Oberon, I know what chokecherrys are we have them here. Very messy but its pretty.
Merry Mary,
I worked at fixing problem today. Took sledge hammer and knocked out all cement between and stacked up boulders alongside where new liner will be. Ripped out that ugly culvert Charlie made and will make a planter out of it. Moved all plants from around both ponds. Tomorrow will take out skimmer and then both ponds will be neatly folded up and put on Craigs list. We cured the leaks in large pond and I will find leak in small pond and patch it. All living fish are now back in old pond for now.
Getting quotes on larger liner. Freight is prohibitive on most. Acquatic wants $75. frt. so there out of the picture. Found 1 for $249. 15X25 free freight and its 60 mil which is heavier than what I have had in all of them. I'll keep looking. Only plumbing that will have to be moved is skimmer. All other lines to skippy filter, UV and back into pond will stay the same. At least thats what I'm planning. We set up foundtain that was in pond up in flower bed #3 and I will find a small solar pump to hide inside to re-circulate water in it. If not I'll plant bowl full of flowers. There's always away to make things work and I don't give up easily. Just my back gives up.
Bonnie
Happy Ponds - the upside of Ponding #2
What a project. I sure have no gripes (yet :) Pond is ice free and looks to stay that way. Added cold water bacteria and as soon as it hits45-50 will start MicrobeLift PL. Hope SVKoi sends the prazi and Proform soon. Might have to send a note and jack them up. I don't expect a problem, but might as well play it safe after last years debacle. No idea why all the big fish died this winter but figure I won't run the pump tubes into their caves again. Maybe too much activity for them. Don't know.
Oberon,
I sincerely hope you don't encounter any problems with your pond start up. You are wise to treat it ahead of time.
Fish farm we buy from said they use it every spring and fall.
I was there to buy koi food last Tuesday and controlled myself and didn't buy not one fish. I've got too much going on with fixing ponds situation first. Check Happy Ponding thread. Not many happy postings by me on there but it is what iti is.
Good thing I don't give up easily.
Bonnie
I should say. And yes, I have been following your incredible woes this spring. No one should have to go through what you have. One thing after another. Well as the saying goes "Old age and craftiness will beat out youth and brilliance every time." I am clinging to that aphorism with all ten fingers.
Bonnie...don't buy fish until you look at the next ones I bring you....you have right to refusal, but they're also free!! Save your money for your pond liner. The last time I replaced a liner, I left the old one in, and slit a hole at the bottom for drainage betwee the 2 layers. It's kept roots and pebbles from paking holes from underneath, and was easier than trying to lug that thing out and haul it away!
Without as much rock work, you probably won't have as many issues with leaks, unless it's just plain old plumping leaks, like we all suffer from, from time to time.
Blessings to all of you this weekend!
:)
MMary
Bonnie
While you are looking at liners - please bear in mind, that depending upon the company you deal with - some of them have quoted the liner to your house, but there could be an extra charge for getting it off the truck. Some companies will have the liner dropped, but you may have to get the liner to the area you want to put the pond. These liners are quite heavy - DH and I both have back problems so went with somebody local and paid the extra money to have the liner brought to the back of my house and put where I wanted the liner. 60 mil is going to be heavy - Read, the fine print.
Good luck and let us know.
Caroyn
Man, am I glad you are here. I never would have thought of that. Our own consultant!!! looking out for US.
Mary
We were out of town for the past week. It is good to be home again.
Checked out the fish and they still seem to look ok, although I have not had the opportunity to get down on the ground and look over each one.....
M Mary,
Both pond liners are all out as of today. My ponds are lined with carpet on bottom and carpet attached to plywood on side walls to avoid cave ins. I have dacron batting stapled over the edge of plywood to keep liner from rubbing a hole there. This pond is a little wider than old ones so will have to dig out more on one side and add more plywood etc. Flat stakes are driven into ground on pond side in front of plywood. This was Charlies idea cause we have cement blocks in back of liner in old pond and I've always been afraid of it leaking where I step on it going down into pond. I also have to dig out section that was in between ponds as it will all become one pond. Charlie doesn't approve but I told him all he has to do is move skimmer and replumb very short distance so don't complain.
NOT buying any fish until pond is installed and up and running for a while. Learned my lesson.
