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So I went outside today and decided to take a few snap shots of whats going on in my pond. Here they are



Thats the pond its self, looking clear as day thanks for my UV sterilizer. Anyone that has a pond should own a UV Sterilizer, they work GREAT!!



Caught some guys basking before they could jump off, there was one of my tiny babys on there but he spotted me when I came out the door and did not want any photos taken apperently...i think hes in the witness protection agency...




This guy thinks hes going to be fed every time I come out. He follows me around the pond till I leave or untill he gets his attention caught on a fish, then he just comes right back and looks at me. I love this guy for some reason lol..he seems to always want to welcome me when I come outside. Hes one of the biggest from our babys we got when I first got into RES.



He caught himself a Bee. There is a hill in the back of our house and there is a HUGE bee hive in the rocks so I think they come to my pond to get water and just keep falling in. thats the 3rd one iv seen fall in while I have been out there in the past 2 days.






This is my Softshells home till he/she is big enought to make it on its own in the pond its self without being mistaken for food. Its a Milk Crate on top of a brick and some rocks stuck tight as heck in the holes that he/she could possibly get out of. Dont worry, the rocks are in there TIGHTTTT...I sat there for like a hour with a load of different sized rocks and picked which ones fit right and would never come out unless I used a hammer haha. They are in there crazy good. He has yet to get out which is also good. he loves to sit by the holes tho and watch the bigger turtles swim around. Have not put a basking spot in there yet because I dont know what I could use without the possibility of escape.







Dont it look like a Mini Fish tank inside a Pond? I think it came out really great. My Lady LOVES it.














and here is my baby soft shell So Cute

Everything looks great. Welcome to the UV Sterilizer club. I will never go without one again! That water looks perfect! Pretty nice trick to holding the softshell in.

Very cool. Is that just a summer home? I like the hiding spot you gave the fish.

lol you like that? I didnt think about it at first then I thought wait a minute. I had to cut a piece of plastic out of this big bin I had that Cracked when I was washing my sand and then I put the piece on the bottom of the crate that way the sand would stay in. It took a while of messing around and problem solving but it turned out super good. I just hope he/she dont bother the plants im trying to grow too much lol. I can already tell this soft shell is going to be a master at catching any fish it wants. When it sits in the sand and has its head sticking out, fish swim right in front of it and cant even tell its there. half the time I have to look 3 or 4 times in the little container to even find the soft shell it blends in with the sand so good.

@halfshell

This will most likely be a year round home. my smaller turtles did a successful hibernation in there old pond and it was not nearly as nice as this one. So they should be good all round. The only thing I plan to do in the winter is get rid of the two plecos because the cold will kill them super easy. Yes, it gets FREEZING in the middle of the desert in the winter lol. Last year our dogs water bowl turned into one big chunk of ice...never thought id see something like that in the freakin desert haha

awesome setup! good idea on the softshell enclosure. The softshell is looking good, along with the rest of your turtles

Thanks Slider_Keeper. I hope they love it outside. In the end, I ended up spending around 500$ for this whole set up including the fish and the sand. Ponds are NOT cheap when you want to do them good haha

yeah I have a 60" diameter kiddy pool I leave in the backyard for my turtle to go outside when I'm home. It gets too cold up here for me to comfortable hibernate my Rio. Your setup is awesome, have you thaought about getting braches from the local river bed to replace the bricks?

For me to even get close to a river in the desert, I would have to go WAY up north probably about 6-8 hour drive. I tryed to put a brach in there from a tree we cut down but for 1 it floated and kept moving around and 2 I dont want to turn my water orange or brown from the Tannins in the wood. I wish I could find a nice big piece of wood in a river tho, would be sweet!

how far are you from the Colorado river?

not sure. I know im about 60 Miles South from Phoenix. I live in Casa Grande right now

oh you know theres a river near pheonix? It runs thru Scottdale that I know for sure. I'm up in Prescott we got a bunch of lakes and streams up here.

how far is prescott from phoenix or casa grande? you should bring me a bunch of wood hahahahaha. ill give you my two huge plecos for like 4 nice logs

Haha I don't need the plecos! I got a 12 incher in my cichlid tank. I'm an hour and a half north of Pheonix. I'm close to Sedona and Flagstaff. I'm a poor college student and my wife is in Med school. I'm lucky to have gas to get to school lol

That looks great. You did a nice job, I'm a bit jealous

steve wrote:That looks great. You did a nice job, I'm a bit jealous

Thats exactly what I was aiming for...

"Lets see, Im going to put this brick here, these rocks there...and...maybe..just maybe.....YES...Bet steve will be way jealous about this set up..ima go post pictures right now"

haha