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Robyn's Pond Blog for November 2011

Last Updated: 10/1/12

1. I had the day off on 11/2/11 so I did a few hours of pond work. The 1800 gallon pond was at 48 degrees F (I didn't work with the other ponds this day). I removed the extra pump, tubing, etc. that fueled the main waterfall. I cut fresh floss material for around that extra pump for next year instead of saving the dirty filter pad. I squirted off the flosses. Once I turned the pump back on, the waterfall now just drizzles without that extra pump. I hope it's enough movement to sustain the fish and filter and to prevent ice jams. Water flows better down the stream portion especially after I moved some rocks and vegetation.

I pulled out the floating plant protector full of water lettuce and tossed that. I cut down all the marginals except for the (non-yellow flag iris) iris. Most were damaged by the frost and snow the week before. I normally just cut them as they die but this was easier. I tried to net out more water lettuce. There are little bunches of it all in the marginal area. I submerged the two pots of golden club to deeper water. Next spring, everything needs repotting except the iris (repotted this fall); I don't know how I'll find the time and energy. Most of the vegetation was iris, cattails, lizard tail, sweetflag, and hardy canna. These are also the plants that most require repotting.

While I was cutting all the marginals down, a lot of Dolomedes triton's were crawling around and a few even went up my arm! I saw a baby one too. Those are the large fishing spiders that live in my pond.

I brought in more pond and yard doohickeys; only a few remain. I collected some leaves at the edge of the pond. I added a dose of Microbe-Lift Autumn Prep to the ponds. I found a cap to one of the waterlily feeding tubes. The waterlilies only have a few leaves. I still have to see if I can salvage the tropical waterlily or not.

2. Here are some photos that I linked in:

From 6/26/11:
Chromatella waterlily flowers
Chromatella waterlily flower - close-up
Fish in the 1800 gallon pond. Maggie (orange koi, top middle), Colin (white koi, top middle), Kojak (koi, bottom left), and the two largest orfe (upper right) are all there as are many of the goldfish.

White Albata waterlily flower in the 153 gallon pond on 7/3/11.

These photos have nothing to do with ponds but I didn't know where to put them on my web site. They are photos of three black locust trees that came down on 8/28/11 from Hurricane Irene. The trees are on the neighbors' properties.
Uprooted locust tree
Locust trees - trunk and branch remains that took out the neighbor's fence

I jumped ahead a bit so I could link in photos of my three new koi taken on 9/25/11 (the day that I got them). I will come back to the older photos later.
Alex, Riley, and Nikita left to right.
Alex, Nikita, and Riley left to right.
Riley, Nikita, and Alex left to right.

3. On 11/6/11, I did some pond work. The 1800 gallon was at 45 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 49 degrees F. The air temperature was 55 degrees F. I shook the leaves off the net and raked leaves off of the mulched area around the big pond. I added additives and water.

4. On 11/9/11, I squirted off the flosses. I brought out the 5 gallon pot with the tropical waterlily and actually found 5 "nuts" as well as the growing tip. The fish had dug down in the pot so the nuts were on the surface. I put the nuts in damp sand to overwinter. I planted the growing tip with one leaf in a one gallon pot and put that in the basement pond. The 1800 gallon was at 48 degrees F. I finally mulched the last section around the big pond over 2.5 hours and laid in 5 bags of mulch on the west side. I have every Wednesday off in November and December in order to use up my vacation time at work. I will be doing some pond work on Wednesdays and some on Sundays through the year.

5. On 11/13/11, the 1800 gallon was at 47 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 49 degrees F. It was really nice out. I spent an hour getting leaves off the main pond which was not even visible due to so many leaves. I had to shake, scoop, bucket move, and repeat many times.

6. On 11/20/11, it was a nice day with a little drizzle. The 1800 gallon pond water was at 46 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 49 degrees F. I removed the PondMaster filter from the 153 gallon pond for the winter and put in the Luft pump with air stone to aerate it. The new net on the 153 gallon pond now has over a dozen holes, and leaves going in the holes. It's totally worthless, a very cheap net. I'll have to find a good ($$) net for next year. I cut down the iris in the 153 gallon pond, 50 gallon tub pond, and 20 gallon tub pond. I cut down the marsh mallow by the big pond. At the big pond, I replaced the filter floss and squirted down the bioballs. In the biofilter, I pulled out two green frogs, one bullfrog, and one pickerel frog who I sent down the waterfall (no, I put them on the dry waterfall rocks, not sliding down the water like a slip-n-slide; of course the flow is so slow and drizzling, there would be no sliding anyway) since it was 60 degrees F out. I collected leaves and more leaves.

7. Here are some more photos I linked in.

From 7/14/11:
153 gallon pond facing northwest
1800 gallon pond facing south
Water celery flower
1800 gallon pond deep end. You can see the water celery flowering, my big koi Maggie (biggest orange fish), orfe, goldfish, and some plants.
1800 gallon pond facing north
Frog fruit flowers
Frog fruit flowers

From 7/24/11:
Waterlilies - one Chromatella (yellow) flower and one James Brydon (red) flower in bloom.
James Brydon flower
James Brydon flower
Chromatella flower

My fish birthday cake on 9/11/11 (before my birthday):
Cake
Cake
Cake
Cake

And with that, I am caught up with photos until September but I only have a few dozen left to catch up with my own photos.

8. On 11/27/11, I did a little bit of pond work. The 1800 gallon was at 50 degrees F and the 153 gallon at 49 degrees F. The air temperature was 75 degrees F. I added additives, collected leaves, and topped off the ponds. I did not get in the big pond.


Continue to the December 2011 pond blog.



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