Mi pawnd rebild tew

[j.w]

So then if it's 120* in Phoenix it's only a chilly 100* in Prescott :lol:
I bet houses in San Diego on the beach are still way too expensive now even w/ the economy down the way it is. I gotta have the cool breeze off the ocean or I'll fry
Your place sounds pretty ideally located tho near everything :lol:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Looks like my expectations were a bit too high... :yikesu: Between the rains and the 70-degree weather over the past week, my poor pond has turned to pea-soup! Stupid algae. Ah well, at least the cycle has begun. I've finished dumping in my old bottle of bacteria (does this stuff last over the Winter if its kept indoors?), so next week I'll probably have to grab a new bottle.

The plants in and out of the water are showing signs of growing, and the water forget-me-nots have started flowering. Every little bit helps, hopefully soon I'll have a thick bed of water plants sucking the life out of the algae. Oh, and the grass seed has started coming up too.

So no new pictures recently. Not much to show yet. I did get started on the beams around the waterfall, but have not had a chance to finish them up yet. With the pond pretty well settled in, I've been busy on other projects, but I have to get these beams done soon so I can get some plants in the ground around the filter barrels.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Figured I would post some new pictures today. Not a lot to show, but here it is anyway...

This is my new grass growing in. I guess it's because of the angle, but the new grass isn't really as thick as it looks. However I did get a lot of seed down, so in another couple weeks it should be filled in nicely.

And here is my pea-soup... I mean my algae-growing farm... I mean...

I gave in and bought a bottle of something to control the algae today. It's suppose to be safe for live plants and fish, so we'll see what happens. I think this first year, with so few plants growing yet, there's just no hope of controlling the algae naturally. Best I can do is try to load up the pond with as many plants starters as possible, and see what happens next year.

 

[sissy]

mine is a little bit better but the weather we have been having is not helping, friday we had a really bad storm with heavy rains and now we have 90 degree days and with the foresting they are doing here and burning the water gets everything blown into it .This is the first year my water has ever looked this bad and I had a tarp I have been putting on it but it was weighted down by soot and dirt from the foresting ..Don't know how to fix this .The size of some of these vehicles they are using amazes me .I have to clean the windows on my truck just so I can see to drive and have to power wash my house every week .Can't even hang clothes out to dry or open windows .

 

[DrDave]

Get some water lettuce in there and the pea soup will go away.

 

[sissy]

I have my floating rings in my pond with water lettuce and water hyacinth and I have to dust them off so they can grow .But they do help suck up the nutrients in the water .I wish I could do more to help my pond ,yours has a better chance shdwdrgn with those floaters .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I never had much luck with the water lettuce. It didn't grow for me like the hyacinths do. My hyacinths have started growing finally (and one actually flowered - first time ever!) but I only have a dozen plants. By mid-July they'll be taking over the pond, but right now they're not helping the algae problem.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I've been trying to locate Louisiana irises, but the best price I can find around here is $11 per plant!?! I don't suppose any of you Southern folks would have an over-abundance of bulbs that I could use down in the water? If so, could you please message me?

I finally got the corkscrew grass out of its original basket yesterday. A lot of cutting of both plant and basket involved, but I got it out, split into four parts, and planted directly in my gravel bed where it is free to spread like crazy. Once this fills in, it will be the primary means of blocking the larger fish from the river, and provide hiding for baby fish. These also start growing early in the Spring, so I'm hoping it will act as a first-defense against next year's algae bloom.

Ugh... the algae bloom... I have three different bottles of pond bacteria, some stating directly they are for algae control. I guess I'm just really impatient, but I haven't been able to see into the pond in over a week. Come on bio-filters, kick in already!

 

[fishin4cars]

Any paticular color you looking for? PM me we can discuss.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Snapped a few new pictures today... Here's a shot showing the new plants I've been adding. The water temp reached 72 today, so the frog has been coming out more, and hanging out in the plants.

Also a picture showing how I am finishing up the liner around the waterfall. The beam is made from several cedar 2x6s bolted together, then I have an angle-bracket and dirt holding the bottom in place, and a screw tying it to the top of the barrel. With the liner pulled around the front of the beam, it directs the water off the sides of the falls, keeping everything contained. The last step will be cutting a 1x8 plank to screw to the front of this beam. This will hide the liner (and I can trim the liner back to the edge of the wood), and will slightly overlap the waterfall bricks, giving them some support from the front side to help keep them from falling into the water over the years...

The 1x8 plank is essentially a throw-away board that will need replaced every so often. It will be directly exposed to the water splashing off the falls, and the bottom of the board will be about 3" below the water line. I might look into artificial boards next year, but for now I didn't want to worry about what it might leach into the water.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... at least one of my lilies rolled down to the very bottom of the pond, and today I spotted the first leaf about 6" below the surface, coming up right in front of the waterfall. I have four plants in there that survived from the old pond, should look really good once they all get lily-pads up to the surface!

 

[fishin4cars]

Ponds looking much better looks like it's balancing out well as the temps climb and the plants taking off. I like all the corkscrew, I have one plant of it and it's a cool plant!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

HAHA You're funny! I only wish the pond were reaching a balance already! Unfortunately, it is still pea-soup, although it *might* be starting to let up. The pictures look great because of the time of day and the camera angle... when everything is right, the water can still appear black. I do a little amateur photography, so I pay attention to things like that.

*sigh* I really miss being able to see my fish. The water temp is warm enough to add the dojo's now, but I won't put them in until the water clears up again and I can see them. I did catch a glimpse of the new ghost koi in the large pond feeding tonight. He's still pretty small, but apparently making his way around.

 

[addy1]

very nice shdwdrgn, looking great there!
My pond is finally a pond this year, still have lots of tweaking to do, but have fish, bugs and plants. You will get there and it is so enjoyable.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

addy - yeah I know... I think the first year of a new pond is an absolute curse on every owner. You have all these new plants and landscaping and little problems that need correcting... and it really tries your patience waiting for everything to settle in.