No more tanks- I'm going for the pond!

[beckyd]

So, what other option do I have? There is no more room for tanks. My family has a joke that animals try to get to live here and word gets around. It seems almost true. The oddest things happen to us. Rabbits, kittens and snakes and all kinds of things just show up literally on our doorstep. So, it really came as no surprise when two red-eared slider hatchlings showed up in our driveway a few weeks ago. The nearest pond is 50 yards across the street and past two fences. These were very lost, very determined little fellas. We have an adult RES, so we plopped the cute little buggers in with him and started to feed them. I found out when we got him that this species of turtle is illegal in Florida and many states. They live for 20 yrs and so many people set them loose in the wild that they are altering the native gene pools. That is how we got ours, someone was letting him loose and I took him. Anyway, once I saw they were RESliders, I felt not letting them remain in the wild was the correct thing to do. No problem for now. But our 55g tank is barely big enough for one small adult male. I'd be cleaning every day once these two grew up.

So, I dug a pond. Its 1000g. That oughta do it. I have properly fenced it to keep my gene-pool altering boys permanently out of that particular pool. Its lined and I am building a filter/waterfall this week. I will get the pump this week too. Its a 3400gph that will pump to the 40L biological/mechanical filter/waterfall.

So, any other suggestions from other pond owners and/or turtle folks? Like, can I get enough bacteria from the biopads of my fishtanks to get the bacteria going or do I need to purchase the stuff at the landscaping store? And, are my babies safe in my back yard or should I keep them inside until they are bigger? They are almost 1.5 inches long. How big does a koi have to be before the turtles will not see them as food? I won't buy any, I have a friend whose koi are outgrowing his tank. I am happy to home them until they outgrow my pond, but not if they are going to be lunch

 

[lauraf]

I love you, Becky. "So, I dug a pond." Like, no big deal.
What kind of water plants will you get? Do you have natural predators in Florida that could get into the fenced area? Birds, etc? We are temperate enough in Vancouver that people do have fish ponds here without heaters - but they must be quite deep so the goldfish can hibernate over the winter, and have lots of hiding places to avoid the raccoons, herons and even coyotes that might come fishing.
I wish I had my own backyard so I could pretty much do the same - because I can't at our townhome, and the real estate market went insane in Vancouver so we couldn't upgrade to a detached house, my husband agreed to the 39g I set up last spring just to shut me up about how much I wanted water and fish, fish and water . . . .
Anyhoo, back to you Becky. I'm insanely jealous.
Can you post some pics as you go along?

 

[beckyd]

Laura, I am lucky. And if I post pics for you, you will be even more jealous, as I have a pretty decent sized back yard to put a pond in. We're very lucky to have it in a newer home in Florida. They build them on postage stamps these days. LOL. I would be happy to post some pics. You are welcome to live vicariously through me. Happily, you will not have to suffer the financial consequences of my pond builing extravaganza. This is no cheap endeavor! And please don't expect a landscaping dream to have been accomplished within the first year or so. Apparently, it will take nearly 4 ton of rock for complete coverage! For now, I will be happy with enough rock to secure the liner and give adequate basking surfaces. The pump is pricey too 400$. Yikes. I am about 500$ into it so far, but that includes most of the necessities. The thing I refused to pop for was the waterfall/filter. I was looking at one that was $100. I thought that was alot for what basically was a square bucket with a hole in the bottom and a nice lip for the water to waterfall out of attractively. Well, then the pond guy tells me that I need alot more filtration for turtles. So, I either needed to add another filter into the mix, which would be at the bottom of the pond and kind of a pain to clean. We all know how often that would happen then- not enough. Or I step up to a big waterfall with lots of space for biological and mechanical filtration media. Yeah, a bigger bucket. Well I am NOT spending 350$ on a bucket no matter how much easier it makes the project. So I spent most of yesterday building a waterfall/filter out of a $6 garbage can. I made the guy in Lowe's completely insane trying to find all the attachments and adapters for the hose. He hated me. He said 'You know they sell these with all the proper sized openings.' To which I responded "Yep, for 350$. I think I'll just keep on searching for some 2$ parts as a substitute if its all the same to you". Now, I am just waiting for the final silicon application to dry enough to test for water tightness and I am ready for some assembly. Without silicon, I had it down to drips at the entry hole, so I should be good now. I also silicon taped all the threads on the adapters, which the pond guy said was overkill, but I want to be sure. I could be a plumber now.

So I am wondering about winter. Do I bring my fellas in a crowd them into a tank, heat the pond, or not heat teh pond and let them go into hibernation? I wanted to use the pond for my population overflow of livebearers. The turtles can feed on them and they will keep the mosquitoes from getting out of hand. However, can I heat the pond enough over winter keep them alive? I can't forsee successfully netting a few hundred guppies out of 1000g.

