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Last Updated: 7/2/10
My Newest Setups
For more photos of the animals and plants in these ponds, see my pond pictures page.
I will eventually divide up this page so each pond has its own page! This page (and most of my site) needs major revisions and updates! I wish I had the time now!
On 8/3/02, in the morning, I took a number of photos of the blooming first-day lotus flower in this pond. Photo One shows the whole area around this pond from afar, Photo Two shows my hand by the side of the flower to give an idea of size, Photo Three shows the flower looking from above (I tilted the flower actually), and Photo Four shows the flower from the side with a number of the lotus leaves.
Picture of 50 gallon lotus tub, no lotuses yet, water lettuce, parrot's feather, primrose creeper, etc., 8/11/99.
There are more photos of the dirty and cleaned lotus tub pond under the history section below.
I put a new (7/06) photo of this decrepit pond up on Pond Showcase as this sample page.
50 gallon black Lerio tub pond in partial sun.
3 feet diameter, 1 foot depth.
Buried during June of 1999.
Pennsylvania fieldstone edging.
None until 6/28/03 (see history for previous equipment).
On 6/28/03, I added a 170 gph pump with sponge filter and fleur-de-lis fountain since the poor
lotus was dead, and the pond was disgusting. I took the pump out on 10/18/03 for the
winter.
On 3/25/07, I added a 40 gph solar pump. After a few months, it stopped pumping.
On 7/12/07, I added a Lifegard Quite One Model 800, 220 gph, Pentaire Aquatics pump with a
small bell fountain and a 10 foot electrical cord. Except for the tube that keeps coming off, it is
perfect. Later in the summer, it would clog basically daily due to the dirt in the pond (from the
raccoons dumping the plants' pots. I took the pump out on 11/4/07 for the year. The pump
stopped working late summer 2008 so I took it out on 9/15/08. In the summer of 2009, after the
outlet
was fixed, I put a new version of that pump in the 50 gallon pond. I removed it for the year on
10/18/09.
All were removed for winter of 1999/2000 to the 153 gallon pond but some frogs and insects may find their way back to the pond. An adult frog was back at the pond within an hour of my emptying it totally on 10/29/99.
2000:
From the indoor 20 gallon tub pond, 7 adult and 7 juvenile white cloud mountain minnows were
added on 4/29/00. Also, a trapdoor snail, assorted pond snails, and a green frog tadpole were
moved out as well. As of 11/26/00, nine baby white clouds and eight adults were caught to go
into the 20 gallon tub pond for the winter. They are still too hard to catch with the plant
cover.
2001:
A group of wood frogs showed up to breed in this pond on 3/21/01. I added some spotted
salamander eggs and larvae to this pond on 4/4/01. A trillion toad tadpoles hatched out in the
pond too! By July, the toad tadpoles were gone and replaced by hundreds of green frog
tadpoles.
2003:
Wood frogs laid eggs on 3/23/03. They hatched 4/3/03. Most died when it got too warm
(oxygen depletion, starvation?). I do not know if any made it to leave the pond as adults since
the
water turned green. Later in the summer, a batch of green frog eggs hatched. It is quite a chore
trying
to net them in the fall before the pond freezes as there is a lot of plant matter and stuff that gets in
the
way.
2004:
The wood frogs came back at the end of March 2004 but no eggs yet. They left without laying
any eggs. :-( The green frogs later laid plenty of eggs in there.
2005:
On 5/5/05, I put 14 goldfish fry in there to grow out. I added 10 more on 5/8/05 and one on
5/11/05.
2006:
On 7/23/06, I put some goldfish eggs in this pond.
2007:
I redid the lotus tub pond to a regular pond on 3/25/07. At that time, there were two batches of
wood frog eggs, one Melantho snail, and one small green frog in the pond. By May, the pond
has the wood frog tadpoles and a large colony of daphnia. I do not know how the daphnia got
there since the pond was started anew.
2008:
On 5/18/08, I put six little rosy red fry in to my 50 gallon tub pond to control mosquito
larvae. I never saw them again.
2009:
A few dozen Melantho snails overwintered in the pond. On 3/28/09, I put hatching wood frog
tadpoles in the pond. On 5/10/09, I put four goldfish eggs in the pond.
All plants were removed in early 2000 and about 7 pieces of the Mrs. Perry D. Slocum lotus from my main pond were planted into this pond on 3/6/00. The lotus sent up a bud in August of 2000.
In August of 2001, this lotus sent up three blooms!
A bunch of anacharis was added on 4/2/00.
On 4/29/00, a huge bunch of java moss from the indoor 20 gallon tub pond and two water poppies were added.