Will let you know when that time occurs Appreciate your offer.
Carolyn,
Already checked out delivery. It's to my house and thats all thats necessary cause I can flip it up into bucket on my Kubota and take it right to pond area. Not getting 60 mil. Found better deal on 45 mil from The Water Garden store in Tenn. which I have bought from before (skimmer) also was freight free. I've been 2 days moving boulders from around both ponds and they were joined with cement so I have no quams about handling a liner. I've got 3 herneated disks & arth. in my back but not so you would notice. When I have pain then I'll notice. LOL My Kubota bucket will lift max. 250 lbs. and liner is just something over 100. No problem. I talked to man at Water Garden about all details and if you don't have any heavy equipment you decision was a wise one. My DH has a bigger tractor with boom on it he built so we usually can handle all lifting jobs. He puts round bales into cows with it and they run around 600 to 1200 pds. over that it struggles.
Yes Oberon we are lucky to have Carolyn. She is always looking out after us. What a blessing she is.
Won't get anything done on pond this weekend as we have lots going on at my church and that comes first.
Hope you all have a richly blessed Easter.
Bonnie
My Tina waterlilies started blooming this week, what a pleasant bright spot! I have quite a few fancy guppies in there, as well as some marble(spotted) mollies. I think I see 11 spotted molly babies, so things are looking up for summer!
M Maary,
Thats great. Hope your back is healing up well.
Bonnie
Well, the landscaper just left off his quote. We had to adjust a few things but I am happy with the ideas. The price isn't too horrible. Course, DH hasn't seen it yet. LOL. He knows it will be high. We will be replacing almost 1/2 the rock walls with a concrete wall (skimmer will sit in its own little niche so no more jacking) and the liner laid over that. The pavers will come up to the edge and a tetch over. What I always wanted. Too bad the last guys couldn't figure it out. Too bad I took the cheaper way first. Now that I am used to the liner showing in the bottom I am not at all averse to having it show on the walls part way. The fish will actually have more water accessible with the big rock removed and I can keep it much cleaner. I can also snug pots next to the wall on blocks that will be unobtrusive and easier to maintain. They can start the second week in June. I will be living out there while they work to be sure that we are on the same page this time.
Sounds like things are going very well. Will be looking forward to seeing a few pictures as the project gets rolling. Make sure to take a few before, during and after shots.
I will go out right now and take some of the pond, close ups to see the failing walls. I couldn't be more excited.
Hi Al,
I have done nothing on the pond and still debating mentally. Been busy with job of 10 cushions for a client which is a great help $$$. Paid off one credit card and after $2,000. more my Kubota will be mine clear. Couldn't get along now without that little helper.
As of today I am starting to clean up our pool cause kids want to come for Mother's Day. It's 44,000 gals. of water in a pool built in 1950's so its a job but worth it as we are already into summer weather here. HOT
Got people from all over wanting to give me fish so I'm leaning toward new larger pond. Have not sold 2 liners from old ponds so I'll just do what Merry Mary suggested and use them as liners for the bottom. Have plenty of old carpet for side underlayment over plywood for walls retainer. Will need more carpet cause pond will be larger but thats no problem. Carpet cos. here are glad to give it away.
Oberon,
glad your getting your remodeling. if it makes you happy its worth doing. Somebody told me I was a fish finatic. Doesn't bother me in the least. I don't shop or travel so I get my kicks with whats right here at home.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL WHO ARE MOTHERS.
Bonnie
Filled up the pond/outdoor aquarium last weekend. Went to pet store and got some comet goldfish, platties, mollies, rainbow fish and danios. Fish are all getting along fine together. Filter pump sucks the water from a 5 gallon bucket with pea gravel and layers of old carpet. We built the thing 4 feet outside the patio door, so we can see the action.
As expected the algae bloom came after about a week. I think this is a normal reaction until all the animals and plants get balanced. Fish seem to be OK with it. Put some finer filter material in the bucket, and plan to get some live clams to take care of the problem. Then will get more plants growing later. Maybe need to get a nitrate test kit, so we can keep track of the water quality.
What a neat idea! It looks so cool and refreshing. When you get the algae under control it will be beautiful.
Love it! What a neat idea!
