An Update

Update:
Changed Baby Timmy's basking area to his old dock and he seems much happier now.
Took the ramp that was Baby Timmy's old dock out of the Musketurtles' tank and gave them some eggcrate. They have all been up on top and they get up a lot easier now.
Mollies are all pregnant except the boy (duh). Snails are reproducing like snails. Started with one, now have over 9000. (Actually probably close to 300 but that's a lot from one.)
Brought in some plants / plant clippings. Accidentally scooped up a baby mosquitofish so that one went in with the Mollies for now.
All the turtles are scarfing the latest bunch of dandelion greens. I might make it a point to pick the neighbors' weeds this coming spring just to harvest enough to keep from spending $3 a bunch.
Baby Timmy ate a fly.
I put pond lights into the fish pond and it looks GREAT. Wish the water was a little clearer but my husband misinterpreted my directions for feeding them and ended up overfeeding for two or three days. It'll go away with more filtration and less feeding, I figure. The little fountain makes the water just fine and nobody is gasping at the surface. I also put in more fake plants and it looks really cool, especially now with the lights.
Sheldon's been doing turtle jazz hands at Morkie. I just know he's going to show somebody his willie and I'm going to see it and be forever traumatized.
Big Timmy's been relentless with his fluttering at Betty this week. When I feed them, I have to shove him away with a stick or she can't eat. She is having none of it, though, and simply steps on his head and moves him out of her way. He comes back immediately, though.
I'm thinking I want to bring Betty in for some hardcore basking to get rid of those retained scutes. I have a box made up and an area I can wall off so she'll have plenty of room. I can poke at the spots on her shell and move the air pockets, but that makes me worry she'll get fungus or something in them, you know?
I think my goldfish might be about to lay eggs. I think that Poseidon the Pleco might eat them all though.
That's probably it for updates.

Moving Things Around

The three littlest turtles outside in the turtle pond weren't basking on the new basking area shelf. I hadn't seen them for a week (since I had moved them from the fish pond), so, on Friday, I waded in and pulled them out. I dry-docked them in a container to make sure their shells were ok, which they were, and then I set about making a place for them inside the house for the time being until I could build them a separate basking area out in the other pond. 

Found out Mork is a girl and Shelly is a boy. So now it's Sheldon and Morkie. 

Yesterday was spent moving, scooping, wrangling, draining, filling, siphoning, and ... and just ... doing stuff. 

Sheldon, Morkie, and Mindy are all in the 55 gallon tank. Bit of an underpowered filter for the 50-ish gallons of water in there, but the heater is 200W, the temperature 74-78 depending on proximity to the heater, and I'll be doing water changes on the weekends and netting and cleaning daily. I may actually end up doing water changes twice a week. I don't intend on them staying there for too long, though. 

The ATBA was a success after three constructions of it. I just need to get the eggcrate ramp attached; I used Baby Timmy's old Zoo Med dock as a ramp and it's working just fine so long as they all don't try to get up it at once because then it gets knocked askew and everybody falls off. The temp is just about 90 and the lights are separate from the basking area in case something were to happen to the cord - nothing would come crashing down to set anyone on fire. 

Each shell looks good, even though Sheldon's is a little sketchy. He just needs to shed. But I knew that already. 

Baby Timmy got the 20 gallon tank, which is filled up to about 15 gallons. He's still only about two inches, so I'm not worried. This is temporary. Not as temporary as the Three Musketurtles in the 55 gallon tank, but he's got the 55 gallon tank to go back to one of these days. 

I think Baby Timmy needs a tiny ramp too. He hasn't been on his floating lily pad all day, but I saw him hanging onto it. I'll wait until tomorrow to see if he was just adjusting to the new environment. 

The harem of mollies went into the 10 gallon tank with the pretty rock filter, and it's right on our kitchen counter, so we have something to look at while doing the dishes. They have a little house / cave under the filter (I needed to raise it up so I took apart Castillo de Timmy to use for a base) and all the plastic pond plants. They've already eaten all the snail egg sacs but there are a dozen other snails to keep them company. 

The Three Musketurtles got an apology shrimp and a blueberry each along with their greens today. I've never seen turtles fight over food but they sure did today over those shrimp. I'm rethinking ever giving them shrimp again despite the entertainment factor. I gave the outside turtles (the big ones) shrimp too and I had three of the five eat it right out of my hand.  Amazing. 

Baby Timmy's New Place

He has so much room now.

So Anyway...

I did a lot of calculations and diagramming today. A lot. My wrist even hurts. 

I had this awesome, awesome idea for two ponds, side-by-side in an L shape, one rectangle and one square, like aquariums that fit the layout of the stuff in my garage. One 6x4x3, one 3x3x3. They would share a basking area but would still be separately enclosed. One would be 500+ gallons, one would be 200ish gallons. I even had the turtles' gallons-per-turtle needs calculated and a list of turtles that would fit into each pond. And I was on my way to building a waterproof container for my webcam. 

I did all the layout, the structural designing, the price-checking / list-making on Home Depot's website, and all the calculations for the pond liner and found someone on Craigslist that was selling the pond liner thickness I needed. 

Total price for a DIY set of tanks for all turtles in my pond, totaling about 700 gallons: A bit over $500 and a whole lot of weekend work and likely some injury.

Now, there was someone on Craigslist that I found that was selling his 4x5x2.5 300ish gallon above-ground koi pond with liner and pump and filter for $350. And I found a place online who would sell me a 300 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank for $250 with free shipping (PM me and I'll tell you where). 

Total price for a buy-it-now-no-assembly-required-don't-even-touch-a-hammer-immediate-gratification 600-ish-gallon setup: $600

... so it looks like the DIY Super Garage Aquarium of Doom Project is on hold for now, but my turtles will be safe and healthy inside for about the same amount of money. Heck, even less money when you factor in the extra cost for broken parts, redoing of things, bandaids, new tools that I would need, and a whole assortment of other things. AND there's no chance of a sudden, explosive leak / drain ruining everything on the floor in my garage, either.

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

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.