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Last Updated: 5/10/08
The basement pond on 10/19/07.
Winter 1999/2000
Winter 2000/2001
Winter 2001/2002
Winter 2002/2003
Winter 2003/2004
Winter 2004/2005
Winter 2005/2006
Winter 2006/2007
Winter 2007/2008
I set up the 20 gallon black Lerio tub pond every winter to over winter my tropical pond plants. There are photos throughout the diary below that details what plants and animals were in the pond for various winters.
For more on indoor ponds, see my indoor pond page.
I moved this section to its own page and reviewed/read it on 10/24/07.
Photo links are placed throughout the text.
In an attempt to keep some of my tropical plants alive over winter, I set up a 20 gallon tub in the basement. [It was made by Lerio but they stopped making larger tub ponds (plant pots) a few years later.] Two four-foot plant growth fluorescent bulbs were hung over the pond at about 6 feet high and run 12 hours a day. A Penguin Mini filters the water to keep it from stagnating. White cloud mountain minnow fry of the year from the outdoor 20 gallon lily tub pond were brought in for the winter in 1999/2000. Nine big fry and two small fry were added in the Fall of 1999. One decided to jump ship on 10/18/99, and two more jumped out around 11/13/99 so there were then 8 white clouds in the tub. I put some hardware cloth over part of the tub where three jumped out so that no more did that. Plants brought in included the tropical water hibiscus, water hyacinth, water lettuce, salvinia, azolla (may overwinter in the pond), frogbit, and water poppy. I changed about 4 gallons of this pond every week. On 10/23/99, a bunch of hornwort, 2 Italian valisneria, 2 trapdoor snails, and a trumpet snail (from plants) were added. There were also pond snails and a tadpole that snuck in with the plants. I also rescued a newly-adult damselfly hanging out near the tub pond that must have been added as a larvae. It was a warm day so it went outside and flew away. On 4/29/00, the surviving fish, 7 adults and 7 of their babies, were put out into the 50 gallon lotus tub pond for the summer. Also, the java moss and assorted clinging snails, tadpole, and one surviving trapdoor snail were also put into the 50 gallon lotus tub pond. [Note added by Robyn on 10/24/07: I know that the floating plants all died within a few weeks or months of setting up the pond. I have never been able to overwinter water lettuce or water hyacinth.]
By 10/22/00, 9 baby and 8 adult white cloud mountain minnows, a half dozen young (will not change/morph this year) green frog tadpoles, the tropical water hibiscus, water hyacinth, and water lettuce were added to the pond. Water poppy was in a separate 2 gallon, water logged pot under the light where it was fully dead by March of 2001 due mostly to aphids in the basement. The water hyacinth and water lettuce in the 20 gallon tub pond died in under a month. Most of the animals were added on 10/1/00 from the 50 gallon lotus tub pond. A few pieces of anacharis and hornwort were added from the 50 gallon lotus tub pond as well. On 3/16/01, new bought pieces of anacharis and hornwort were added to the 20 gallon indoor pond. The aphids also ravaged the tropical water hibiscus and most of it died. By the time I put it outside, it did not look well. Because my goldfish died (in the 50 gallon tank), I moved these fish to their 50 gallon tank at that time. Four male and 11 female white clouds were found in the basement pond and moved to the tank on 5/17/01.
As of 10/2/01, I had brought in the tropical water hibiscus, water poppy, and salvinia. It
must be cooler this year then last as I see above that I did not bring plants in until 10/22 last year.
The water hibiscus has grown into a monster, and it has flower buds for the first time. See my October 2001 pond newsletter for the story of trying to haul this
thing inside. It is sitting bare root in the pond. In the same pot, so far, is a one gallon pot of
another
piece of it that is potted along with water poppy. There will be no fish in this pond this year but
I probably will bring in some tadpoles and snails to keep it clean. My Penguin Mini filter is
circulating and filtering the water which has a lot of dirt from the bare hibiscus roots. On
10/7/01, I brought in the water canna and dwarf papyrus and potted them into one gallon pots and
set them next to the hibiscus. They are pretty big. The green taro was too big to go into the 20
gallon tub pond so it was set in a two gallon pot by itself. I also put in a few water hyacinth and
water lettuce which I know will die. As I write this three days later, they are already yellowing
and turning to mush. I got the tropicals in just in time as we had a killing frost on 10/9/01 that
made all the lotus leaves shrink, brown, and crumble. The tropicals would have been killed off.
