First Lily Pad!

My very first lily pad reached the surface this morning. It's tiny, but it's on the surface. SUCCESS!

Pictures Galore: 1 Month Pondiversary

Here are some pictures. The pond has been around for a month; I'm amazed - I thought it had been much longer. We have five outdoor turtles, one indoor turtle, pond plants, three plecos, and over 100 goldfish. And an active plant nursery that I have to tend to today - I need to pot some of the water mint cuttings before their roots get tangled in the mesh planter. Going to just set them in some rocks. Oh, and 17 water lily plants in various stages of growth. Man, I think I might be proud or something.

The plants before the turtles ate them.

I remember when the fish were this small.

Our wasp friend (one of two, it seems).

Kitty TV

Feeding frenzy.

I have a lot of fish.

They like the ring.

So many colors!

Getting so big!

I think that one with the black stripe is Bobak. 

Look at the size comparison between the big and small - the big ones are about a month into pond-living while the smaller ones are about two weeks. 

These are baby mosquito fish. 

Carrot greens in with the hyacinth and baby mosquito fish.

This is what the fish do to oranges.

A TURTLE HAS BEEN SPOTTED (I think this is Original Timmy)

Chewy, hiding under a floating raft thing I got for them to bask on.

Oh, to be a turtle.

This is one of the newbies; might be the second male Timmy.

I think this one is the female - I don't remember and I can't see the claws.

I SEE YOU

Thursday's Update

Well, I may have accidentally gotten another pleco. A dark black one. It's cool. It's in the spa / plant nursery right now because it's kind of green in there.

I have five or six rooted cuttings of water mint now, and I would cut more but there's a huge spider web that attaches to both plants and I don't feel like disturbing the spider right now. It's pretty impressive and the kids like watching for the spider at night. There is also a tiny black spider on one of the mint cuttings, which was a surprise. I didn't even see how a spider could make it over to where the cuttings were, but spiders are pretty good at moving around, I guess.

Got a hula hoop to feed the fish in. They kept eating the turtle food so I got them the hoop to hopefully train them to eat in it and leave the other food alone. It's been known to happen, and goldfish are trainable.

Built / rebuilt a better basking area that we can see from the window in my room. It's an old desk top and bricks. It's partially submerged and right in the sun most of the day. I see one turtle already checking it out.

I need to get an underwater camera.

Firetruck for Baby Timmy

Well, the boys really, really, REALLY wanted to get something for Baby Timmy, so, when we went to Petsmart to use up my $3 off coupon, the boys chose this for him: 

It was the highlight of their day to give it to Baby Timmy. Now both boys and the turtle can play firetruck.

Baby Timmy

Last night, my kids got their wish - I picked up my friend's baby turtle. His / her name is actually Powershell, but one of the first things BigKid said was, "We can name him Timmy like the other turtles!"

So we now have Baby Timmy. And Baby Timmy is so, so cute. Hatched in January of 2012. Baby Timmy is about the size of a half dollar.

Lilies Down

The lily tubers I had gotten last week were growing well enough in the water without soil or anything, but the roots were in the sun. I didn't want them to get burned so I put them under gravel and sank them to the bottom of the spa (shallow, maybe 18 inches tops). It's a temporary solution but at least now they will grow without direct sun to cook the tubers and roots.

I also "planted" my watermint in gravel that I put into an old baby sock. I eventually hope to have them growing bare-root in mesh pots along side the turtle islands (or at least in the main water).

Turtle Island

We have Timmy (of course), Chewy (the light colored one), and we have a male and female that need to be named. Any ideas?

I am so tired. I love my pond so much but the last two days I've had a sick kid so I haven't gotten out there as much. My pennywort came in today and my hardy lilies came in two days ago. I want to plant the lilies but I lack pots and stuff to hold them; I think I want to just sink them into the pool with gravel and mesh pots or ... something. The pennywort will grow just about anywhere, so I was thinking of putting them over the sides of the turtle islands.

OH, I forgot to update about the islands.

I'm making 3x3 wooden platforms (sanded), floated on PVC pipe (capped), with two ramps each. Eventually I hope to have pots on the tops for leafy plants and mesh pots hanging off the sides for those plants (like pennywort and watermint) that can be grown in up to a foot of water. This would eliminate the need for soil and pots inside the pond. I could also, in the same vein, connect the mesh pots with the water lilies to the anchor point of the islands OR I could hang them (weighted) underneath the island itself. I'm not sure of those yet.

