Mmathis
TurtleMommy
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
- Messages
- 14,267
- Reaction score
- 8,320
- Location
- NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
Yesterday I added a few "notes-to-self" to my list of ponding experiences. Fortunately, as of an hour ago, all the fish are present & active, though I haven't tested the water yet.
1. The best time to "muck around" is NOT during the dead of winter -- even when your temps lull you into a false sense of spring-time. And I do literally mean "muck," not the word that it sounds like....
2. When you turn off a small, submerged pump for the winter [ie, pump to spitter that's in a filter box], you need to pull the pump & filter and not leave them in the pond [big, DUH!].
3. Invest in an air pump.
4. Always have de-chlor handy.
5. Read articles & posts [stay up on knowledge base] even when they don't sound like anything you'd be interested in at the time -- you never know when you might need it!
6. Have alternate filtration handy [see #2....NOT]
7. ...... still processing ......
The story: It was such a nice day yesterday that I decided to work on the "turtle bogs" which is what I'm calling the area of pond that's sectioned off for the boxies. Last season, I filled in with gravel and stuck some plants in, with the intention of retrofitting the irrigation this spring. All it started out with was a steady water flow falling onto the gravel bed & "soaking" pool area [water split from pump that goes to Skippy]. So, yesterday was my day to gather the PVC and get to work, which was going to require quite a bit of gravel-scooping and rearranging. Boy, was there a lot of muck, and it was flowing & mixing directly with the pond water -- I had recently been reading articles & posts regarding anoxic filtration and the downsides to bog filtration, so when I caught a slight whiff of "rotten eggs," knew I might be getting into trouble. A quick glance at the fish confirmed this: slow moving and congregating at the top, where an hour before they were free-swimming & active!
Started pulling water out via Skippy for emergency water change. Remembered that I didn't have any de-chlor. So to add fresh water, ran water hose on "spray," hoping for enough aeration there to remove some of the chlorine, but meant fresh water going in more slowly. Of course, during this time, there's no water action from a pump to aerate the pond, 'cause that pump is tied up to Skippy which was busy emptying the pond. Well, there was some flow from the "turtle bog" set-up, which is split from same pump, but "turtle-bog" water flow being in question at that point.
Then I remembered the pump for the spitter! Yeah! Plugged it up -- not much flow, but any was better than nothing. Until it occurred to me that, "You know, I never pulled that filter box out of the pond. It's been sitting down there for a couple of months...." Can you say anaerobic & anoxic? I took a sniff of the water coming out, and WHEW! Unplugged that sucker!!
THEN I remembered that Santa brought me a new Oase floating skimmer that has an air discharge. Was waiting until it got warmer to use it, but what the heck! My fishies needed it! Got it going and there was a pretty good bit of water movement.
For the remainder of yesterday, until it got too dark to see, there wasn't a fish to be seen [but no floaters, either]. This morning, even though the water is still not clear, at least the fish are still alive & active, acting as if nothing happened.
These pics are what the "turtle bogs" looked like when I got through working on them yesterday. The "girl side," first pic, shows that I didn't get finished and didn't get around to burying any of the PVC -- still a work-in-progress, but one that will have to wait until I'm better prepared to handle the outcomes....!
1. The best time to "muck around" is NOT during the dead of winter -- even when your temps lull you into a false sense of spring-time. And I do literally mean "muck," not the word that it sounds like....
2. When you turn off a small, submerged pump for the winter [ie, pump to spitter that's in a filter box], you need to pull the pump & filter and not leave them in the pond [big, DUH!].
3. Invest in an air pump.
4. Always have de-chlor handy.
5. Read articles & posts [stay up on knowledge base] even when they don't sound like anything you'd be interested in at the time -- you never know when you might need it!
6. Have alternate filtration handy [see #2....NOT]
7. ...... still processing ......
The story: It was such a nice day yesterday that I decided to work on the "turtle bogs" which is what I'm calling the area of pond that's sectioned off for the boxies. Last season, I filled in with gravel and stuck some plants in, with the intention of retrofitting the irrigation this spring. All it started out with was a steady water flow falling onto the gravel bed & "soaking" pool area [water split from pump that goes to Skippy]. So, yesterday was my day to gather the PVC and get to work, which was going to require quite a bit of gravel-scooping and rearranging. Boy, was there a lot of muck, and it was flowing & mixing directly with the pond water -- I had recently been reading articles & posts regarding anoxic filtration and the downsides to bog filtration, so when I caught a slight whiff of "rotten eggs," knew I might be getting into trouble. A quick glance at the fish confirmed this: slow moving and congregating at the top, where an hour before they were free-swimming & active!
Started pulling water out via Skippy for emergency water change. Remembered that I didn't have any de-chlor. So to add fresh water, ran water hose on "spray," hoping for enough aeration there to remove some of the chlorine, but meant fresh water going in more slowly. Of course, during this time, there's no water action from a pump to aerate the pond, 'cause that pump is tied up to Skippy which was busy emptying the pond. Well, there was some flow from the "turtle bog" set-up, which is split from same pump, but "turtle-bog" water flow being in question at that point.
Then I remembered the pump for the spitter! Yeah! Plugged it up -- not much flow, but any was better than nothing. Until it occurred to me that, "You know, I never pulled that filter box out of the pond. It's been sitting down there for a couple of months...." Can you say anaerobic & anoxic? I took a sniff of the water coming out, and WHEW! Unplugged that sucker!!
THEN I remembered that Santa brought me a new Oase floating skimmer that has an air discharge. Was waiting until it got warmer to use it, but what the heck! My fishies needed it! Got it going and there was a pretty good bit of water movement.
For the remainder of yesterday, until it got too dark to see, there wasn't a fish to be seen [but no floaters, either]. This morning, even though the water is still not clear, at least the fish are still alive & active, acting as if nothing happened.
These pics are what the "turtle bogs" looked like when I got through working on them yesterday. The "girl side," first pic, shows that I didn't get finished and didn't get around to burying any of the PVC -- still a work-in-progress, but one that will have to wait until I'm better prepared to handle the outcomes....!