This was an unusually early frost. So, I am trying to overwinter a total of eight tropicals this
year, at least two of which I know will not survive.
Update 2/8/02: The water hibiscus is still alive and hanging on. The water canna is barely alive.
The dwarf papyrus, water poppy, water hyacinth, and water lettuce are all 100% dead. A few
pieces of salvinia struggle to remain alive. The taro has no good leaves but the roots seem to still
be alive but dormant. I hope to revive it in the spring. So, not much luck!
On 4/14/02, I put the nearly dead taro into the 20 gallon tropical tub pond. On 5/12/02, I moved the bareroot tropical water hibiscus into a 7 gallon pot and put it into the 1800 gallon pond. On 5/18/02, the few pieces of surviving salvinia will be put into that pond as well. Then, the basement tub pond will be torn down for the summer. The beautiful canna that never flowered and the dwarf papyrus are long dead.
Photos of basement pond from 10/14/01:
Tropical hibiscus flower
Basement pond - tub pond with hibiscus,
canna, dwarf papyrus and more surrounded by other tropical plants including taro in a 2 gallon
pot on the left.
On 10/5/02, I put the tropical yellow canna into a two gallon pot and into the 20 gallon basement pond for the winter. I rigged up the Penguin Mini for filtration. On 10/13/02, I added a two gallon pot of tropical green taro from my 20 gallon tropical tub pond and a two gallon pot of tropical water hibiscus from the main pond where it had been in a seven gallon pot. I put in 13 green frog tadpoles born around 7/02 that should not change into adults over winter. There are also two ramshorn snails in there. Later, I plan to add some fish this winter to liven up the basement pond over winter. The fish would go into my aquarium or pond next spring depending on which species I get. I am still undecided but am leaning towards a few small shubunkins. By 11/7/02, the canna has died (why!). I love canna! In early November 2002, I added about 15 guppies to this pond (I wanted a nice shubunkin to put outside in spring but the store's goldfish were deformed and sick) to liven it up! There is a metal window screen over the tub to keep fish from jumping. A few months later, in January 2003, I put in about 15 rosy red minnows. Some went outside in the spring, and the rest went outside 5/17/03 when I tore down the basement pond for the summer. The taro was put into the 20 gallon tropical tub pond. The canna is long gone. The hibiscus appeared dead but has some sprouts so I put it in the shallows of the 1800 gallon pond. The five remaining rosy red minnows all went into the 153 gallon pond. I found 3 female and 1 male guppy left (Note added 10/24/07: From the originally 15, what happened?). I put them into the 20 gallon tropical tub pond but then the temperature outside crashed, and the poor guppies all died. I will not put guppies outside again. On 5/17/03, the basement pond was put up for the summer.
(Note: I just copied most of this from my newsletter to save myself time!)
On 10/11/03, I set up my basement pond for the winter. I happened to see Schultz Aquatic Plant
Soil
at Home Depot and got a bag for over $6. I did not need it but, then when I thought about it,
there was
a reason I impulse bought it! Last year, the basement pond's pots keep letting out dirt from under
the
pea gravel and clogging the Penguin Mini filter I use. This expensive bought soil is arcillite or
Fuller's
earth. It will not cloud the water. So, I potted up my black magic taro that had been growing in
the
ground (where water spills from one of my 20 gallon tub pond) into a 2 gallon pot with damp
Schultz
soil and then pea gravel. The taro had one juvenile and two baby taros growing next to it that I
stuck in
there too. In a 1 gallon pot, I put in some dwarf papyrus that was hanging on. For both, I tied
them to
a bamboo pole stuck into the pot as the Schultz soil is unstable so the plants just flop over
without
support. I used almost the entire bag on those two pots. All my other tropical marginals died
(two
hibiscus, one canna, and another I think I forgot) except the canna in my 2 gallon pot pond which
I
intend to try to overwinter soon in sphagnum moss as two years in a row, keeping one potted in
the
basement pond led to its quick demise. The two pots were set on bricks in the 20 gallon tub
pond. I
bailed in a total of about 16 gallons of water with some Stress-Zyme and Stress-Coat and hooked
up
the Penguin Mini to get the pond started. I wanted to collect the goldfish fry from the back 18
gallon
lined pond which is basically a deer drinking hole with some torn up water hyacinth (from
whence
the
eggs came). Because leaves were due to fall so soon and cleaning would be a waste, I decided to
just
net the water to collect the fry. It was so disgusting in there. The black sludge was thick and
clogged
the net. By hand sifting the gunk, I hand picked out a total of 3 big (almost an inch) and 14 small
(a
quarter to half inch) black/natural goldfish fry. I think they were happy when I popped them into
the
basement pond or, at least, in shock because they could see! They also will be fed for the first
time.
