TWO PONDS FROM ONE -- POSSIBLE DESIGNS?

[HARO]

You can cut plexiglass with a circular saw and a plywood blade, but it does require some clean-up with a sanding block or file. John

 

[adavisus]

Howsabout, setting a cable across the line where he/she are to be divided, place some durable cloth along the line and anchor it with picturesque rocks, tent pegs, grass pins...

This less than iron curtain can be removed, the line unhooked when it is convenient, avoided being stuck with a long term instalation.

The fabric could be chosen for its outdoor durability, with a bit of skill and guile, given a spray paint to create an attractive natural look...

Being fabric, it would be easy to anchor in water and on land, and apply sufficient tension that it is an effective barrier, like, a tent fabric can be anchored, with some tension

Regards, andy

 

[Mmathis]

Andy, I like that idea! I'll have to give it some thought. I love to play with PVC pipe -- maye a use here....

Haro, can you cut shaped pieces of plexiglass, say with a jigsaw?

 

[Catfishnut]

Mmathis,

Would your turtles be able to climb a totally vertical wall of hardware cloth? If you don't think they would attempt it and fall over backwards in the pond, then I might have something unique to entertain your thoughts.

Build a long, shallow, rectagular box to serve as the base of the barrier wall and also as a planter box. This would rest atop your false bottom and also be semi-buried throughout the terrestrial area of the pond.

Inside the box, it would be filled with a good mix of garden soil, sand, peat moss, topsoil, etc. Then, up from the center of the box and throughout the length of the box, construct a girder system that you can hang hardware cloth upon to serve as the turtle barrier. Use some sort of hardware cloth that has large enough openings for plants, but not so big that the turtles could get their feet or heads stuck in it.

Then, in the soil within the box, on each side of the barrier hardware cloth, plant some sort of ivy or vining plant, something that likes to climb and would thrive in your wet environment. Once it was established, the barrier wall would be hidden by the vegatation and look very natural and aesthetic.

Of course the choice of the ivy or vine would have to be non-toxic and hopefully perennial or maybe just a fast growing annual or biennial, but not something that would overcome the rest of your pond.

However, I also like Adavisus' idea of the bamboo wall...

That could be made to look just as intriguing without as much maintenance or fabrication requirements. But, it would also serve its purpose and look a lot better than a lumber wall or a plexiglas wall.

Otherwise, how about this...

Street pavers! Red, street bricks stacked to make a vertical wall and stuck together with, rather than concrete or mortar, Loctite® PL® Polyurethane Concrete Crack & Masonry Sealant. (Not recommended for continual submersion in water, but you can probably work around that enough by the wall design).

You could stagger the bricks to allow some small openings that the turtles won't normally peer through to the other side (higher up on the wall) but will allow air flow and light to pass through in a few key spots. For underwater areas, you could leave just a small slit between bricks so that surface water flows freely, but even the thinnest turtle cannot fit into, not even sideways.

Lot's of decorative ideas that you might conjure up that will also be effective and inexpensive (or at least reasonable).

Gordy

 

[HARO]

Mmathis; yes, you can use a jigsaw. Get the better quality blades (ground, not stamped) and experiment with the speed of the blade. I've found that some of the cheaper blades will create so much melted waste that they get stuck in the cut. You can tell the good blades by their shiny metal look, the cheapies are just painted. John

 

[Catfishnut]

Mmathis; yes, you can use a jigsaw. Get the better quality blades (ground, not stamped) and experiment with the speed of the blade. I've found that some of the cheaper blades will create so much melted waste that they get stuck in the cut. You can tell the good blades by their shiny metal look, the cheapies are just painted. John

I also try to use wood blades for thicker plastic materials. With larger teeth and fewer teeth per inch, they don't "clog" up with semi-melted plastic.
Blades designed for cutting hard metals have finer (smaller teeth) and more teeth per inch. They are no good for cutting thick and low melting point plastics.

Gordy

 

[Mmathis]

Haro -- does the thickness of the plexiglass have anything to do with how well it does or doesn't cut? All I've ever worked with is the thinner stuff: with some work I've been able to cut it with glass cutters, but it's so easy to snap & break into jagged pieces.