Great job! I think you'll really enjoy it....love the glass side! I have guppies, mollies, and platys in my smaller pond, and they all survive very well (the guppies don't handle the really cold winter temps though) Once I get my bigger pond, I'm going to see how they handle being in the vegetative bio-filter edge, with the big 20 inch koi in the deeper water. IF I can get them to stay there, they will be fine, if they decide to swim all over the pond, they'll get eaten, or skimmed into the filter, or who knows what..... :)
We fish (no pun intended) babies out of our biofilter often. Those not consumed by the adults. We put them back in the pond.
I really like that. What did you use for the open side and where did you get it?
Our patio is a 12x12 atrium surrounded by the house floor plan, so we see it from inside from many directions. We originally planned to put a fancy fountain out there, but for now it's a pond. This has been do-it-yourself back-burner project for years. By God's grace we're finding the time to get-er-done.
It has rubber pond liner glued to the sides with silicone. Last summer it filled itself up with rain water, and I observed what the natural water conditions were like without any circulation or filter. The surround is a concrete block wall, so we can have a place to sit outside. And being above ground in the florida heat could raise the water temp except it won't get that many hours of direct sunshine because of the nearby rooflines of the house. It's on the north side of the patio door, so there is not much reflection to glare-back at use. The end has thick plate glass 2' by 5' with lots of silicone rubber caulking to pad the glass and seal the liner to it. This week we enjoyed watching the fish "dancing" with their reflection near the glass so we get to see them close-up. Pic was from last fall.
I love yellow koi! The bright colors show up so well in the pond. This one has big dragon scales and blue eyelids...He's probably 20 inches or so.
Butterflies ( "hirenaga" ) are my favorite!
Family portrait! :)
Mary
Your yellow koi looks like he has larger scales - does he? I really like the way the larger scales look.
I also love your family portrait.
Carolyn...yes, he has large one inch scales. I've never seen another like him. Many have a row down their back if they are doitsu, but he's the only over all bright sunny yellow with dragon scales all over that I've been able to get my hands on. He's also very mellow, I just love him. I'll try to get a better picture of his face, his blue eyelids are beautiful!
Here's a different angle of him and his unique scales...and a little better view of his blue eyelids.
He's beautiful.
I really love his scales, Mary. He's a beauty and so interesting looking. Have you tried to breed him to see if some of the fry have the dragon scales?
Next year I think will be his year.....I want to breed him with some of the white doitsu butterflies I have. This year, with all of the temp changes from winter on, I had a very difficult time with the spawning. I finally injected the ones that looked egg bound just so they'd eliminate their eggs, but after that mass spawn and me putting all the egg ropes in a separate small pond, wouldn't you know that that night, the Cuban Tree frogs went in the pond and blessed me with a zillion invasive species frog eggs. Grrrr! I tried to scoop as many out as possible, while they still floated on the surface, but in our Florida weather, they hatch by the next day. They ate all of the koi eggs before they could even hatch. I was heartbroken! I even had the netting ready to be put on the next morning, but 10 hours was all it took for the nasty frogs to get in there.
This one is from last year's spawn. I knew his scales were different even when he was only an inch big. Although I'm not sold on his coloring, I still like to watch him develop. He's growing on me. It's a year old, and probably 9-10 inches?
Oh my. He is so beautiful. Unique. Well, maybe not, but I just love his color.
Actually he is fairly unique. I'm not sure that I'll keep him, but enjoy watching what he's becoming. (Actually, I think he may be a she, but still to young to know for sure...but it's a very thick bodied fish)
How about selling him to me? FedExpress would have him here in 24 hours. lol Opssss. Maybe that is a nono here.
no no #2---if you lived closer, I'd probably give him to you! :)
Ahhhh, so near yet so far. Near in mind and heart, far in miles and ------ weather!!! LOL
MS - when are you going back to Hawaii? You could detour to MM's and pick up the little cutie and take her home. If you didn't tell the airlines you had her, they wouldn't charge you for the extra seat ^^_^^
It's funny that you say that....when my daughter was little, before the aiport TSA issues, we moved from Ohio to Florida. She had a 7 inch goldfish in her aquarium that we couln't leave behind. I put it in her diaper wipies container, and put it in her diaper bag. Mr fish survived the flight, the xray machine, and the next 5 years! :)