Habitat - Outdoor :: Long pond post, with lots of pictures, and a how-to

[reptilegrrl]

I made a super-long post about how I built the pond and filter, in my gardening journal. It has lots of pictures and so I am just going to provide a link to it here:

http://reptilegrrl.livejournal.com/97437.html

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here or there

[sonyj]

I love it... especially the filter. Even though we have a house, I really don't want an in ground pond so this seems very do-able for me. Thanks for sharing.

[missibsu]

Nice job, I'll have to save this post for future reference. Al seems to really enjoy those fish too!

[marisa]

OK!!!! This is what I was looking for. Am going to go over it in more detail and see if I can adapt it to what I'm going to use. Thanks for taking the time to post the project.

Al seemed to be looking at his new home with some trepidation, but looks pretty happy about it at the end.

[steve]

Interesting idea for the filter, let us know how it works out. Do you have a cover for the stock tank? The water level seems a bit high...

[reptilegrrl]

Thank you, thank you! I had a great time building this and I admit, I am very proud of it.

Marisa- I love that picture, he looks like someone looking down from a very high diving board. But he really does love the pond now.

Steve- the water is 19 inches deep, the stock tank is 25 inches deep.

[reptilegrrl]

Also, I want to add something about temperature: the pond is self-regulating. It is in full sunlight, with shade for AL provided by the filter and plants. During the morning, it is very cool, but by late afternoon the water is warm (not hot, or even dangerously warm.) It holds on to the warmth for most of the night, becoming cool again by morning. In winter I will have to add some heaters, but for now it is taking care of itself.

[reptilegrrl]

Marisa- you are welcome and I hope you can find a design that works for you. This was laborious but not difficult. Reading the links I posted will help you understand the design and help you in building your own, I think. If you have any questions just ask.

[marisa]

I will read them, thanks again. I'm somewhat familiar with the Skippy filter---it was in a thread about filters last summer. I've thought of doing one, but wasn't sure how to miniaturize it to fit a stock tank (the mini Skippy still seemed to powerful at the time).

[Mach529]

I took you idea for the filter and added a little to it placed it in service just today, my wife was thrilled with how it looks, I think miss turtley likes it also.
I will post some pictures when I get them. Thanks for the great idea, hope you dont mind me stealing it.

[reptilegrrl]

I don't mind at all, I hope it works out for you! Thanks for letting me know. What did you add to it?

Mine is working great- my water went green and clear in less than a week- 8 days after startup the pond was clear and has stayed clear ever since. I even did a partial water change a few weeks ago, and didn't have an algae bloom.

[steve]

Reptilegrrl have you tested the water yet? Just curious as to what the results may be.

[reptilegrrl]

I do a water test about twice a week, because I am keeping on top of the pH. Our water here is VERY alkaline, and that has caused Al to get some shell fungus. The vet said to keep the pH at about 6 in order to avoid fungus, so I am slowly adjusting the pH downward.

I use the Jungle kit which tests for nitrates, nitrites, hardness, total alkalinity and pH.

The pH/alkalinity are higher than I want them, but I am moving them downward with pH adjustor. Everything else stays good, except that week before last I had unexplained high-ish nitrite (nitrates were fine.) I did a partial water change, almost half the water, and the nitrites still measured high-ish (1.0ppm, which the kit says is "stress") so I bought some activated carbon, put some in a piece of pantyhose leg, and set it in the biofilter. The nitrites have stayed at 0ppm since then. My nitrates have always stayed at 0ppm.

I've added a lot of plants in the last week, which I think will help keep on top of the nitrites, and I have some carbon left, so I can use more if they start to get high again.

[steve]

That's interesting. Is the Jungle kit the kind you dip into the water? If so, it's the same one I have. It gave me a pH of 6.5, however when I tried a different kit (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit) it registered a pH of 7. I haven't done a complete comparison test yet, though I plan too.

[reptilegrrl]

Now, that is interesting! I do have the Jungle kit.

My reading has indicated that pond pH can change throughout the day with regard to temps and the activities of the animals. So I try to check at the same time of day. That is so good to know, though, about the uneven test results. Please let me know how your experiment turns out!