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Robyn's Pond Blog for October 2022

Last Updated: 11/1/22

1. I did pond chores on 10/2/22 at 9:15 am because it was raining, and the rain was only supposed to worsen. It was just a moderate drizzle. The air temperature was 54 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 62 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 61 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials. I did not need to add water since we had a good amount of rain. I put in additives. Then, I cleaned up and changed to dry clothes and did indoor chores.

2. On 10/8/22, I looked outside to see a small bird, maybe some kind of warbler stuck under the pond net. I went outside and went back and forth trying to get him/her out. I lifted up the high end of the net but the bird went the wrong way. He/she also landed in the water and just sat there a few times, exhausted from trying to escape. Finally, the bird went out where I had pulled up the net.

3. It was 60 degrees F with a light breeze and nearly perfect weather at 1:42 pm on 10/9/22. The 1800 gallon pond was at 56 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 58 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters and squirted the other filter materials. I put in additives and water. I cut down the leaves of the arum which had turned to brown and dried up.

4. I started pond work at 11:05 am on 10/16/22 but I stopped once I got up to getting in the big pond because relatives came over. The air temperature was 60 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 58 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 59 degrees F. On 10/16/22, I added water to the smaller ponds, collected some leaves, put in liquid Bt, and a few other things. The next morning, I continued at 9:46 am when the air temperature was again 60 degrees F, and the 1800 gallon pond's thermometer also read 60 degrees F. I squirted off all the filter materials, squirted out the bioballs and lava rock, and put water in the big pond. There was one large pickerel frog at the top of the biofilter but no frogs down inside like there normally are this time of the year.

I pulled out the bluebells, and they tore right out of the heavy pot. I decided to put them in a pot of water bareroot in the basement. We are supposed to get frost the next three mornings, and it is tropical. It is my only surviving tropical pond plant in the pond. I also have bluebells next to the pond bench that are in a pot. They do equally well in a pot versus in water.

5. On 10/23/22, it was 56 degrees F at 10:56 am when I started. It was supposed to rain in the early afternoon so I went right to the pond work (skipping house work) but they lied; it rained after dark. The 1800 gallon pond was at 53 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 54 degrees F. It took a while to get all the leaves off the main pond's net. I squirted off the Biosteps filter but did not put it up yet as it is supposed to be quite warm for the next two weeks. It was cold at night the previous week but, if you don't like the weather in Maryland, wait a minute. Now that it's hot again, the filters are all still going. I put in additives and water.

I got the shock of the day when I lifted the lid on the Luft pump because the air pump was humming. It's amazing how the primal instincts kick in, and I let go fast. Under the black cover of the air pump was a ~2 foot long Northern watersnake. He/she slithered away. They eat fish and frogs so he/she was right at home.

I got a lesser shock (more of a shock to the wallet) when I retrieved the expensive bottle of Microbe-Lift Autumn Prep that I had stashed in an old litter bucket on the porch. Why? It smells like rotten eggs and stinks up the basement so I started keeping it outside last year. Well, I picked up the bottle to use some (I had used about 10% the week before), and it was 95% empty! There were no holes in the bottle. There was some liquid in the bottom of the bucket mixed with dirty pea gravel that was in there. There were raccoon footprints all over the bottle! The raccoons must have turned the bottle over and over and got the liquid to come out where the lid goes on. Why? I guess they like rotten eggs and thought some were inside. All they got was stench and my money. I'm not buying another one.

6. I had human visitors on 10/30/22 so I had to wait until they left to do pond work. At 3:55 pm, it was 58 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 54 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 55 degrees F. It took a long time to just shake and remove the leaves from the big pond net. I wondered why there were so many in the pond and why, when I was done, there were two goldfish on top of the net. It was because this net (which is only two years old) has a massive hole in it. It was getting too late and dark to sew on a patch so I just tossed a small, old leaf net on top of the net.

I squirted off the filter materials, put in additives, and topped off with water. I would normally have removed the Biosteps filter and pump, and the auxiliary pump to the main waterfall by now but there was no time this day, and, luckily, it is going to be warm all week. I must get to it next Sunday!!

7. On 10/31/22, my last discus, Caesar, died in my 65 gallon aquarium. Note to self: Never get another discus. I have never had a species that was so set on killing each other, and then, when only one was left, the fish sulked and literally rotted from loneliness. "I hate you, die, die. Wait, where did you go? I need you!"


Continue to the November 2022 pond blog.



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