They must have been living on microbes and all the daphnia in the back pond as, otherwise, it is
empty
of life. I am sure they also ate smaller siblings. Ok, I know 17 goldfish in 16 gallons is a no-no
but
they
are very tiny and will still be pretty small when I put them into the pond with their parents next
spring. I thought the one new tropical water hibiscus might be alive as it looked like it was
sprouting so I jammed it in the pot with the dwarf papyrus but a month later and no change so it
is
gone. On 11/15/03, I broke off a runner of regular green taro that had grown into a planted pot
years ago. I set it on top of the papyrus pot as well. On 5/5/04, I removed the barely alive two
taro plants and put them into my outdoor ponds. I counted and removed 17 young goldfish on
5/15/04 out to my 1800 gallon pond. That means not a single one died! Here is a photo of the tub pond on 5/5/04 with the
goldfish (blurry, sorry).
On 10/10/04, I brought in four tropical plants for the indoor tub pond which I had set up. There is a two gallon pot of Aztec arrowhead, a two gallon pot of regular papyrus, a one gallon pot of bluebells, and a one gallon pot of regular taro. The first three came as is from my 1800 gallon pond. The taro I pulled out of my 20 gallon tropical tub pond where it was almost dead but had a tiny bit of life left. There are no animals in the indoor tub pond this year as of yet. On 10/18/04, I pulled some water poppy out of my 50 gallon lotus tub pond and stuck it into the pot of the papyrus to see if it might survive. I tried overwintering water poppy once before with no luck. On 11/5/04, I added four small fantail goldfish to this tub. One got sucked up into the intake and killed but the others are doing well. See my December 2004 newsletter for more details. Here are two photos of the group and one close-up of one taken in a glass bowl before I put them in the tub pond on 11/5/04: fantails and fantail. On 11/10/04, I put some azolla from the 20 gallon lotus tub pond in the indoor tub pond. The regular papyrus as of late November seems to have died. The Aztec arrowhead is not doing to well. The bluebells are doing well. The small taro is still barely alive but the black taro is doing well. The three wee goldfish are doing very well. They are SO cute!! Update 3/26/05: Only the bluebells and goldfish are alive and doing well. As of 6/2/05, the pond just has the goldfish and three dead plant pots left. I plan to leave the pond there until my last zebra danio in my 40 gallon tank dies, and I can put the goldfish in there.
On 10/9/05, I repotted and brought in four of my tropical pond plants. In two gallon pots, I put the huge bluebells and a small tropical waterlily. In one gallon pots, I put a barely-alive tropical waterlily and a dwarf papyrus. The three fantails are still in there. I did not put this pond up over the summer as I normally do. I am waiting for aquarium space to open up for the fantail goldfish to go into my 40 gallon tank. They seem to like the new plants. I removed the three dead pots that were in there from last winter. I had never removed them. When I would add water, they would release clouds of dirt. These newly-added plants are potted in pond "soil" which is like reddish cat litter and topped with pea gravel so there is not dirt to cloud the water this time.
Here is a photo of the basement pond on 10/23/05. You can just see two of the fantails.
On 1/22/06, I moved the three fantails to my 40 gallon tank. See that page for more details. [Update 10/24/07: They moved to a 65 gallon tank on 3/31/07.] See my goldfish page for some photos of them!
On 2/4/06, I put a newborn fry into the pond. I think it is a paradise fish fry. It is only 67 degrees F in there, and the filter could suck him in but I thought this was the best shot for the baby since I did not want to set up another system just for him/her.
On 5/10/06, I dismantled the basement pond until the fall. There were no animals in it (so the baby paradise fish did not make it). I moved the two tropical water lilies outside. They were barely alive. The papyrus was long dead. The bluebells were alive but covered in aphids. Hopefully, the aphids will be eaten up outside.