One of these days one of the islands might have a sandy pit in it for the eggs, but I don't have to worry about that for many, many months at this point. At the other end of the pool where the shade cover is right now I was thinking of doing a 10x10 or an 8x8 island and taking the shade out. The island itself would provide plenty of shade and it would look a lot better. And it would be fun and easy to maintain since ... well, it would hold more plants and would be something else to fiddle with. Basking, shade, plants, and a hideaway for the fish and turtles underneath - what more could they ask for?

I just need to make sure I'm using the right wood before I end up making islands I can't use. I also have to figure a good way of attaching the ramp; I was thinking tie rope through holes on the ramp but I don't want the turtles gnawing at them.

Wildlife

There is a blue mayfly I've named Steve that hangs around the pond a lot, and today I saw a wasp (which is a regular visitor) carrying a droplet of water. Carrying a droplet of water. IT WAS CARRYING WATER. How rad is that?

There's also a jumping spider on the impromptu basking dock and the enormous, dark-colored dragonfly was back today. I love my pond.

Update for Tonight

I put the bottoms of two cat crates into the pool, upside-down, with a brick on each, to make two secret turtle houses for them to hide in.

Also, as I was rearranging the brick alignment around the center basking float area thing, I found one of the plecos. I think it was Butt. I put it inside one of the houses while I moved the bricks around so I didn't step on or smoosh him. Once I was done with the center part, I walked over to the other side where there is a shelf with a brick holding it down (it was half a basking area originally but now it's a place for fish to hide). I removed that brick to move the shelf and, what do you know, I found the other pleco. That was half the reason why I moved it.

Two plecos, all four turtles, and baby fish accounted for. It's a complete night.

Babies Everywhere!

All three of my water mint cuttings have roots now, just within the last couple of days. This means I will be making more cuttings and moving these three to their new soil-less pot.

And I have multiple instances of mosquito fish babies! Some in the spa and a lot in the pond. They look like tadpoles and I was really confused when I first saw them because of that. I wondered what kind of creature had spawned in my pond! So cute. Now I'm just waiting for the goldfish to spawn, but since mosquito fish have live birth and goldfish lay eggs, I think the goldfish will have a harder time of it.

I built a basking platform in the middle of the pool but I haven't seen anyone use it yet. I may try to redo it and make it more stable later, when it stops being rainy at night.

I kind of want to just create an island.

Change of Plans

The car had other ideas for today, none of which included going across town to rescue a turtle.

What it did manage to do, however, is make it home after going to pick up three turtles from a couple who had been raising turtles for 18 years. I learned a lot about feeding, wintering, and hatching, and I got to take home three new pond-mates for Timmy.

One is named Chewy, because, when he was a very small turtle, a dog used him as a chew toy. His shell is a little wonky and he's a little bit of a different color (lighter around the edges), but that'll just help me distinguish him from the others.

The other two (whose names I forgot to get but I'll add those in later) are a male and laying female. They both look enough different from Timmy so I'm not worried about forgetting who is who. I am going to have to build a basking dock with access to sand or dirt, too, which coincides with my garden ideas. I have some planning to do!

Friends for Timmy! So far everyone is fine but I will be obsessively checking on them throughout the day and night. Also, I need to go pick up some oranges.

And It Begins

I think I'm about to go pick up an unwanted 12 year old female red ear slider. Comes with a tank, basking rock, lamp, and ... some other stuff. She was a pet that the kids outgrew. From the pictures she looks like a female, but I can't be sure until I go get her. Since I missed out on my pond time last night, I sure could use a drive and this turtle happens to be all the way across town.

I'm sure she'll be happy in the pond once she adjusts to the new environment and location. The plan is to keep all new turtles in quarantine for two weeks to let them adjust and see if they're sick, then introduce them to the pond. I think I'll go fill the old, big tank in preparation for any newbies we get today.

There's the other one that we tried to get yesterday that's also on that side of town so I might swing by for that one too, if I can.

Another Pleco!

I went to $petstore tonight for a ton of small fish (200) to help with the algae. While the girl was counting out all those fish, I searched the tanks for a pleco similar to Butt. Well, in the tank next to where M found Butt, I found one that was almost as big and the same kind (which was still on sale!). I paid for my 201 fish and went out to my car, all excited because it was still light out and I could watch the new fish swim around some.

Then my car wouldn't start. For two hours.
Some of the fish died in the bags. Pleco made it home, though. I had to go back to $petstore to buy a small aquarium so that more fish wouldn't just keel over inside the bags (100 per bag). Small 10 gallon tank, 200+ fish, and one pleco in a bag.

I finally made it home but with 39 casualties. The rest of the fish went into the pond but it was too dark to see them exploring it.

We've named the other pleco "Cheek" so it'll be a matching pair. Kind of. We're not sure if the other one is a boy or a girl or even where he / she is right now, so.

