Habitat - Outdoor :: Our 1,400 gal pond

Ponds and other outdoor enclosures.

Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:46 pm   Our 1,400 gal pond

OK so last spring a turtle wandered into our yard. We recognized it as a water turtle because of the webbed feet so we inverted a trash can lid, filled it with water and began a search on the internet to see what found us and how to take care of it. Enter Humphrey into our lives, an 8"(at the time) Red Eared Slider with very dry shell, tired and hungry.

Skip forward to an inflatable kiddy pool while I hand dug a 1,400 gallon pond. One escape from the kiddy pool left us nervous and quickened the pace on the main pond. We got some medicine on it's shell, but he continued to show no interest in any live food, so the fish now have names, Manny, Moe and Jack. Humphrey is happy with pellets. But Humphrey kept trying to be Houdini and escape. Till one night My wife calls me and says we hay to change Humphrey's name cause SHE just laid eggs! Say hi to Josie! Toughest thing to destroy the nest but do not want to add to the everwhelming turtle population. I got the sad deed assigned to me.

Skip forward to now the pond is complete, except for some exterior dressing. Funny thing waqs that Josie seemed lonely so we went to the Phoenix Herpetological Society and adopted two more RES! Say Hi to Gabby and Nellie. Gabby seems to want to sit, watch us and talk (not really talk but interested in us) while Nellie gets her name from WHOA NELLIE! She is not interested in us and flees to water at the site of humans! She now thinks Josie is her mom and hangs around her as close as a tail.
Turtles1.JPG

So back to the pond, 1,400 gallons, with a waterfall/stream, basking beach with access to egg laying area(escape proof)
Turtle pond1.JPG
, Rock island for basking but they can also hide underneath because it is elevated
Turle pond2.JPG
, and a basking log which I had cut if half and fashioned a ramp to aide them getting on. Main section of the pond is 3' deep so they can escape the Arizona heat in deeper water, then a 2' section where the island is and on up to an 18" depth where they log is which they can also get under and through. I installed a large skimmer and 3600 GPH pump. Most of the pump flow goes to the waterfall but 800 GPH runs through an 18 watt UV light filter then through an in-the-ground bio filter, then returns to the pond.

Gabby and Nellie taught Josie how to catch fish and now, once or twice a month they enjoy and infusion of a dozen feeders for them to chase. Sometimes we give them crickets for variety but thats only once a month or so. They like their pellets and also will chomp on Kale or Romaine lettuce once a week.
TomT
 
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:52 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Here is the basking log that all three have been on. When Josie climbs up everyone moves around since now she is 9" in length. Last year she shed her scoots twice.
Basking log.JPG


Here is the piping setup that lets me remove an item for servicing if it needs.
Piping.JPG
TomT
 
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:57 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Wow very impressive is all I can say. My dream pond right there for my turtles haha.
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 3:29 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Wow, very nicely done!
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:42 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

very nice, i wish i could have a pond at my house
65 Gallon
-1 RES (Myrtle)
-1 Pleco (unnamed)
-1 four lined pimelodus catfish (unnamed)
-1 shubunkin (unnamed)
29 Gallon Planted Tank
-3 cory cats
-# guppies!
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:38 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Looks great! Did you take progress pics?
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steve
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:01 am   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

I'll have to find them. I think I have some somewhere on my PC!
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:18 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

We'll wait for them :)
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:42 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

OK these are the best ones I could find.
The location used to be a playset area for the previous owners of the house.
9.JPG
The "Before" picture

This is where the escape was made from. Note the sagging side.
009.JPG
The temporary habitat while digging the pond

3' deep to 2' to 18".
008.JPG
Taken the night I finished digging
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:54 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

0112.JPG
Liner is in and water is blooming! Nice shade of green. No waterfall yet and no plants either.

0103.JPG
Josie taking advantage of the unfinished waterfall, using it as a beach. Note the worthless bags of barley doing nothing for the algea bloom!

I made the log platform because in the winter their island is shaded for much of the day. They showed no interest in it for 2 weeks, then one day, move over, everyone up!
2012-02-25 14.04.21.jpg
Three turtles on a log. Isn't there a rule about that?
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:21 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Great pics. They don't have a barrier to keep them from wandering out? What eventually worked for the algae control?
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:08 am   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Wow! Nice pond. Wish I could have one
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Post Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:08 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

that is awesome! i know this could be a hard question to answer but do you have any rough estimate on how much youve put into that? i guess if you do all the work yourself the only really expensive part would be filtration right?
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:56 pm   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

The liner can be pretty expensive for large ponds. In my pond, I used EPDM liner because it is stronger than a regular PVC liner and it comes with a 25 year warranty. EPDM is expensive. The best price I could find for the liner was Amazon.com. The 10'x10' EPDM liner was like $70 shipped. The price went up quickly for larger sizes. A 10' x 10' liner will give you about a maximum 360 gallon pond. EPDM is heavy and will cost a lot to ship. Home Depot sold the same size liner for about $35 more. PVC liners are a lot cheaper, but a turtle can rip a PVC liner with their claws and their beaks. Filtration for an outdoor pond isn't too bad. You can get a submersible filter system with UV sterilization (to control algae) large enough for 1500 gallon pond for under $200.

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Post Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:37 am   Re: Our 1,400 gal pond

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
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