New Pond Project

[Lisak1]

Very cool project! Lots to plan for when you keep turtles!

 

[MitchM]

I don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer here, but
How would you know if a turtle died at that depth and
How would you retrieve it if it did?

 

[Marshall]

I don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer here, but
How would you know if a turtle died at that depth and
How would you retrieve it if it did?

I count my turtles when I feed them or inspect the pond and if the food does not entice them to the surface then a gentle tap with a net will. Also when I shine the arc-lamp spotlight on the bottom of the pond they will move around so it would not be too hard to figure out if the turtle is dead or not. When they brumate though you just have to cross your fingers and hope they survive winter because until spring comes you can't really be sure they have survived winter because you have to leave them alone and not disturb them during brumate period. Also if they die during normal conditions they would likely float to the edge.

 

[Marshall]

Wow! I'm impressed that you plan to have it complete by the end of this year! That's a lot of work

I have a backhoe for this project to make the digging faster and easier and I have also enlisted the help of my two nephews in exchange for giving them a hatchling and full terrarium + equipment setup

 

[Marshall]

Yes, I had read that. I have met some humans that communicate in a similar manner.

I have met people who have their head so far up their rear end that they might as well be breathing through their colon

 

[Dave 54]

Marshall 8.5ft is far too deep your pond would need to be fitted with a number of gravity fed to filter 4" bottom drains at the deep end , these would not be to a little filter you would need a serious sized one [or more] filter to run a pond of that depth .
I dont want to burst your bubble but your planned pond is far to near the trees which will give you no end of problems each fall with leaves and unless your pond is of a breeze block construction your going to have no ebd of trouble with roots .
Like others I'm worried about the depth your going down in reality if your doing down that deep you really should be thinking about breezeblock constuction with a deep concrete base .
Stop with your plans and give this sized pond some serios thought then put forwards a propper plan of action.

Dave

 

[Marshall]

Marshall 8.5ft is far too deep your pond would need to be fitted with a number of gravity fed to filter 4" bottom drains at the deep end , these would not be to a little filter you would need a serious sized one [or more] filter to run a pond of that depth .
I dont want to burst your bubble but your planned pond is far to near the trees which will give you no end of problems each fall with leaves and unless your pond is of a breeze block construction your going to have no ebd of trouble with roots
Like others I'm worried about the depth your going down in reality if your doing down that deep you really should be thinking about breezeblock constuction with a deep concrete base .
Stop with your plans and give this sized pond some serios thought then put forwards a propper plan of action.

Dave

The trees are no issue number one. Number two the pond will be lined with 8 inches of concrete on the bottom and a c-block wall around the edges and I know a tiny bit about turtles and they absolutely need that kind of depth for there to be enough silt/mud/sand on the bottom to brumate. The turtles that are going in that pond are 10 inches up to 15 inches carapace. As far as filtration goes it will get most of that from the constant feed of water from the stream that I am going to divert to run fresh water in and then drain the other end back into the stream. I will then just add whatever else is needed filtration wise. Now the leaves issue is not a big one really because the first row of trees will be cut down ion order to even build the project and the ones on the far side are evergreens which in America anyway don't pose alot of leaf issues....

 

[Nepen]

I would guess you cant have bottom drain too since you will have mud at the bottom

How thick will the mud be?

 

[Marshall]

I would guess you cant have bottom drain too since you will have mud at the bottom

How thick will the mud be?

Nope a bottom drain won't work for the type of turtle ponds I use. As with my other 2 turtle only ponds this one will use a diversion system to drain the pond. Basically it is 2 high flow pumps that pump the water out of the pond and into the spillway. The mud will be about 1 to 1.5 feet deep but may be a little thicker in certain areas due to under currents and stratification. The mud layer is mostly made of a mud/clay mix with aggregate in the lower part. Only the top 8 to 10 inches will be pure mud and that is the part the turtles usually dig into although they can go into the other layers too.