In 2001, tropical water poppies were added again as well as some salvinia. The poppies did not bloom at all in 2001 (too much shade from the lotus and salvinia?) whereas in 2000, they bloomed a lot. An early frost on 10/9/01 killed off most of the lotus leaves which were huge!
I added some hornwort to the newly redone pond on 3/25/03. Of course, the lotus is in there! On 5/11/03, I put in a tropical water poppy and some submerged plant that I got free (perhaps nitella?) and did not recognize. The lotus has still not sprouted really. There is a weird sheet-like algae growing on the top of this pond. By 6/28/03, the only thing alive in this pond was the poppy, algae, sludge, and mosquito larvae. I could not take it any longer. My poor lotus seems dead (not one leaf!) despite the 10 feet of tubers I removed during the repotting! I had to improve the pond so I put in a 170 gph pump with sponge filter and fleur-de-lis fountain. It clogged every day at first with blue-green algae but is getting better. At least I have angered the mosquitoes! The mosquito dunks and bits alone did not seem to faze them.
In 2004, the only plants in the pond right now are water celery that is not supposed to be there! It walked from another pond over to this one! I did order a new lotus and am waiting to put it into this pond.
On 4/23/04, I added the American yellow lotus I ordered. Also added were two free water poppies. The little pump/filter is running but provides almost no water movement and should not bother the plants. The lotus as of 5/14/04 has one half leaf (the deer chewed on it) and may not make it. I have pulled some water celery out. Not much else is in there. The poppies are barely alive as well.
By 7/7/04, the deer and snails have so ravaged the lotus that only a few torn leaves remain. The poppy is doing a little better but still no flowers. The deer keep the water celery from taking over as does my pulling it. There is too much dirt on top of the pea gravel now. I redid this pond in 2003 but it needs redoing now; I will do it next spring. By 9/4/04, the lotus has I think one half- chewed leaf, that is it. I should give up!
The 2004 lotus died, and I redid the pond from scratch. On 4/27/05, I put in a new Mrs. Perry D Slocum lotus, 2 water poppies, and 1 blue tropical water lily. By 5/21/05, they are not doing so well, what with the raccoons who keep rooting them up and some nasty algae. I bought a new pump to filter the water but the cord is too short! By 6/2/05, I think my lotus, poppies, and lily have all had it thanks to the raccoons. The pond is just a cesspool now (that filter would have really helped! I wish they still sold the old one I had to replace it.) I guess I can give up on ever having a lotus again (I used to have them do okay years ago).
On 3/26/06, I put in one tuber from my repotted Perry's Yellow Sunburst I think it is from my main pond. I anchored a rock over the tuber and hope the animals leave it alone. I redid this pond last year but it is a total cesspool with a million leaves, tadpoles, water celery, and hornwort for the most part. They are all inter-matted which makes cleaning impossible. A week later, and I put half a dozen more tubers from the repotting in there that I had been waiting to see what I should do with them.
On 4/29/06, I put a water poppy in this pond.
By 6/1/06, the many lotus tubers are basically all killed off because the raccoons kept digging them up so they would float, and the deer eat any leaves. I give up!
When I redid the tub pond on 3/25/07, the only plants were water celery and hornwort. On 3/29/07, I added in two pots of water iris up on bricks in two gallon pots and one one gallon pot of a waterlily. These were extras from the 153 gallon pond. On 4/18/07, I added a two gallon pot of Albata (white) waterlily from the 5 gallon pot from the 1800 gallon pond when I repotted some lilies.
On 5/12/07, I repotted one of the water lilies because the raccoon had completely unpotted it.
Most of the plants have pretty much died thanks to the raccoons. On 9/30/07, I put two new yellow primrose creepers in the pond, just stuck them what remains of the pots in there.
When I cleaned the pond out on 3/22/09, there remained one two gallon pot with a water lily and one two gallon pot with water celery as well as some hornwort. On 4/1/09, I added a two gallon pot of blue or purple iris from the 153 gallon pond which was cleaned.
The 50 gallon Lerio tub pond was buried on 6/6/99. Temporarily, it held the animals and plants from the 50 gallon tub until the new 153 gallon pond was done. In early March of 2000, I filled the tub half way with dirt, planted some lotus, top with pea gravel, and filled the rest of the way with water. With the addition of a few marginals, submerged plants, and fry from my indoor tanks, this will be a whole new little ecosystem in my pond collection. This tub was bought for the lotus which is huge. I am afraid that it will die over winter so I left some of the lotus in the pond, just in case. Currently, it is only in a 7 gallon pot in my 1800 gallon pond. Any bigger pot, I could not haul into the pond due to the steep edges. Thus, the lotus needed a larger pot (hence this new pond). The lotus sent out tendrils 10 feet long in 1998 and has never flowered. This lotus has spent three summers in my large pond without even attempting to flower. The largest leaves were at least 16 inches in diameter before they turned yellow in September. Hopefully, it will flower this year! Yes, it did; both in the main pond and this tub! It turned out pink instead of the expected yellow (they said they had sent me Perry's Giant Sunburst which is yellow instead of Mrs. Perry D. Slocum which is pink) but who cares!
