Last Updated: 6/2/22

1. On 5/1/22, at 12:48 pm, the air temperature was a nice 64 degrees F but it was starting to lightly rain. It would become moderate by the time I finished pond chores but I did not get too wet. The 1800 gallon pond was at 58 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 57 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials, squirted out the Biosteps Matala, added water, and added additives. I pulled the heron net back off the iris a bit and will see if the heron returns or not (while I am around anyway).

The ant situation in both pond outlets is horrific. I had to turn the switch off and on multiple times to get the PondMaster going again in the 153 gallon pond after squirting those filters off. I have squirted liquid form pesticide-laden "food" in the outlets for the ants to eat which I also did a week ago but both outlets are literally dripping with live ants that are destroying the outlets! There are two lights above the main pond outlet, and they died last week. The inside can be seen to be full of dead, trapped ants. This week, they ignite. I never know if any of the pond electrical will work with this ant problem! They are also in the pool outlets where I also put the liquid poison.

2. It was only 54 degrees F at 2:22 pm on 5/8/22. The 1800 gallon pond was at 56 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 55 degrees F. I changed the main filter floss and squirted off all the others. I added additives. It had rained about three inches in the last day so I didn't need to add any water.

I put the tropical bluebell pot from the basement back in the pond. I moved one of the two hardy canna pots more to the shallows as the net was squishing it. I had to cover the entire marginal area again with the net as the fish were spawning a few days ago with an uninvited feathered guest.

There was an injured toad sitting on a ledge in the pond surrounded by water. His right eye was gone, almost melted off along with part of that side of his face. I moved the toad to a secluded area on land and provided a few mealworms but the little guy did not survive long. I don't know what would have caused the injuries that he had.

3. It rained on 5/14/22 so that on 5/15/22 at 11:30 am, it was 71 degrees F with 100% humidity. The 1800 gallon pond was at 68 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 64 degrees F. I squirted all the pond filter materials, put in additives, and didn't need to add water to the ponds except for the 1800 gallon pond. I think the plants in the waterfall must be wicking water away from the pond again. I potted up the single hard nut tuber that I had stored from the tropical waterlily. It was still hard (not rotted) but had no signs of growth so I just potted it in a two gallon pot so I could keep an eye on it.

4. I did pond chores on 5/22/22 in the morning due to expected temperatures in the 90's later. At 9:49 am, the air temperature was 78 degrees F. It was 82 degrees F at 10:45 am when I was finishing up. The 1800 gallon pond was at 76 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 72 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials, added additives, and added water. I took the net off the shallow area which I hope I don't regret! I haven't seen the heron in over a week.

5. On 5/23/22, I removed a large four inch frog from my 1800 gallon pond that had been dead too long to definitively determine the species (most likely green frog but possibly bullfrog) or sex.

6. At 1:09 pm on 5/29/22, the air temperature was 80 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 73 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 68 degrees F. First, I removed the old door seal from the top of the biofilter. I had two rows of it and some epoxy which I partially removed. Then, I squirted out the bioballs and put them back. I then dried the top of the biofilter well and left the water off so that it could dry in the sun. I then squirted the Biosteps Matala pads. As the area was dry (sun beating down), I took some new door seal and put it around the top of the biofilter. I left it in the sun for the glue to stick. The seal helps keep in errant water that rises above the top of the biofilter as the spillway is not deal enough.

At that point, I went back to the beginning of my Sunday pond chores which means squirting off the PondMaster filter, adding water to the smaller ponds, putting liquid Bt in the smaller ponds, and then going back to the big pond. I pulled out all the filter materials in there and squirted them off. Then, I got all the filters going again.

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