Habitat - Outdoor :: Mr. T's pond it finally done! (pictures)

[tinkersumx]

[SpotsMama]

Nice Job! Did you do it yourself? What are the diminsions - diameter, depth?

What's the outside temperature where you are? Are you leaving Mr. T outside day and night?

Mr. T looks happy - chillin' in the water lilies!

[tinkersumx]

It was an anniversary present from my boyfriend. He paid for it and I planned it. We built it together, although I ended up doing a lot of the work since he works and I don't.

I can't remember the dimensions but it's a 150 gal rubbermaid stock tank. It's surrounded with landscaping bricks. The planter/ fountain is a skippy filter we made. There are two 75 gallon heaters. It has been getting cold lately at night but the heaters work very well and the pond doesn't go below 70. It is usually about 70-73 degrees on winter days here... not to shabby! I have to turn the heaters off during the day otherwise it gets up to about 79+!

The whole project was about $575-$625

[cam722]

That really looks nice.. great job..

[steve]

It looks great, including the filter! I spotted a very happy RES in that last pic

[VelvetAlley]

do you have a prefilter for the skippy or is it just a pump that pumps water into the skippy?

For example is your design:

intake hose -> pump -> outbound hose -> skippy

That's the general consensus I'm getting as I read, and it seems that would be enough filtration. I read about pre filters for fecies, but I think that's more for a pond full of fish than a single RES.

Looks good by the way.

[Kallistos]

At first it looked so intricate, but then I realized how simple and efficient the set-up is. Looks awesome, and you did a good job making sure that the lil doggy in the 1st picture can't climb into the "pool."

[tinkersumx]

The pump has a pre-filter cage on it, so there is no intake hose. I was thinking of making a bigger pre-filter for it but it seems to be working very well how it is now. The pump is 325 gph and the water is incredibly clear.

I was worried, at first, that Mr. T wouldn't like it but after about a week he warmed up to it.

I had three really pretty gold fish in there hoping he wouldn't eat them... two of them mysteriously disappeared, it took him about 3 weeks. I'm thinking of adding some rosy red minnows but haven't been able to find any around here.

[CountryGirl68]

Great looking pond. The outside looks great and I like the minimalism inside the pond.

[scripta_elegans]

Wow! Mr. T is one lucky turtle! He certainly looks acclimated to me.

[industrial_girl_2000]

That's a beautiful pond! Mr. T is so lucky! Is he a fully-grown male? I couldn't see from his basking pics....I just assumed because his name is Mr. T. How old is he?

[tinkersumx]

I'm not quite sure how old he is. He came from my parents neighborhood which doesn't have the worlds best pet keepers. I'm pretty sure he lived in a kiddie pool with a bunch of other turtles (no filtration ). When he came to me he had shell rot and hadn't eaten in a long time, he was very close to death.

He is a male and an adult. Other than that I don't know. The vet thinks he pretty healthy now... just keeping an eye on the shell.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I'm not quite sure how old he is. He came from my parents neighborhood which doesn't have the worlds best pet keepers. I'm pretty sure he lived in a kiddie pool with a bunch of other turtles (no filtration ). When he came to me he had shell rot and hadn't eaten in a long time, he was very close to death.

He is a male and an adult. Other than that I don't know. The vet thinks he pretty healthy now... just keeping an eye on the shell.

Gosh, I never would have guessed that he *ever* had shell rot. His shell looks so *handsome* in the pictures! So glad he got a good owner now!

[tinkersumx]

Thank You!!!

Yup, he's my tuff lil' man. I knew nothing about turtles before we got Mr. T. I'm quite the sucker for animals, one needs help and i'll do everything possible to give them a good life.

Mr. T came to me and I knew it was meant to be!

[industrial_girl_2000]

I would happily arrange a marriage between Sheba & Mr T!

::swoon::