On 3/23/03, I redid this pond after three years! It was a real cesspool! Due to the really cold
winter,
all remaining animals and plants were killed except the huge lotus tubers. I put in fresh dirt, cut
up lotus
tubers, pea gravel, and water. There was also a wood frog egg mass. Sounds easy, huh? Well,
read
my April pond newsletter to read the details of the three-hour
adventure to turn the cesspool into a beautiful refurbished pond!
[Unfortunately, as a 7/1/03 update, the pond "went bad." The lotus did not grow a single leaf and
blue-
green algae took over. It really stunk too. I had to put in a small pond with sponge filter to fix it
up.]
Here are some photos from this pond cleaning, wood frog eggs, etc.:
Wood frog eggs as found in the dirty 50
gallon lotus tub pond on 3/23/03.
Wood frog eggs in cleaned 50 gallon
lotus tub pond on 3/28/03. The eggs
are protected by a vinyl-coated hardware cloth cage/contraption.
Cleaned 50 gallon lotus tub pond on 3/28/03,
showing entire pond and eggs in contraption.
For more photos of the wood frog and her eggs as well as information, see my page on wood frogs.
I re-did this pond on 4/4/05. It was really filthy and full of tadpoles. See my May 2005 newsletter (not on-line until the second Saturday of May) for more details. On 4/27/05, I put in a new Mrs. Perry D Slocum lotus, 2 water poppies, and 1 blue tropical water lily. The raccoon ripped them out a few days later so I had to replant them.
This pond held what used to be in the 50 gallon Rubbermaid pond during the summer and fall of 1999. Everything in there was moved to this pond until the 153 gallon pond was built. Only one adult female and a few dozen young mosquito fish were found as the sole fish survivors. Tadpoles, dragonflies, and a pair of green frogs were the only other animals found and moved. By 10/29/99, all these animals were moved to the new 153 gallon pond. While they were in the lotus tub, the PondMaster filter was filtering and aerating the water.
Fish in the tub pond from June of 1999 to October 29, 1999:
Other animals in the pond from June of 1999 to October 29, 1999:
Plants in the pond from June of 1999 to October 29, 1999:
On 3/25/07, I redid the tub pond. All the lotus were long dead. The wood frogs had just laid two batches of eggs in the pond. It was a total cesspool. The only plants were water celery and hornwort. The only animals were two batches of wood frog eggs, one green frog baby, a Melantho snail, a few leeches, and not much else. I wanted to get rid of the dirt and gravel on the bottom. First, I let the wood frog eggs and some water gently go into a bucket and set them aside. I bailed the water and gunk and dumped it on the lawn. That is the only way I can sort through the slop for animals and plants to save. The water was thick and black and smelled horrible. I did not find any goldfish (I had added eggs the summer before) or even surviving tadpoles. It was a hard winter; the pond probably froze down to the gravel/dirt. I rescued hornwort and a small jumpy frog that I though was a wood frog but saw it was a green frog when I later put it back. [As I write this, the wood frogs are quacking in the 153 gallon pond.] Then, I used a shovel to dig out the dirt and rocks along with a lot of water still in there. It was painful work. Once I got to the bottom, I completely forgot about the shop vacuum so I did not know how to get up the last bit of dirt, rocks, and water. So, I used paper towels. I would soak a chunk of them, wring it out, and repeat. I used a roll up to get it clean enough to refill. I refilled the tub pond and put in a new 40 mph solar fountain pump. I put a small rock on it to try to hold it down. I am sure the raccoons will have fun knocking it over and generally making a mess. At least, since the pump is off when it is dark, it will not pump it dry if they knock it over (I should catch that in the morning in time) but who knows. The pond is (for now) dirt and leaf free! I had considered putting a bag of pea gravel on the bottom but, when reminded how painful it is to remove stuff from the pond, I decided not to add anything. I plan to maybe put some pots of iris in there later. Here are some photos I took today (I am actually writing this right after I did it for once!):
The 50 gallon before I cleaned it
Two batches of wood frog eggs in the
bucket
The slop on the ground that I was sorting
through
The 50 gallon after it was done
Baby green frog after I put him
back
Cleaned pond - the new fountain, two
batches of wood frog eggs, and can you see the green frog on the right?
Close up of wood frog eggs - once the
pond was back together.
