gunk gets better distributed.
The pond looks great especialy after all the hard work and fixes that went into it...
Great job, ton's of work!! I hope you get lot's of enjoyment out of it. The turtles sure will!
emysemys said:I've tried the barley. It might work in a pond that doesn't have mud for the bottom, but it doesn't work in my pond.
John: The pump is a 3/4 hp sump pump sitting in a 5 gallon bucket. It will suck in up to an inch diameter. The mosquito fish usually stay close to the top and the bucket is on the bottom, so I don't think too many fish will go through it. And we WANT the sludge and fish poop to get sucked up. That's the whole reason for a filter!
How large is the filter? I have gravel in mine, and it gets pretty clogged up if I don't have some sort of "pre" filter on the intake pipe. It's a hassle, I need to clean it every day.....
The actual "filter" is that big black tub in one of the pictures with the lattice in front of it. It's probably a couple hundred gallons. And its full of scouring pads cut in odd shapes so they don't "stack." I bought most of them at the $$ store, but I also got some of them at a cleaning supply store. They're thicker than the ones you buy for doing the dishes. The basic concept is, you have some sort of "floor" sitting on top of bricks on the bottom of the tub, then all your filter material on top of that. The intake pipe goes down to the bottom of the filter, under the floor, and creates a mini whirlpool. Then the water moves up through all the scrubbing pads and eventually flows out a hole near the top of the tub. You're not supposed to ever clean it, as its biological. I think the concept is called the skippy filter. We found it by GOOGL'ing.
Our weather has been great the last few days, and supposed to be 80 today. So I'm trying to sneak up on the pond and get some turtles in the sun. They're just so AWARE. As soon as they see even a hair off my head peaking around the corner they all splash into the water. I was able to get this one...best I could do:
If you look real close on the left bank, just over the fence, you can see the back of the biggest soft shell, and there's a pond turtle poised to jump, just above her on the edge.
If you look real close on the left bank, just over the fence, you can see the back of the biggest soft shell, and there's a pond turtle poised to jump, just above her on the edge.
emysemys said:
Mine are just the opposite. Some literally follow me around the yard, hoping for a treat.
emysemys said:
Mine are just the opposite. Some literally follow me around the yard, hoping for a treat.
Really like your pond and pictures,wish I had room for one that big here at the beach.I'm getting ready to build a new nursery pond using a 110 gallon tub from Tractor Supply.It's going to be in the front yard so I am going to recess the whole thing below ground level so it can't be seen from the street.Kinda hard to explain, but will take pics as it progresses.I have a pic of the first dirt removed,there was some gladiolas planted in that spot that I want to save and you can see all the other plants that need moving, some in pots and some not. Len
??Len?? said:
hey you have prickly pears which species i have some of our native one
Yvonne, your pond is fantastic. You might wanna watch out for the florida softshell, their claws can scratch the liner and puncture it.
No, what you see is what you get! I planted two of those trees from South America that Madkins posted about a few weeks ago. They have the fruit growing right on the trunk of the tree instead of on the branches. They're planted just across the fence (in the pond area) from the YF pen. Its a very slow growing tree, so probably won't see any fruit for quite a while.
Thanks for the tip, Tony, but the pond has a mud bottom. No worries about punctures!
Thanks for the tip, Tony, but the pond has a mud bottom. No worries about punctures!
Here's what the pond looks like right at this moment. I don't usually allow it to get that low, but my hose sprang a leak and I had to turn it off (no time yet to get to the hardware store to buy a new one).
Also notice the elephant ear. And the little trees along the left side of the picture are a type that Madkins007 told us about a couple months ago. When mature, they develop fruit all along the trunk of the tree, rather than on the branches. Notice the cat tails in the middle.
There used to be a dead willow tree stump where that rusty T-post is.
Off to the right is a transplanted rose bush on the far side, and another one of those volunteer banana squash plants. They are humongous and grow SO fast! Inside the filter is penny-royal. That's another plant that grows fast. I'm glad its contained.
Also notice the elephant ear. And the little trees along the left side of the picture are a type that Madkins007 told us about a couple months ago. When mature, they develop fruit all along the trunk of the tree, rather than on the branches. Notice the cat tails in the middle.
There used to be a dead willow tree stump where that rusty T-post is.
Off to the right is a transplanted rose bush on the far side, and another one of those volunteer banana squash plants. They are humongous and grow SO fast! Inside the filter is penny-royal. That's another plant that grows fast. I'm glad its contained.
Love the pond, maybe one day I will have one like it.It would have to be in Maryland not enough room here.Don't know what penny-royal is. Will it grow in my cold climate? Len
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