It's The Heat

So much algae. I need more fish. I can't even scoop the algae off the top anymore. I have a huge mess of pea soup.

We were supposed to get another turtle today (a rescue; somebody's kid bought it and now they don't want it so the dad was selling it for $5) but the guy had an emergency and wasn't home. We're getting a very tiny baby one from a friend next week, too. The baby one will be kept inside, however, because that'd just be a death sentence to put it into the huge pond with a full-grown male turtle. And there was a craigslist ad about someone needing to rehome all their outdoor turtles that I've responded to twice. Actually, I've emailed every single person that's posted a turtle ad, whether they asked for money or not, to let them know I have a pond that they could put their turtle(s) in if they really needed a home. I'm hoping this keeps some turtles out of park lakes.

I heard what happens to overpopulations of turtles in park lakes and it made me very, very sad. It's terrible. It's also terrible that people just dump their unwanted animals there too, making what the park folks have to do necessary. So unfair. Poor turtles. (Poor park people; I would not want to do that job.)

Floating Success

Saw Timmy perched on his floating dock I tied out there. It was the one that was in his tank that he used as a sunning area and, since it floats and has an end that sits down in the water, I stuck it to one of the shade tent poles with a bungee cord. And he was on it today! Yay!

Trust

There's a lot of trust and letting go that I have to do while making and maintaining this pond.

I trust that the pleco has survived the night and is resting in his / her secret dark place that I found the other day. There's nothing else I can do - I can't hover, I can't keep lifting up the rock to make sure there's still a fish there, and worrying does absolutely nothing.

I trust that Timmy is keeping himself cool during the heat, which has been pretty hot lately. There is plenty of shade, though, and the water isn't overly hot, and again, worrying does absolutely nothing. I do intend to get more shade plants out there for him, though.

I don't do 'letting go' very well, nor do I do patience. But I'm learning to do both because I can't do anything else.

Fat Fish

The fish seem to be trying to eat all the turtle sticks I put in for Timmy these days. No wonder I have such fat fish. I saw one take down an entire stick by himself. It was half his body length.

Maybe this isn't healthy for them. 

I need to get another basking area set up just to put food on so Timmy can eat it at his leisure and not have the fish steal it. 

Mosquitofish Arrived

We ended up with 30 or so mosquitofish that are happily eating everything on the surface of my pond. And some in my plant nursery.

Speaking of plants, I should have my 12" long Anacharis stems by the end of this week ($1 each!), and I got some Pennywort that was on special. I've been looking into getting some lilies but there's no way I can put dirt / clay / soil into the pond so unless I can find a way to plant them without that, I don't think they'll work out. (Now, I *may* be able to stick the tubers into a closed container with a hole in the top and fill THAT with soil and gravel, but there'd be no drainage. A large rubbermaid container would work and would be easy-ish to pull out of the pond for repotting / soil changes, though. We shall see.)

Oh! And last night Butt (the Pleco) seemed to be having a jolly good time in the pond. This morning, in preparation for the new fish (which are tiny), I put an upturned pot over the pool drain and stacked bricks on top of it. I was going for the last brick over on the other side of the pond (it was being used as a stabilizer for one of Timmy's basking areas that he never used) and what do you know, Butt was under the shelf the brick was on, just sucked up to the side. So I put it back. I have to build Butt a nice hiding area. And one for Timmy too. And another basking area since I just took down the other one.

It's PLECO!

I was having a lousy day and needed cheering up so I went to one of my new favorite places.

I brought a jar of pond water over to $petstore for testing and so I would have an excuse to look at more fish.

My pond advisor, M, tested the water and declared it to be perfect. I said I had just wanted to make sure because it was growing more algae lately. She asked if I was ever going to get a Pleco. I said the water might be too hot. She said they can stand up to 85 degrees - and then showed me a Pleco as long as my first finger (meaning the turtle of doom was less likely to eat it).

I bought it.

I think her (?) name is Butt.

Mosquitofish

The guy from the health department said he is going to come by tomorrow at 8:30 with my new fish. Just in time, too, because there are wee mosquitoes about to go rogue.

These fish are apparently tiny, give live birth, and can eat over 150% of their body weight in mosquito larvae a day. A DAY.

I hope Timmy doesn't eat all of them.

Video of Today

Today's pond time was so great! This video sums up why - it involves the fish and toes.

Bullfrog? No.

Because of this, I have decided against getting a bullfrog:

"These guys have a voracious appetite and will eat anything that it can swallow, including invertebrates and small vertebrates such as mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, even turtles and other frogs. Bullfrogs have teeth in the roof of their mouth and a muscular tongue capable of flipping prey into their mouth. They'll eat lots and lots of really big bugs, fish (guppies, I am told, are pretty good feeders) and mice. Pretty much anything that will fit in their mouths. Large insects and worms should be left on the rocks, though these guys will eat them from the surface of the water too. Dead mice are best offered either by hand or using forceps (again, get the kind with round balls on the ends so you don't risk injuring the frog when he lunges at the food!) It is generally recommended that you house these frogs alone (except for breeding) in order to avoid cannibalism."

I would end up with no fish and no fingers.

Baby Mint

I took my first three cuttings from my water mint plants today. I put them into glass jars and set them where they'll get partial sun.

This is the first time I've tried such a thing and I'm hoping to grow them bare-root so I can just put them into the pond and not have them in dirt.

Timothy's Old Mom

I'm so glad that Timothy went to an awesome home! I was so upset that I couldn't bring him with us when we moved and trying to clean that big stinking tank by myself was impossible. I know that he will have an awesome home with you and I thank you for loving that cranky little brat. I'm thankful that B and K gave him to you.
Timothy's old mom.

As much as this is going to sound cheesy, I think Timmy saved me as much as I saved him. I'm really glad I got him too. I knew he would be a great way to teach the kids about different species, and they had been wanting a turtle for a long time, but I didn't realize how much I really would love having him around. Now I have a project that I'm wholeheartedly involved in, I've done something constructive with the hole in the ground out back, and now I take time out of my day to just sit and relax. That's something I've really needed.

So you're welcome, and thank you in return; I'll be sure to update pictures whenever I can snap a few of him in the pond. Right now he's only poked his head up a few times and then darted back underwater when he saw me, but I'm sure he'll get used to it and hang out with me again eventually.

Dragonflies

Last night and this morning, I have seen the biggest dragonflies hovering around the pond. I don't mean, "Oh, that's a big dragonfly." I mean, "This thing is as long as the palm of my hand and looks dangerous!"

There was one bright orange one, one blue one, and a silver one this morning. They are so, so lovely.

I need to add in some perching sticks for them so they'll stick around and eat the mosquito babies that just came out of the water. I don't get how the fish missed those but I suppose with only 13 fish they can't cover the whole pool so some got through. Now with 50+ fish, I'm hoping they'll do the job better.

I do love those fish. They are getting so big - the originals I put in there that were only about an inch and a half long have now doubled in size. How cool is that?! Timmy hasn't eaten them all for once.

Feeshes

Oh yeah, I also put in 20 more large-ish goldfish and 20 more smaller ones. I know Timmy will eat some of the smaller ones, but I'm hoping it'll be enough to keep him away from the bigger ones for a little while.

Timmy is still kind of surprised by the whole thing, it seems, because he's staying on the bottom of the pond. He's alert, though, and looks at me when I come by or get in, but he doesn't swim around or move much. I did pick him up and he squirmed, so I know he CAN be active, but the girl at $petstore said that's normal when they have to adjust to a new place.

Minty

Got my water mint yesterday. I've never had plants shipped to me before, so I was really excited and really anxious; I had stuff to do until 11:00am and then I raced home to check the mail. The plant wasn't delivered until about 3:00pm but it was dropped off right to my door.

The two water mint plants were HUGE compared to what I had thought they'd look like. I put them into six inch pots (the only pots I had enough soil for) and used organic potting soil (which prevents me from putting them into the pool). Then I soaked them with the pond water until it ran out the bottom and I set them in partial sun.

A few hours later, they didn't look so great. I then took a plastic bin and put the pots inside it and filled it up with pond water. Later that night, they had perked up quite a bit. Yay plants!

With the soil in them, I know I can't put them along the side of the pond because any water runoff is brown and I don't want that in the pond. What I plan to do is take some cuttings once they recover enough from their travel and the new environment and start the cuttings in water. I hope to be able to put them in pots of sand and submerge the pots a few inches into the pond. We shall see; I have been learning patience and I know I can't rush into everything. I do hope they recover sufficiently by next week, though.

Pictures

Shade Made

Put up a shade tent across one side of the pool. Set up two sunning areas. Released the turtle.
The water temp in the shade was around 80 and it's 100 outside now, so I think the turtle will be ok even if it goes up a little. I will be closely monitoring him the entire day, though, to make sure he's ok. And to make sure he doesn't eat all my surviving fish.

Bikini Bottom

I can see the bottom of my pool / pond as of this morning. All of the bottom. It's covered in algae, but hey, I can see it.

Survivor Fish

Released the surviving feeder fish from Timmy's aquarium into the pool today. I couldn't stand to see them just swimming around unhappily in the tank. They survived Turtle Island, so they get the reward of Pool Paradise.