A leech in the bucket I was using
50 gallon tub pond with the newly added iris on 3/27/07 as part of the 153 pond cleaning.
---------------------------------------------
On 3/24/08, I cleaned out the 50 gallon tub pond. It was full of hornwort. In the end, I filled up an entire litter bucket to the top with the hornwort I meticulously saved. There were three dumped pots in the bottom. I found one loose water lily tuber that was mushy (deceased) and one tiny, one inch piece of tuber that was alive. There was water celery which grows like a weed all over and one minute piece of sweetflag I think. It took over an hour to get this pond empty. I bailed most of it. The bottom had a few inches of spilled "aquatic plant soil" (the brown litter you can buy for plants) and pea gravel. I had to shovel that out. I tried to also trim some of the million weeds from around the edge of this pond, mostly Japanese bittersweet but also multiflora rush and honeysuckle. I tried to get some of the edge rocks to stay in place a little better by digging out dirt and weeds. The animals in this pond consisted of about a dozen pond snails, a few Melantho snails, a colony of leeches, and one surprise one inch frog (I put in the 153 gallon pond). I thought it looked like a green frog but wonder what happened to the wood frog. I repotted the three pots with aquatic plant soil, fertilizer, pink quartz gravel, and the three plants. The lily got a two gallon as did the water celery while the tiny sweetflag got the one gallon. The lily went on the bottom of the pond while the other two pots were elevated on bricks. I put the little pump back in to this pond although it is kind of early in the year. I'm betting that the raccoon will have everything de-potted within two nights.
50 gallon tub pond on 4/1/08.
---------------------------------------------
On 3/22/09, I cleaned out the 50 gallon tub pond. It was really not a pond but a repulsive cesspool! It was thick with leaves, sticks, slop, gravel, hornwort, terrestrial mint, four bricks, three pots, and a few Melantho snails. I saved about a dozen snails but the debris was too thick to save them all. There were three pots in the bottom. The one gallon pot was 100% dumped and empty. The two two gallon pots were half full of pond planting media. I was too exhausted to do full repottings at that point. So, I just topped them off with new pea gravel. In one pot went the remnants of a waterlily. Most of it was dead but one end was still alive. In the other pot, I put the baby water celery plants that were all over. I also saved a good amount of hornwort. I found one good thing in this pond though - one of the male wood frogs who I put in the 20 gallon tub.
50 Gallon Tub Pond on 4/1/09.
I took these two photos of the 50 gallon tub pond on 4/25/09 showing the wood frog tadpoles in
there:
50 Gallon Tub Pond with
tadpoles.
50 Gallon Tub Pond with tadpoles,
closer in.
I added two jungle valisneria to the waterlily pot, a loose hornwort, and a loose anacharis to the pond on 5/24/09.
---------------------------------------------
On 3/29/10, I again cleaned out the 50 gallon tub pond. I had planned for an hour to clean out the 50 gallon tub pond but it took two hours! First, I tried to find the wood frog eggs but could not. Then, I put my torn up net over the pond vacuum's intake and tried to drain most of the water that way, hoping that with the net, I would not suck up the animals. Animals in this pond included a few hundred Melantho snails, a few ramshorn snails, one aquatic beetle adult which I failed to rescue, and one green frog who spooked me (he went in the 153 gallon). I also had to rescue the plants which included the potted plants (one iris, one waterlily, and errant water celery) and loose hornwort (a good amount) and a few anacharis sprigs. I would estimate that I got over 100 Melantho snails and hopefully saved more than half of them. I would hope the same for the hornwort. It was so meticulous and time consuming to hand pick through the enormous wads of slop to try to save the animals. I eventually could not take it anymore. If a 50 gallon takes two hours to sort through, my 1800 gallon would take 72 hours straight to clean which is why I have never done it! In the bottom of the pond, I found the wood frog eggs. They have not hatched yet but they were all separate. So, I netted and scooped what I could. That meant putting the involved slop back in the pond but I try to think of it as starter food for them and not a failure in my pond-cleaning abilities. I potted back up three two gallon pots. One has the iris (purple I think, maybe blue) which I hacked up and saved only about a quarter of it. I hate to discard it but my ponds can only hold so many iris. It usually will not flower since I repot it in the spring. I repot the iris in my main pond in the fall which is the way to do it correctly. Another two gallon pot got some water celery, a dozen little sprigs. The final pot got the waterlily which was amazingly still alive but very tiny. Last time, I potted in aquatic plant media (that clay cat litter type stuff). This time, I used clay soil topped with pea gravel. I sure hope the raccoon stays away!
I put the little pump and fountain in the pond on 3/31/10.
50 gallon tub pond - on 3/31/10, cleaned three days earlier.
