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Robyn's Pond Blog for June 2011

Last Updated: 6/27/11

1. On 6/2/11, I finally got the plants from my Tricker order that I ordered a few months ago. I have to remember not to order from them since they send the plants a month later than I would like. The box was busted up, leaking, and smelled super bad. It had been in the 90's the two days that the plants were in transit. I put the three water lettuce and three water hyacinth right out in the pond in a floating plant protector after I rinsed them off. Almost all of the roots easily fell off the water lettuce.

I got the following marginal plants which I will plant later: three parrot feather, one water hawthorne, one rainbow water celery, one James Brydon hardy water lily, one water snowflake, and one Neptune's crown (free). I got the following submerged plants: 12 hornwort, 12 jungle valisneria, and 12 anacharis. The hornwort stunk horribly and the anacharis stunk some too.

2. I found a seventh dead goldfish. This time, it was one of the brand new yellow goldfish. I took photos but do not know when I will process them. The fish was five inches long.

3. Here are some more pond photos from months ago that I have linked in:

These photos were taken on 4/3/11:
Drain Trap Connector - the gasket thing that finally stopped my pump from popping off the line!
Empty biofilter
Pump connected to the tube with the new connector with the intake grate off as well as the pre-filter off. There is a single goldfish in the photo too.
Two koi and goldfish - Colin, Maggie (top), and 13 goldfish

4. On 6/5/11, my brother wanted me to go to the movies which I only do once every year or two so I did. I didn't get started on the pond work until 2:30 so it was very rushed. I didn't check the pH. The 1800 gallon pond's thermometer read 74 degrees F and the 153 gallon was at 68 degrees F but after I put in well water (forgot to check it first). I did the usual, squirted off all the flosses, topped off the ponds, and added additives. I squirted off the Cyprio biothings in the kiddie pool which had more sludge than ever on them.

I had to pot up the remaining plants. I started with the James Brydon red hardy water lily. It was in good shape. I put it in a 5 gallon pot. I moved the tropical lily's pot to put it in its place. To my surprise, the nut tuber from the tropical lily had one tiny leaf so it may recover. Then, I'll have to play musical lily pots to figure out who goes where. I potted up three one gallon pots, one with three parrot feather, one with the water snowflake, and one with the variegated water celery. I put those in the shallows but am not sure they will make it as all looked in poor shape. I put the free Neptune's crown in the floating plant protector. It was in poor shape.

The submerged plants were a stinking mess. I potted up the 12 anacharis in a 2 gallon pot and the 12 valisneria in another 2 gallon pot and sunk those to the bottom. Down there, only one 2 gallon pot with last year's surviving valisneria remains. All other plants died or were eaten. The hornwort was in a trillion pieces, disgusting, and super smelly. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I saved the best parts and put those in the floating plant protector to see if they would recover.

I was done with the pond at 5 pm when I did the afternoon chores and mowed.

5. Here are just a few more photos and a video. I am going to force myself to link in at least a few photos each week. I have a hundred of my own alone to process.

Waterfall on 4/10/11 showing how I put the busted plastic bird bath (really a plant drip tray) over the hole in the falls. I had removed some rocks to rearrange them and could not get them back!

From 4/17/11:
Waterfall viewed from above with the rocks removed.
Waterfall - outflow of the biofilter viewed from the side with the rocks removed. Notice the large foot drop from the biofilter down to the liner. That is all collapsed hill. The water coming out of the biofilter used to touch the liner in 1997.
Cedar - the little wild cedar by the fake heron by my waterfall
No Cedar - the same photo after I cut down the poor cedar. It was half dead, and people were worried about the roots damaging the liner.

Waterfall - 4206 KB, mpg movie.
This video from 4/17/11 shows and describes how the waterfall has collapsed at my big pond.

6. On 6/12/11, in the morning, I found another poor goldfish dead. This was the female that had been enlarged for many months. She was a female 10" common goldfish that was all white except f""or a ring of red around her eyes. She was huge but not dropsied (scales sticking out) as she had gradually grown larger. She had been dead for a few days, and I must not have seen her.

7. On 6/12/11, I squirted off the flosses and did the usual. The 1800 gallon pond was at 80 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 74 degrees F after I added water (oops, forgot again). The air temperature was 88 degrees F. I tried to fertilize the water lilies, lotuses, and marginals. In some cases, I just dumped a pill on top of the dirt because I couldn't get near them with all the plant growth right now. More dragonflies are now getting stuck under the net which only covers a third of the pond. I don't know why they don't figure out that they can fly two inches to the left and get out. There was even a huge dead one under there. I feel so bad but, without that net, the fish wouldn't have a chance against the herons. Speaking of not having a chance, all the new anacharis is simply gone. The fish ate it all. All the new valisneria is uprooted and floating around. You'd think by now that I would learn that I can't have submerged plants no matter how much the experts say to have them. I've tried them in protected cages too many times but the fish and frogs get stuck in them, and the plants don't grow in them (light blocked). I changed the PondMaster filters in the 153 gallon pond.

8. On 6/19/11, I squirted off the bioballs and did the usual. The 1800 gallon pond was at 76 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 74 degrees F. I trimmed some water celery from around the waterfall. I discovered that at least one of the two orfe that I added on 4/28/11 is still alive as it zipped by me. Yippee!

9. Here are a few more old photos, all from 4/20/11.

New waterfall rock looking down the falls.
New waterfall rock looking up the falls.
New waterfall rock from the side with a fake turtle on it.
Huge female bullfrog in the overflow
Huge female bullfrog in the overflow
Female green frog who was sitting next to the huge female bullfrog in the overflow area. This was an area, by the way, that was supposed to under water and was again so once we fixed the overflow a few weeks later.

10. On 6/26/11, I squirted off the flosses and did the usual. The pH meter said the 1800 gallon pond had a pH of 6.92 at 73.6 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond had a pH of 7.50 at 71.8 degrees F. The air temperature was 80 degrees F. The thermometers in the ponds said 75 degrees F for the 1800 gallon pond and 71 degrees F for the 153 gallon pond. I squirted off the bioballs which were heavier with slop than they've been in a long time.

There were five dead dragonflies at the corner of the net. They literally only needed to fly down and up an inch or two, and they would have been free. One of the iris in the 50 gallon tub pond was totally depotted thanks to probably the raccoon. I put the tubers back in and put some fresh, rinsed pea gravel on top to sort of repot them.


Continue to the July 2011 pond blog.



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