One more comment about the ugly necessities- turtles wander. So to keep them in my yuard and out of the way of getting trampled by little football players, they are fenced in. Now THAT is a project. It only has to be a foot tall, but it has to be buried 8". The only way to accomplish this is with a wire fence and alot of digging. Its functional, but hideous. I will build a cute little brick wall all the way around it to make it pretty and hide the wire, but that will take me all summer. Oh well, I don't think the turtles will care

As far as predators, racoons are my biggest worry. The good thing is we live smack in the middle of a rather large development. I am sure racoons are all around the perimeter, but I doubt they come to my yard. My house is completely surrounded by fenced yards with dogs. Some are big and fast- weimeraners. I suspect the racoons are deterred. Birds could be an issue, but I have my own predators that make birds a scarcity in my yard- 4 dogs and a cat. The cat is quite the prowler of her domain and birds are her favorite victims. She has little interest in the turtles, however, I am going to keep a close eye on her with the little ones. So, not that my yard is completely predator safe, but I certainly won't have egrets standing back there snacking at will.

Plants- hmm. Don't know yet. I need to research that. For sure some peace lilles in submerged pots in the shallow end and hopefully some water lilles in the deep water. We'll see what the turtles eat and what they leave alone, I guess One at a time! And all the anacharis overflow from my indoor tanks.

 

[Doomhed]

you can rig a basement sump pump ( as cheap as $75 new) to operate a fish pond. there is even a local pond making company run out of a dude's basement that does exactly that.

he makes some serious money charging people around $2500 to build ponds and then spending only $500 and a week's work for him and his son on materials.

 

[littletankbigworld]

It's awesome that you're building a pond, beckyd! I cannot wait to see pictures!

Sorry to hijack the thread. So, Doom, I guess you found out that those babies where minnows and not kuhlis? How did that happen?

 

[lauraf]

Good for you, plumber gal! That's awesome. I'm sure once the essential hardware is in place you will have fun beautifying the space with the rockwork, brick wall, and plants. I say heat it so you can have the fish and turtles there year-round.

 

[misterking]

Herons and cats are our biggest problem over here in the UK, so my pond's got a tight-fitting net over it, nothing's getting in there. I know most people don't like the idea of a net but I found a pretty decent black one online with good-sized mesh (about 5cm) so it doesnt obstruct viewing the pond. You could try attaching one to your walling/fencing around the pond, but I'm not sure how intelligent raccoons are when it comes to raiding ponds!

Good luck with the build and I can't wait to see your progress

 

[beckyd]

I hope I don't have to resort to a net. I want to be able to sit in there and feed them. Racoons would surely get around a net anyway, but I just don't think I need to worry about them. I have a pet door and my dogs and cats come in and out at will. If there were racoons getting back there, they would get chased and I would likely know it. Birds are a problem. To prove that she can handle them, my cat killed one yesterday. Thankfully, she left this one outside, unlike the last one. Gross. Anyway, my own cat is likely to be my biggest predator concern. ( I have 2 cats, but the male wouldn't bother making the effort. He's too lazy and really old.) I am not so worried about her getting fast little guppies, but if I get some goldies or koi, I don't trust her. They're too slow. I am going to put in 'predator tunnels'. The pond place recommends them to give the fish places to hide. Great idea, but I've seen my cat stalk things before. She is very patient and if they don't move fast enough they're gonners. My pond has a shallow spot on one end. This is where she will sit, so I'll give lots of thought to that before stocking any fish. She also worries me with the baby turtles. I doubt she will have much interest in the turtles, but I am leary.

The good news is she doesn't have front claws. She was declawed when I got her and supposed to be an indoor cat, but she vehemently disagreed. Our kids were young and she learned to stalk them and bolt out the door before they could stop her. Over the years, I have learned not to freak out about her being outside defenseless. She keeps close and I couldn't keep her in if I tried, sigh. Anyway, she won't be clawing at and injuring the fish or turtles, just batting them. I just know that she is capable of batting a fish out of the water. After all, this declawed cat regularly brings birds down. I have to see how she acts toward the babies before I trust them outside with her.

I'm getting the pump this week sometime. My mean husband put me on a 'turtle budget'. The nerve! He says I have to pace myself so we can pay bills and eat and stuff. Geez. That guy needs to get his priorities straight...

 

[lauraf]

I love your new avatar! How large will you let the turtles grow before you put them in the pond?
And your husband is indeed a cruel and senseless man. You poor dear.

 

[ValRasbora]

becky,
good for you! I've always wanted a pond (as does my mom ).
I was wondering, what did you use for lining the pond? concrete? rocks? pond liner?

 

[xarumitzu]

I would love to have a pond in my backyard, well, the drainage ditch in out front yard acts more like a pond than anything else Congrats on making a pond for the turtles though. There is a friend of my families who has a HUGE pond in his backyard and he uses a small pool pump to filter it.

 

[anshuman]

JEALOUS.


I would love to see a journal on this as it goes.

 

[Orion]

Where you live, you could probably get away with letting the fish over winter in the pond through the winter. I've only kept RES inside, so not sure about those guys. How deep is the pond?

We're finally getting settled in our new house, and I got rid of ALL my fish and critters except for a Leopard Gecko. With a decent sized backyard we have I'm already planning on a pond. The biggest decision I'm facing is if I want to do it deep enough to attempt to let fish spend the winter in it. It can get really cold here, so my luck after trying it everyone would die out.

Good luck! And would love to see some photos!