---------------
See my Pond Showcase page on this pond.
Blueprint - this is the blueprint I drew up for the pond before building it.
Extensive photos of the pond, animals, plants, etc. during the yearly 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 cleanings can be seen on the pond cleaning page.
Winter photos of this pond can be seen on my winter photos page.
153 gallon pond on 10/18/09 covered in my
new
white net. It looks like a spider's web so my mother had to add a big fake black widow spider to
the
net!
153 gallon pond on 10/18/09, closer in.
Photo of the 153 gallon pond on 2/13/05, facing northwest. The 20 and 50 gallon tub ponds are in the photo too.
Photo of 153 gallon pond on 6/23/03 facing southwest.
Photo of 153 gallon pond on 6/23/03 facing northwest.
Photo of empty 153 gallon pond on 4/2/03 during pond cleaning, facing southwest.
Photo of 153 gallon pond on 5/27/02, facing west. The yellow and blue iris are in bloom.
Photo of pond on 6/18/00, in sun, facing north.
Photo of pond on 5/23/00, in rain, facing north.
Photo of new pond almost complete on 10/17/99 showing fountain,
bridge, iris, and pipe going in, facing southwest.
Photo of new pond almost complete on 10/17/99, facing
northwest.
Photo of 153 gallon pond on 10/3/99 showing the brick work going in
before the liner is in, facing north.
Photo of 153 gallon pond location and brick edging before any holes
were begun, 20 gallon lily tub and 50 gallon lotus tub are behind it in the distance; facing west,
8/11/99.
Built July through October 1999 with most plants and animals added from 10/17/99 to
10/29/99.
Ultiliner (45 mil EPDM + fabric underlay).
153 gallons (by bucketing it in!) without pots, etc.
Edging is two layers of regular holed bricks topped by 16" x 8" red patio bricks.
Sandstone bridge.
Depths: ~10% surface area 6.5" to 7.5" deep, ~25% surface area 10.5" to 11.5" deep, and ~65%
surface area 22.5" to 23.5" deep.
PondMaster filter 700 with Mag-Drive 700 gph pump and bell fountain during warm months
De-icer in the winter, and for 2001, I am planning to use a Luft pump in winter to aerate the
bottom as well to keep the frogs from suffocating as they did in 2000. Every year since then, I
have used the Luft pump with air stone over the winter.
43 rosy red minnows counted on 4/1/09. 31 counted on 4/1/08. 48
counted on 3/29/07. 51 counted on 3/30/06. 63 counted 3/25/05. Fish counted from 3/28/04:
2 male, 1 female, 6 smaller minnows added on 4/12/03. Five large ones added 5/17/03 (from the
same batch but kept inside longer in the basement pond). Photos of the first set of 8 fish can be
seen on the rosy red minnow page.
Baby rosy reds started to
become evident in late June! By 7/7/04, there are many dozens of baby minnows of various
sizes! It looks like many will make it this year. I think last year, there just were too few
spawnings (all late in the year) for any to survive.
Dozens of green frog tadpoles and only one baby adult (mass die off before winter of 2002-2003,
see my section on green frogs for more information)
Blackworms (added as food)
Assorted insect larvae and worms including dragonflies, mayflies, etc.
Past Animals:
Dozens of green frogs.
Wood frog eggs (2 big balls) were laid in early March of 2000, tadpoles hatched 3/26/00.
American toads starting laying eggs on 4/2/00. They laid again the following year.
Tons of wood frog eggs laid around 3/23/05. More wood frog eggs on 3/14/06. More in March
2007, 2009 too.
[Note: A lot of this is out of date but I am too confused to figure it all out! See the cleaning pages for the current correct plants.]
1 one gallon pot of iris (maybe blue or purple flag)
3 two gallon pots of iris (maybe blue or purple flag)
1 two gallon pot of Albata white lily (from my big pond) but could be another variety
Terrestrial mint
Algae, etc.
Ground was broken in late August, 1999. The liner went in on 10/3/99 but the edging was a problem and was mostly done on 10/10/99. The first plants and animals were added on 10/17/99.
I should have had over two feet of liner overlap at the long ends but I had barely an inch. Things never go as planned. I did not mis-calculate. The liner simply went in slightly offset and bunched up a lot making a big mess. The edging is regular bricks topped with patio bricks. There is a sandstone bridge but my father says we cannot walk on it since it would snap in two. I guess sandstone is not as strong as rocks usually used for bridges, or is my father wrong? Anyway, we will not walk on it which is a pain since it is the only way to the other side! Oops, I stepped across it the day it went in (10/10/99)!
