Last Updated: 2/17/14

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Introduction and Miscellaneous:
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If you have something pond-related that you want to share (information, jokes, web sites, pond secrets and tidbits, something pond-related for sale), let me know, and I will add it to the next newsletter. What topics would you like me to cover? Do you have a question that I can answer or pose to others in the next newsletter?

I came home on 8/17/09 to see baby Petunia, my newest grandchick. My mother threw out the three green Chickie eggs half way through the incubation. The other chick was squished during hatching by their mother. Only Petunia survived. Both her parents are doing well with her.

I am doing a test to see if I should try to do a HTML newsletter (which means it is not just text but photos and such too) in addition to the pond newsletter or to replace it. Fill out the box on http://www.fishpondinfo.com/news.htm to join the HTML newsletter, and please, let me know what you think! This HTML newsletter would be for the entire site and not just for ponds. It is going to be sent out just four times a year. I will send out an example/test in a few weeks or so.

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Significantly Altered or New Pond Web Pages, Photos, or Videos on Fishpondinfo:
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1. http://www.fishpondinfo.com/myfish/bigpondphotos2.htm - (URL changed to a new directory in 2014)
Under Summer 2009 are four photos of the pond and bluebells from 8/27/09 and seven photos of the large tulip poplar branch that fell over the 1800 gallon pond's waterfall area on 7/31/09.

2. http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pictures2.htm -
Under frogs are two photos of a bullfrog eating a bird that Marianne sent me.

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New Pages on Pond Showcase:
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1. http://www.pondshowcase/Lilypons/index.shtml -
While not a new page, 13 missing photos from two years ago when I went to Lilypons reappeared on my digital camera so I added them to the page.

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Happenings at Robyn's Ponds:
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1. On 8/2/09, I squirted off the filter flosses and the Cyprio biothings while in the filter. The 1800 gallon was at 76 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 75 degrees F. I did the usual but not much else as there were a lot of sticks to be cleaned up from the storm two days earlier. I added a half dose of FloraFin because my water hyacinth and water lettuce are yellowing.

2. I glued the fake heron's beak back on on 8/7/09. He was decapitated by a huge tulip poplar branch that fell on my waterfall a few weeks earlier. The next day, I glued his head back to the body and used masking tape to hold it while it dried. The edge of the resin (non-hollow part) was very thin and weak but it seems to have held. I put the heron back in its place on 8/9/09 but couldn't get all the masking tape off because it was super glued on. I told my 4-year-old niece I had fixed it, and that the heron needed a necklace to help hold on his head. She wasn't buying it and said, "That necklace looks like tape to me!"

3. On 8/9/09, I completely changed the filter floss material around the OASE Nautilus pump (my main waterfall pump). I also squirted out the bags of bioballs and lava rock. I changed the bag of AmmoCarb too. The 1800 gallon pond was at 76 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 75 degrees. Air temperature was 90 degrees F.

4. On 8/16/09, I squirted off the flosses and the Cyprio biothings in a kiddie pool. Both the 1800 and 153 gallon ponds were at 76 degrees F. I fertilized the water lilies and one lotus. My lilies are producing few flowers while that lotus I got last year has never flowered. The water lettuce is really taking off and will cover the entire pond by September.

5. On 8/23/09, I squirted off the flosses. The 1800 gallon was at 77 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 78 degrees F. The water lettuce has covered the entire pond, so much so that I didn't realize that the Tetra Luft air pump was not working. It appears to be dead so I brought out the spare. The spare (Coralife brand) though only has a two foot cord! So, I had to set the air pump on top of the evergreen bush there. I cut down some yellow hardy canna leaves. It's hard to believe that soon the plants will be dying, and I'll be tossing tons of them. I pulled out a huge pile of weed grass from the waterfall. The water lilies are doing poorly due to the water lettuce all over. The water hyacinth never took off, and it's barely alive as in the last few years. I wish I would get one flower at least. You can't say they're not crowded (which spawns flowering). I've been adding FloraFin too but ran out (got Microbe-Lift liquid plant fertilizer instead). I took out the floating plant protector since the plants were not going to be eaten or float away since the entire surface is water lettuce. If water lettuce and weed grass could be harvested for something, I'd be in business! It looks like my only surviving tropical pond plant is the bluebells which have put out a few flowers. The flowers only last a few hours in the morning, one at a time and not every day.

6. On 8/30/09, I squirted off the flosses and the Cyprio biothings in the filter. The 1800 gallon was at 76 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 77 degrees F. I removed 12 buckets of water lettuce from the pond from around the aerator, feeding area, and water lilies. There is at least 5 times that amount left in there! I will remove some each week. I wish it was useable for something!

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Pond Tidbits:
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1. Fall is fast approaching. Putting up nets over our ponds to keep out the leaves is easier than having to remove the leaves later. Leaves in my ponds normally sink after about a day so net out what you can each day for those of you without full nets. Try to remove leaves off the net at least once a week. If left, they will drip tannins and lignins in to the water which can give the water a brown tinge and lower the pH. If there are enough leaves, the net will sag in to the water, and the leaves will start to decompose in the pond. When there are just a few leaves on the net, I shake it to get the leaves in to one spot. When the leaf fall is heavy, I have to get in the pond and bucket out enough leaves so that I can lift up the net. Fall is also the time to start figuring out what to do with the year's tropical plants (when to remove them, which ones to save, etc.).

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Web Sites of Interest:
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1. http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2009/08/nuphar_polysepalum.php - wild pond lilies

2. http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2009/08/nymphaea_odorata.php - water lilies

What's your favorite pond-related web site(s)?
Do you have a web site you want me to mention here?

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