Gordy -- While I like your idea of the hardware cloth, unfortunately, boxies are good climbers. Most owners who have lost theirs to escapes say it was from climbing some type of fencing or using a vining-type plant; bracing their legs in corners (like rock climbers); or digging (they're also good diggers). My fear here isn't so much that they would escape or even that they could access each others' areas, but that they would try to climb, loose their hold and fall over backwards into the water. On land when they "turtle," there is usually something solid there for them to push against so they can flip themselves back upright. But this would be harder in water. Granted, my water depth probably won't be deep enough to cause a problem with drowning, but don't want to take any chances.

However, I do also like the idea of stacking pavers. This has possibilities, but i might have to "veneer" the sides so there wouldn't be any climber holds. If I made little gaps, at least in the bottom layer, it would give fish a way to get around.

One of these days I'll have to include a drawing of exactly what I want to do, even though I don't have a concrete picture yet. The one web site I found that had a pond like I want (false bottom) was showing an idea for a single access. They had it set up so they could access their pump, etc. If I'm going to have separate spaces, I'll still have to have a way to access stuff. Was also thinking that if I have a few fish, but a "false bottom," how would the fish be able to get through the bottom grid. So I'm now thinking along the lines of having 3 separate areas (the Mickey Mouse shape comes to mind -- but I'm a Disney fan, and as my family says, everything reminds me of Disney). The central area could be open-pond area for the pump and free space for the fishies. Like a swimming pool with a kiddie pool on each end.

Any ideas? Of course, the main point of needing a way to physically separate the areas is still there, but maybe I could incorporate the walls/separations into the design....

 

[HARO]

Mmathis; I find the 1/4" material far less likely to break while you're working with it, and as far as using it in your intended application, I don't think you should use anything thinner. Keep in mind also that Plexiglass in a trade name, and there are others out there, such as acrylic and styrene. These may be somewhat different in how well they can be cut or resistance to breakage or weathering. As with any advice, check it out, ask around locally, and then decide. For what it's worth, how about a round(ish) pond, half of which has a false bottom, with this area having a barrier across the end as well as a divider down the middle? That way the males and the females would each have a quarter of the pond surface, while the goldfish would have half the surface area as well as the water under the false bottom. I hope you can understand what I mean. John

 

[Catfishnut]

Gordy -- While I like your idea of the hardware cloth, unfortunately, boxies are good climbers. Most owners who have lost theirs to escapes say it was from climbing some type of fencing or using a vining-type plant; bracing their legs in corners (like rock climbers); or digging (they're also good diggers). My fear here isn't so much that they would escape or even that they could access each others' areas, but that they would try to climb, loose their hold and fall over backwards into the water. On land when they "turtle," there is usually something solid there for them to push against so they can flip themselves back upright. But this would be harder in water. Granted, my water depth probably won't be deep enough to cause a problem with drowning, but don't want to take any chances.

I was wondering about their climbing abilities. In that case, even the pavers would provide them a foothold to either get out and escape or to go "over the wall" to the other side.

How about this...

Uitilize the paving bricks just as I stated, but... make the overall height of the wall short and place the top row of bricks in such a way as to create a "T" wall.

The turtles won't be able to crawl vertically and then back towards their own side of the tank upsidedown, and then back up and over the structure if the overhang is extended out far enough. It only needs to be one or two foot high with a 2-3 inch overhang. You can make this design work very easily and you won't need as much material to construct it.

I can envision this design working well and still looking neat.

Gordy

 

[taherrmann4]

When you do you use a jigsaw to cut the plexiglass tape off the part where you will be cutting with painters tape, it will keep your saw from scratching the plexiglass if any pieces get between the saw and the glass. :twocents:

 

[addy1]

Neat idea Gordy, like the climbing walls, where you need to hang by your fingers to get under and over.

 

[Catfishnut]

Neat idea Gordy, like the climbing walls, where you need to hang by your fingers to get under and over.

Thanks Addy,

Yes, just like that. Rock climbing people could figure out how to manage it, but turtles won't. Unless they get wise on us and start reading our posts! LOL Shhhssshhh! Don't let M's turtles hear about our strategies.

Gordy

 

[Mmathis]

I won't tell them if you won't