Last Updated: 5/8/23

1. I did pond chores on 4/2/23. I got a late start due to visitors. At 2:49 pm, the air temperature was 52 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 56 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 58 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials. I set up the auxiliary pump after cutting some new filter floss. The pump took almost a minute to start running, and I almost got back in to take it apart. It was making a grinding/vibrating noise before it finally kicked in. The waterfall went from literally a drip to a gusher! I put a new small bale of barley straw in the 1800 and 153 gallon ponds. I added water and additives. I moved the cardinal flower from the medium area of the big pond to the pool deck, and the pot (which was made for ponds) fell apart with mud going all over. After I repotted it, the cardinal flower dessicated, and I don't know if it will survive. If I had the time, I would have repotted it as a pond plant and put it back in the pond. It is a plant that can grow in water or land.

2. By 4/6/23, the main waterfall was slowed to a drizzle due to the goldfish spawning. I didn't realize it at the time but the auxiliary pump wasn't even running. I wanted to wait to get into the pond until 4/9/23 per usual but, for the first time in its 26 year history, the waterfall stopped running by late morning on 4/8/23. The water level in the biofilter could not top over the spillway. I had to stop all my many Saturday chores to spend some 40 minutes to get in the big pond and haul out all the filter floss around the three pumps and the three pump intakes. The intakes were 100% full of debris. The intake over the auxiliary pump has imploded. I keep spares for this reason and changed it out to a new one. The filter flosses were super heavy with all the slop the fish had dislodged. After everything was back in place, the auxiliary pump refused to kick on at first but eventually it did.

On 4/6/23, I also collected some toad eggs off of the pool cover. I put some in the back 30 gallon liner pond, and I put some in the 50 gallon tub pond that is full of yellow flag iris. There were already additional toad eggs laid in the 153 gallon pond. I also moved some of the wood frog tadpoles from the 20 gallon tub pond to the 153 gallon pond.

3. I did regular pond chores the next day including repeating what I had just done because the filters reclogged quickly since the water flow had been so slow for days. At 10:08 am, the air temperature was 52 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 50 degrees F as was the 153 gallon pond. I put fresh Ammocarb and oyster shell in new zippered mesh lingerie bags in the main filter. I squirted off the filter flosses again but I decided to just change it around the main waterfall pump because it was so infused with black slop that I just couldn't clean it well. I added additives to the two largest pond and water to all the ponds. I put fertilizer in the one pot of surviving waterlilies and removed another five gallon pot where the lilies had died. I have the least lilies ever, just the one five gallon pot that is barely alive. I used to have four or five five gallons in the big pond and a few two gallons in other ponds but I just can't keep them alive anymore.

4. At 1:22 pm on 4/16/23, the air temperature was a warm 78 degrees F with 100% humidity as it rained the day before. The rain was sparse though, and we are in drought which is unusual for this time of the year when it normally rains a lot. The 1800 gallon pond was at 70 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 69 degrees F. I had turned off the auxiliary pump the day before because nothing was coming out. A few days previous, I got a replacement impeller in the mail but it was a "fractionating impeller" so it had slots up and down the spin parts, and I guess it is meant to mix more air into the water? It was expensive! I removed all the filter flosses covering the three pumps in the big pond and squirted them all out. All the intakes were clogged. I put the new impeller in the auxiliary pump, and the waterfall was finally flowing!

I removed the full net and put on the half net and clothesline around the west side for the summer. Usually, a heron shows up the next day because they somehow know but I didn't see one yet.

5. I had off 4/17/23 to haul out house plants and yard doohickeys. I had bought a new fake heron the week before, and I put it in the waterfall overflow area. It is cheap plastic but my old heron has a broken leg, and all the paint has faded away. If I had time, I would glue the leg and paint it, and it would look a lot better than the new heron. They don't sell them like my old one anymore because things are much cheaper now. The feet on the new heron are half the size they should be but I stuck the heron in the water so the feet are submerged. I expect a real heron to show up ASAP now that I have this fake heron, and most of the pond is not netted.

6. On 4/23/23, I did pond chores at 2:20 pm. The air temperature was 60 degrees F, and both ponds were at 64 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters. I squirted off all the filter materials around the three pumps in the big pond which were thick with slop. I squirted off the bags of bioballs and lava rock. I squirted off the Biosteps Matala pads.

7. At 12:38 pm on 4/30/23, the air temperature was 56 degrees F, and there was a break from heavy rain. It was mostly sprinkling while I worked although I was still soaked when done. I can't wear anything to protect me because it impedes my movements. I did wear a baseball cap to keep rain off my glasses though. The 1800 gallon pond was at 60 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 58 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials and put in additives. Due to finally getting a few inches of rain, I didn't need to add water to any of the ponds. The filters in the big pond were filthy again from unending spawning. Due to the rain, that's all I did with the ponds.

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