On 3/26/00, I cleaned out the filthy 153 gallon pond. After removing the wood frog eggs and pots, I drained away half the water. Then, I ran various nets along the shelves and bottom. The fun part was rooting through the black slop for life. The debris was 90% live and dead earthworms. I guess they are not a problem in my big pond because the orfe and goldfish eat them. I also found 3 large dead green frogs, 3 live green frogs, about half a dozen red shiners, about half a dozen Ozark minnows, and one mayfly. I did not net out any bluntnose minnows or mosquito fish although there may be some that evaded the net. By the way, I use the bridge every day!
I completely cleaned out the 153 gallon pond on 3/26/01. I had planned the day off for a month but it turned out to be a warm 34 degrees F. I layered up in 3 layers of clothes and got to work. It took seven hours of toiling to repot every last of the pots and sift through all of the debris for life forms. I found the following besides my potted plants: lots of anacharis and hornwort, 100+ ramshorn snails, 2 dead trapdoor snails, 100+ green frog tadpoles, 2 dead pickerel frogs, 8 dead green frogs, 3 live green frogs, 2 live female wood frogs ready to lay eggs, a few dragonfly and mayfly larvae, and 19 fish. I tried to tell which sexes and species the fish were but it was cold, and I was in a lot of pain from the work. I think they were about 1 bluntnose minnow, 4 male red shiners, 7 female red shiners, 1 Ozark minnow, and 6 Southern redbelly dace but I am not sure. I believe that the dead frogs died from a lack of oxygen. Not only did the de-icers act up and not work half the time but the pond is very narrow and deep and was very dirty. Next winter, I plan to run an air stone in the bottom of this pond to prevent frog suffocation. On 11/10/01, I removed the PondMaster filter for the winter and put in the de-icer with the Luft pump system to aerate the depths.
On 6/26/01, I removed an adult, 3 inch, male bluntnose minnow floating dead in the pond. He seems to have been beat up. I hope he was not the only of his species. I saw fry in this pond for the first time on 6/28/01. They are most likely red shiners but could be Southern redbelly dace, Ozark minnows, or even bluntnose minnows from the above, dead father. (I later found out that the babies are probably Southern redbelly dace!) There was a dead, 3 inch, male red shiner removed from the pond on 8/4/01. Maybe he got in a fight. I removed a 2 inch, female fish which I think was a red shiner but might have been a bluntnose minnow. There was no obvious reason for her death but she did seem to be full of eggs. Yet another dead fish was removed on 9/17/01. This was a female red shiner with chunks bitten out of her. Losing four fish in just three months is a big loss that I cannot explain except perhaps to think that they were nearing the end of their life span of about three years old. I normally clean this pond in spring and fall but this year, I am so far behind that I will have to skip the fall cleaning for 2001.
I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond on 3/29/02. It took six hours. The weather was perfect this time. There were no dead frogs! I found 13 live green frogs (no other species). The bad news is that only seven fish were found including three adult Southern redbelly dace and four babies which I think are Southern redbelly dace too. The bluntnose minnows, red shiners, and Ozark minnows have all died without breeding. I found two dead fish that I am not sure which species they were. There were also hundreds of tadpoles and ramshorn snails, eight baby trapdoor snails, one dragonfly nymph, and one mayfly nymph. The iris and water lilies needed repotting but I did not do it because I was tired and figure this way I will get more flowers this year (repotting reduces iris flowers if done before flowering in spring). I took a photo of the frogs waiting in a pot while I was cleaning and a photo of the tadpoles (and snails) in a kiddie pool while I was cleaning.
On 9/2/02, I repotted the three iris which were way overgrown (see my September 2002 Newsletter), the sweetflag, and one of the water lilies because the yellow flag iris was growing in that pot as well. All were put in one gallon pots and tons of extras in a low area on our property. The yellow flag iris had grown into a huge monster, growing into two neighboring pots so I had to pull the whole mess out in one clump!
I did the yearly cleaning of this pond again on 4/2/03. Instead of repeating the story here, you can read my April 2003 pond newsletter which covers it in detail. Basically, I found one adult Southern redbelly dace, one male red shiner, one female red shiner, one dead red shiner, one adult female wood frog, one emaciated young green frog, two green frog leg bones, one green frog vertebrae, a million earthworms, a thousand snails (mostly ramshorns but some others), a few hundred green frog tadpoles, a hundred wads of hornwort, a few pieces of anacharis, the potted plants, and water (ha, ha). For more on the missing frogs, see my green frog section and section on overwintering frogs. My colony of green frogs was not dead or alive in there which means they died before winterizing either from starvation due to the worst drought in 100 years or predators. Photos of the three fish are on the dace and shiner pages. Here is a photo of the tadpoles and snails in the kiddie pool during the cleaning. The empty pond is above with the photos for the 153 gallon pond.
