The pond dig has begun!

[CountryEscape]

I agree with you, Rebel, any painted turtles welcome, NEVER a snapper, baby or not.
Colleen, I found the baby snappers in the skimmer 2 years ago, and I think this little guy did get sucked in a time or two. Good thing is that there is a reservoir where they can hang out until I find them, as long as I check skimmers often enough. They don't get sucked into the pump, as there is a basket, and then a filter pad. Tiny things like fry could go past those, though.

 

[Fishylove]

Ya he's cute! The one in mine is definately a redear. I like that painted turtle though, he's pretty. My daughter named him Marco lol. As in Marco Polo It looks as though my minnows had babies. At least I think they are minnows, they don't look like koi fry. But i know for sure the Rosey minnows had babies, just a few.

 

[CountryEscape]

Seems that most I see that have Rosy Minnows in a koi or goldfish pond soon wish they didn't have them. They multiply rapidly, and when you count the inches of fish in that particular pond, the number of desired fish (koi/goldfish) goes down rapidly when the Rosy's multiply in a couple of years. Just a gentle caution. My sister had some in her 2500 gal koi pond in AZ, and said they were a huge disaster, would never add them again. Others have them in smaller containers, like for lilies or lotus, to keep the mosquitos out, and love their hardiness. :blueflower:

 

[callingcolleen1]

I get very few babies anymore. The first few years when the sedges were small I got so many fish that I kept making the ponds a little bigger and bigger every few years, then the dragonfies took over the sedges in the water and now just the toughest survive and escape the mean dragonfly nympths.

I used to have lots of rosy minnows that could jump the little water ways that I had at the time, and they would jump from pond to pond that way, but they just slowly disapeared over the years.

 

[addy1]

I have rosey reds, they have not taken over at all. This is their 3rd summer.

 

[gardengirl]

Ok .... I need to see a pic of a "rosey red". I don't know what they are!!!

 

[addy1]

Here is a link to them

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/apr09/rosy-red-minnow.htm

 

[gardengirl]

Here is a link to them

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/apr09/rosy-red-minnow.htm

Thanks addy1. I had never heard the name rosey reds. They sound nice but.... do they multiply a lot?

 

[addy1]

They are supposed to mine have not, I have some in the lotus tank.

 

[gardengirl]

They are supposed to mine have not, I have some in the lotus tank.

How big is your tank and does it have a pump in it?

 

[CountryEscape]

I think if you have rosey reds (I think they look like glorified guppies LOL) in a large pond, they will really multiply fast. I just met another ponder couple of weeks ago that had rosey reds, and wishes she had never put them in her pond. Once you have them, and they start making babies, you're pretty much stuck with them. They are fast, and hard to catch all. But, I've also heard of people having them in smaller tanks, like Addy's lotus tub (which is a pretty good sized tank!!!) and they do what they are supposed to do, keep the mosquito population down tremendously. I would guess they need some type of air or water movement, but I've never had them.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I put in 50 rosey reds last spring and I think there is less than 5 left. We have some big koi that eat non stop and 2 red ear sliders. Some of our gold fish that were all black have started to get a lot of orange color to them this year.

 

[CountryEscape]

I have a goldfish that is black all the way across it's top line, and orange on the belly. Had a really uniquely colored couple of them earlier this year, the black was changing to orange, but on the top line, from top of head back to the dorsal fin, there were tiny orange dots on top of the black as it was changing to orange. They are fun to watch change. Yes, I think our local pet store sells the roseys as feeder fish, so that stands to reason that the koi would eat them!

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, after purchasing a wisteria plant about 2-3 months ago, and then planning, changing, planning some more, I finally started the project. I had bought the PVC pipe over a month ago, maybe closer to 2 months ago, but so much has been going on in my life the last month and a half, no time to do anything extra in the yard.
I decided to build the arbor really stout, so when the wisteria grows, it will grow UP and over the top. Here's how it started out. I put the "top" together to figure exactly where the "T" posts needed to go in the ground. I drove the posts in 3', leaving 4' above the ground.

Then I ran the 1.5" PVC pipe with the first "T" over the "T" posts

The first cross bars were added and leveled.

Then the next 2' section going up, and 5' cross bars added and leveled.

The top section bars were slid on, but not put in final position. It was getting dark, I had not eaten all day, and the mosquitos were coming out, all good reasons to quit and finish tomorrow.

Here's what it looked like when I started, and then finished for the day today.

Tomorrow, I'll plant the wisteria, and then figure out how to tie it off so the branches that grow in the next year or so go upward to the top, before they fan out. I've seen these plants when mature, and they look almost like tree trunks, so figure the PVC would be sturdy, and not rot eventually like wood. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it will deteriorate in time. I'm going to paint it green, so it won't look too out of place out there. Of course, there will be landscape rocks around it, and mulch in time. More pics tomorrow. :blueflower:

 

[CountryEscape]

My newest project. I bought a wisteria plant about 3 months ago at least, could not decide where to put it. Then figured out where, but needed to figure out "how". Bought the PVC pipe well over a month ago, then got too busy with visiting and family coming here. So ... finally got the project started.
Here are the 7' "T" posts I put 3' into the ground for the base pipes to go over. The top section is sitting next to it. I used that to measure where to put the "T" posts.

Then added the next 2 sections, and quit for the day (yesterday), bugs were coming out and getting dark. View from deck, too.

Finished painting it second coat this morning, then unloaded the landscape stones to outline the area. Will fill in with black mulch, already sprayed Roundup on the grass to kill it. (Was very careful with the Roundup, due to my problem in goldfish pond ... very careful with anything, but was before, too.)

Now, to fill it in with plants that are overcrowded in their flower beds, I've got plenty of plants to move to this new area. :blueflower: