3600 Gallons Per Whoa

Learned a lot of stuff today.

1. The constant trickle refill of regular tap water I've been running might be killing the bacteria (because of the chlorine in the water) that kills the algae. Overgrowth.
2. The fertilized soil in the pots may be contributing to the algae's food supply. Overgrowth.
3. A 3600gph pond pump is like a boat motor and will move quickly and violently if you point it wrong.
4. Making your own pond filters isn't so hard, but you have to make sure you have one big enough to handle the pump output.
5. I'm going to need more pipe to slow the gph at this point because holy moly, shoving a gallon a second through this filter just won't be good for the filter or the pump. (3600gph / 60 minutes / 60 seconds)

Bought a TotalPond Submersible Waterfall Pump (3600 Gallons Per Hour). The next lowest was a 1200gph pump and it was only $50 cheaper; the pond itself is between 3000 and 4500 gallons, and one day I hope to run an irrigation system from it, so the gph x 3 option for only $50 more was something I was ok with. I certainly don't have to cycle the water THAT OFTEN, but I'm sure I can make this work somehow, even if I pump it up a few feet and then back into the filter. However it works.

The filter is going to take two rubbermaid 14gal containers run in-line with one another along the side step, which would give me access to them from the outside and allow me to run the pumping line up some to decrease the gph for now. I'm not setting them up initially to be biofilters, but rather to help clear some of the junk out of the pool, so having only 28 gallons of water space won't be too detrimental; biofilters are supposed to have less push-through than what I'll be charging into them, but for now, it's fine. One day I'll add a much bigger filter box in the line that will slow the flow and let the good bacteria have its way inside the boxes.

I need to go make some filters to stick into these boxes, and get some pipe fittings so I can attach them and detach them without breaking stuff. I think I'll make a draw out out a design and see how it looks.

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.)

Video of Today

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

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.

The Muck

I've filled the pool up to about a foot and a half deep in the middle to try and get the muck dispersed evenly. Took the brush to the green mess and noticed it hasn't actually stained the bottom, which is good news. The bad news is that I noticed mosquito larvae (at the stage right before they become mosquitoes) diving and flitting about along the water.

I think I need some fish.