On 10/8/06, I brought in the black taro, bluebells, and dwarf papyrus and set up the basement pond. I repotted each plant with planting media topped with rose gravel. The taro and bluebells were put into 2 gallon pots and the papyrus into a 1 gallon pot. All three were doing very well when I put them in there. Immediately, the taro leaves started to yellow. It should recover. This year, the taro is in the pond instead of by itself since there is enough room. On 11/5/06, I added a small Nora tropical waterlily to the bluebell pot for the winter. It was alive but had no winterizing tubers like my other tropical lily so I decided to try to keep the root base alive in the basement pond.
On 1/13/07, I put a 50 W heater into the basement pond because I thought I might add some fish but did not. The heater brought the temperature up to about 70 degrees F from 65 or so. The taro has really liked that and put on more growth. The bluebells are fine. Amazingly, the papyrus is still alive although not thriving. The Nora waterlily shows no sign of being alive.
On 5/8/07, I took the indoor tub pond apart for the summer. I put the taro into the 2 gallon pot pond. I put the bluebells into the 1800 gallon pond. The waterlily and papyrus were long gone.
On 10/7/07, on a nearly 90 degree F day, I brought in the black magic taro, bluebells, and new variegated taro and set them up in the 20 gallon indoor tub pond. The Penguin Mini filters the water and a Visitherm 50 W heater keeps it around 72 degrees F. I feel like I should add some fish this year.
On 10/19/07, I bought a betta and put him into the tub pond. His name is Homer. You can see
more photos of him on my betta page. The pond is actually at 78
degrees F according to the thermometer so that is good for him. I added a little aquarium salt,
Stress Coat, Stress Zyme, MelaFix, and Aquarisol (for ick prevention) to the tub pond. Here are
some photos of the pond:
The basement pond with Homer in
it
A complete view of the basement pond -
there is foam because I added a dose of MelaFix
On 11/11/07, I put three tropical water lily growing tips in the pots in the pond (removed from the main pond). I have never gotten similar ones to survive before but have to try. The taros are doing really well.
Homer was making a lot of bubble nests so I decided to get him a girlfriend. I do not want babies so I will not try to save them but if some survive, I will take care of them. I added Marge on 11/16/07. I will let you know if Bart and Lisa show up.
20 gallon basement pond on 1/13/08.
Update 1/20/08: They have had a few batches of eggs but all have been eaten (probably by Marge and the pond snails in there). For more on the bettas, see my betta page. The bluebells have died and were removed. I will miss them. The variegated taro is doing okay but the black magic taro is barely alive.
On 1/24/08, I replaced the 50 W Visitherm heater in the basement pond with a 100 W Stealth heater because there was something strange growing on the smaller heater. After it cooled, it scraped it off; I think it was a mineral deposit. I was afraid the heater was cracked but it seems okay.
I noticed in early March that I had not seen Marge in a while. I realized the morning of 3/11/08 that something was stuck to the filter intake. I feared it was her. I confirmed that when I got home from work and took it off. I do not know if Homer contributed to her demise but it is certainly possible. I do not plan to get another betta so do not worry. Only the variegated taro is still alive; the others are long gone. I ordered a tropical canna, tropical bluebells, and tropical water hibiscus this year as those are all tropicals I have loved and lost. I hope I can keep them alive for a year or more.
On 3/14/08, I bought seven rosy red minnows for my turtle, Tator, to eat. I did not want to buy "feeder fish" for him ever (I like the fish too much and did not want to introduce disease and parasites) but Tator was not eating, and the store guy said they would work for sure. Tator bit in to two fish but never ate any. By 3/18/08, it was evident that Tator would never eat the remaining five rosy red minnows. So, I moved my betta Homer to my 20 gallon tank and moved the minnows to the basement pond where I began their intensive rehabilitation - aquarium salt, MelaFix, Maracyn I, Maracyn II, and AquariSol. In May when I am done with the basement pond, they will join the other rosy red minnows in the 153 gallon pond. I am afraid to harm them with anything these guys might bring over but these guys deserve a chance and would infuse some new genes into the old pond. So, my fingers are crossed that they will not be contagious.
The rosy reds did great! I tore down this pond on 5/7/08. The five rosy reds went in to the 153 gallon pond as did a one gallon pot of dwarf papyrus someone gave me. In to the 1800 gallon pond went a one gallon pot of dwarf umbrella palm the same person gave me as well as what remained of the plants I overwintered (one variegated taro with three puny leaves in one gallon and one "is that really alive" minute tropical water lily with literally one half inch leaf left on it in a two gallon pot).
See my Pond Showcase page on this pond.
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Copyright 1997-2008 Robyn Rhudy
