Last Updated: 7/30/26

1. I did pond work early on 6/7/26 at 10:30 am because it was going to be in the 90's. The air temperature was 80 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 73 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 69 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials. I loosened the hose clamp on the main pump so I could turn the pump to a better position as the guy who put it on had the pump intake sticking up instead of to the right. I put in additives and topped the ponds off with water.

2. I did pond work on Saturday night instead of Sunday on 6/13/26 at 6:53 pm! I was trying to work around relatives coming but they kept changing their plans! It was 84 degrees F and hot but the sun was setting. The 1800 gallon pond was at 80 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 76 degrees F. I squirted all the filter materials, added additives, and added water. I removed the cheap, plastic koi tunnel that kept turning over and getting in the way. Hunka junka.

3. The next morning, I decided to make the first move to fix the LED spotlights at the big pond. The lights stopped working a few weeks ago. The first step was to change the switch. Luckily, that worked!

4. I did pond work on 6/21/26 at 10:40 am. The air temperature was 78 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 72 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 68 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters. I squirted all the filters and the bioballs and lava rock. This was the first time that the dark pond sludge had penetrated down into the new mesh bags that have small holes which made them very heavy. Squirting them didn't help because the holes are so fine that the sludge was retained! I guess the smaller holes was a bad idea! I wanted to keep the bioballs tines in the bags and keep animals out.

The anacharis is flowering in the 153 gallon pond, and there are two green frog egg masses. They are easy to see because there are open areas in the duckweed made by the egg jelly.

5. I had 6/22/26 off of work and went to a nursery. I got two plants that I put in my pond, each in their own two gallon pot. A pink pickerel rush was an obvious aquatic. I don't think any of my older pickerel rushes are still alive. I also got a Rocket Ligularia which said it liked to be wet so I put it in the marginal area too. As of 7/1/26, the leaves have all dried up (like it was dry but the roots are in the pond), and I don't think it will make it. It had a long string of yellow flowers.

6. On 6/23/26, a yellow waterlily flower opened in my pond! It is the first (and hopefully not last) waterlily flower of the year. I only got to see it open because it was a cloudy and rainy day so it was still open after work.

7. I put some Pond Stress Coat in my big pond on 6/27/26 equivalent to a dose for 1000 gallons. This is because I had been using a filter on the hose bib to remove copper and lead from my pipes. Testing revealed that the filter was dumping levels of zinc that in the toxic range for fish. I use Stress Coat in my indoor aquariums but not the pond so I put in a partial dose of Pond Stress Coat to complex any excess zinc.

8. On 6/28/26 at 2:39 pm, the air temperature was 78 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 74 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 71 degrees F. I squirted out the Biosteps Matala. I squirted out all the filter flosses. I fertilized the two waterlily pots. I still have a yellow waterlily flower. I put in water and additives.

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