On 3/29/04, I did the yearly clean out. I put the information on its own page to save room elsewhere. To read the details, go to my 153 Gallon Pond Cleaning Page for 2004.
On 3/25/05, I did the yearly clean out again. The information is on the 2005 pond cleaning page.
On 3/30/06, I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond once again. Information, photos, and a video of wood frogs in the pond is on my 2006 pond cleaning page.
On 3/29/07, I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond. You can see photos and videos as well as read the details on my 2007 pond cleaning page.
On 4/1/08, I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond. You can see photos and two videos and read about it on my 2008 pond cleaning page.
On 4/1/09, I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond. You can see photos and read about it on my 2009 pond cleaning page.
On 3/31/10, I cleaned out the 153 gallon pond. You can see photos and read about it on my 2010 pond cleaning page.
See my Pond Showcase page on this pond.
For my thirtieth birthday, on 9/13/02, my mother bought me this mosaic pond. It came from American Pools and Fountains, Inc. which must have gone out of business as their web site is now on gambling! I have yet to bail it to determine the exact gallonage but it is about 20 gallons. It is supposed to be buried in the ground. The plug is an AC adapter that is huge and will not fit into my outdoor outlets so I am not sure to do about that. I am also not sure how to go about finding edging stones or rocks that will hide a circular pond formally. I welcome any suggestions. For now, this pond will stay inside until spring. The ground is rock solid from the worst drought in our recorded history, and I hope it is soaking wet next spring. I had seen this pond and loved the mosaic but would not buy it for myself as it was way too expensive. This pond is really for people to admire and not for plants or animals which would hide the mosaic. I might put a few small fish in it next year. We shall see!
It is 3/28/03, and I am thinking this pond should stay on the porch due to the outlet problem. I will probably not put in anything but maybe some guppies. Being in the shade of the porch, plants would not grow well.
I set this pond up on the porch on 4/2/03 on the front porch. It looks neat at night since it is lit up. There is no way to turn off the light if the pump is on.
I added four guppies (3 female, 1 male) on 4/12/03. They hide under the mosaic most of the time! I also put in a piece of mosquito dunk the week before but with the guppies in there, I probably will not need to add any more. Photos are on the guppy page. The poor guppies were found dead a few weeks later when I lifted the mosaic. It was apparently too cold for them. I will not add more fish. The pond become full of suspended algae despite being out of the sun, under the porch. I added an old copper sulfate algae killing block I got free but would never use in a pond with life in it. It took a few weeks, but since then, the pond has been clear due to the block. It is kind of boring with no plants or animals in the pond though!
My mother wanted fish in this pond so I put in a pair of paradise fish on 6/13/03. I added an old driftwood piece on slate and a large fake floating plant. I dumped the water, filled it 70% with 1800 gallon pond water, and the rest new water. I added the right amounts of salt, Stress-Coat, Stress- Zyme, aquari-sol, and MelaFix (the last two for a week). I fed them well. They promptly took up residence UNDER the fake mosaic. This pond is not meant for fish! They sneak out after dark only to eat. More on them is on my paradise fish page. They will come in in the fall when the pond comes in since they are semi-tropical fish. On 6/30/03, the male made a bubble nest! The female was egg-laden. Alas, the nest fell apart. I am sure they will try again. He did make many more nests, one every few days. On 7/19/03, I could have sworn I saw a fry in the pond but never saw one again. Maybe I hallucinated! Nope, I saw him again on 7/26/03 after cleaning the pond. I even held him in my water-filled hand! He is real! The fish has to be at least a few weeks old and was sluggish. I was worried the little one did not make it but again cleaned the pond and held him in my water-filled hand on 8/9/03. Now, I can see red and blue stripes so the baby is definitely a paradise fish! The raccoons have been taking the stuff out of this pond so if the fish had not been able to hide under the mosaic, they would be dead! So, I should not have complained about that!
On 9/20/03, I brought the three paradise inside for the season. I put them in my 5 gallon tank. [They stayed in there.]
On 3/27/04, I set the pond back up but with no life so far. The algae took over by 4/30/04 so time to clean! I used AlgaeFix, and it worked well. I was not sure yet what, if any, fish I might put in there this year.
On 6/6/04, I added two shubunkins to this pond to quarantine until fall. See my July 2004 Pond Newsletter for more details on them and how they were faring. On 7/11/04, I found one dead that had jumped out. I was upset. I netted the other one out and put him in my 1800 gallon pond before he too jumped.
On 4/2/05, I set the pond back up with no animals or plants, just empty.
Mosaic pond on 4/5/05.
I put the pond up on 10/2/05.
