Last Updated: 9/8/25

1. On 8/1/25, I got a second yellow waterlily flower for the year!

2. I did pond work on 8/3/25 at 12:51 pm and got to smell that waterlily flower. The air temperature was 82 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 73 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 72 degrees F. It was relatively nice. I squirted all the pond flosses and the bags of bioballs and lava rock in the biofilter. I changed out the bag of oyster shell. I cut a bunch of Japanese stilt grass and other grasses out of the waterfall and my path around the pond but I barely made a dent since there is so much of it.

3. I started pond work on 8/10/25 at 11:24, had lunch, and went back to work. The air temperature was 79 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 70 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 69 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials, put in additives, and topped the ponds off with water. I removed more Japanese stilt grass.

4. When I opened the drapes on 8/14/25, I saw that the big pond was more than half empty! I ran to the garage for boots and ran around the house. I found that the raccoons had moved my bag of zeolite in the biofilter to block the filter lip so that water was running out the edges of the biofilter instead and pumping the pond dry. I put in 30 minutes of water, gave the well a 30 min break, and put in 30 more min of water. I moved the bag of zeolite to put it underneath the heavier lava rock bags so hopefully this won't happen again. I had to go to the vet and work so it had to wait until I got home to add another 20 min of water and get the pond full. I did put in some Pond Stress-Coat and pond salt in the morning with the water change. The fish seemed mildly stressed but got through it okay.

5. I did pond chores on 8/17/25 at 12:30. The air temperature was 89 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 78 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 76 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters. I squirted off the Biostep's Matala. I squirted all the filter flosses around the three pumps. I didn't have time to work on the Japanese stilt grass as I had to visit a sickly relative.

6. On 8/24/25 at 2:24 pm, the air temperature was 84 degrees F. Both pond thermometers read 72 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials, put in additives, and topped off the ponds. I didn't fight the weeds more as I needed to mow.

7. At 12:38 pm on 8/31/25, it was 75 degrees outside. The 1800 gallon pond was at 64 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 65 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials and the bioballs. I fertilized the waterlilies. I spent over an hour pulling about six wheel barrows full of Japanese stilt grass and barely made a dent in it!

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