On 4/2/06, I set the pond up without any animals or plants again. I put it up that fall.
On 3/29/07, I set the pond up again on the front porch without plants or animals.
I put up the mosaic pond for the winter on 9/23/07.
On 3/30/08, I set up the mosaic pond on the porch.
I put the pond up on 9/15/08.
On 4/1/09, I set up the mosaic pond on the porch.
Mosaic pond on 4/1/09.
On 9/20/09, I put up the mosaic pond.
On 3/31/10, I set up the mosaic pond on the porch.
Mosaic pond - set up on the front porch on 3/31/10.
See my Pond Showcase page on this pond.
Photos:
Tricker pond in the summer of 2005.
Tricker pond on 7/13/06, covered in
salvinia.
On 3/25/05, I received a 12 gallon "blue granite" tub pond that I ordered from Tricker. I have yet to put anything in it. I got tired of my 12 gallon lotus tub pond so I wanted to put something else there on the bricks by my pond bench. It has three "shelves" in it but they're smaller than any pond pots I've ever seen so I'm not sure to do with it yet. I thought the blue pond would look good but it really clashes with the natural colors around. I plan to use it for tropical plants.
On 5/26/05, I put a floating leaf flower in the pond. The other plants that came that day, I waited three days to pot up. On 5/29/05, I potted up a Colorata tropical water lily into a one gallon pot (with dirt, fertilizer, and pea gravel) and put it in the bottom of the Tricker pond. It even had a few buds on it. In two tiny terrestrial plant pots, I potted up a dwarf papyrus in one and a hardy calla lily in the other. These pots I just filled with pea gravel because I knew the raccoon could not resist them. I was right. The next three nights, the pots were all dumped, knocked off their itty bitty shelves. After that, it seems maybe they might leave them alone (I am hoping!). I also added one anacharis (loose). A male green frog started hanging out in the pond on 6/1/05. I added some java moss to this pond from my 50 gallon aquarium on 6/4/05. At least one baby rosy barb was in there. On 6/17/05, I put in three goldfish fry that had grown to almost an inch after spending their first two months of life in plastic litter buckets. The goldfish will probably eat any rosy barbs which is okay since I have too many.
On 10/9/05, I removed the waterlily (just one itty bitty leaf) and dwarf papyrus and put them into my basement pond for the winter after repotting them. The Tricker pond is 100% covered in salvinia so I cannot see what any remaining fish are up to. I know there are tadpoles in there. When it gets colder, I will have to sift through the rest of the pond.
On 11/13/05, I removed everything from the Tricker pond and brought it inside for the winter. I put the anacharis and hornwort into my 153 gallon pond. I put one baby goldfish and a few hundred tadpoles into my 1800 gallon pond. You can read more about the process in my December 2005 newsletter (not on-line until 12/11/05).
I setup the Tricker pond on 4/19/06. On 4/27/06, I put some salvinia in the Tricker pond. On 4/30/06, I potted up two small pots, one with a bunch of parrot feather and one with a tropical water poppy. On 5/15/06, I put a barely alive tropical water lily in a 1 gallon pot in the bottom of the pond. The lily overwintered in my indoor pond.
On 5/27/06, I put in 8 fry from either my 20 or 5 gallon tank. They are probably a new mystery danio but could be glowlight danios or paradise fish. If they live, I will report back. I added three more fry on 6/10/06. They were still swimming around a week later but then were hard to see as the floating plants are growing. I hope some make it!
The barely alive lily is basically dead so I put a new Islamorada tropical lily in that pot on 5/28/06. The raccoons and green frogs dump the small pots almost every day. They are so unstable.
I added two more Danio x (mystery danio) fry on 6/24/06. I cannot see any fry in there but the top of the pond is now covered in salvinia. I put out two more fry on 7/8/06.
I put up the Tricker pond on 9/24/06. There were no fish and just a few dozen tadpoles and some snails left. All the water lilies were completely gone. You can read more about in the October 2006 newsletter (not on-line until 10/14/06).
On 3/29/07, I put the Tricker pond back outside. I have not yet put anything in it (not even water).
On 5/23/07, I filled up the Tricker pond with fresh water and put in some salvinia. I am not sure what else I might put in there. On 6/9/07, I put in one anacharis plant.
On 7/15/07, I put a small solar fountain in the Tricker pond that was in the 50 gallon tub pond. The fountain only drizzles when full sun hits the panel so it does not do much at all. The plants in the pond are barely alive. I think the AlgaeFix is killing them. The pond's only real purpose this year is that the honeybees are drinking from it.
I put up the Tricker pond for the winter on 9/23/07. I do not think I will set it up for 2008. I have not used it since.
See my Pond Showcase page on this pond.
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