Tootfinder

Pond Slider turtles basking on the rocks in a pond. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. December, 2024. #laarboretum #turtle #pondslider

This boy told me you could catch sunfish and bass in the pond north of Dwyer Memorial Park when I was there for a car show this Sunday
#pond #photo #photography

By jove.... by complete coincidence I think the hose will be exactly the right length.
Hole is now made in the yellow milk crate for the pipe to attach directly to the inlet and reach down to the bottom of the pond. The rest of the pipe will attach to the outlet on top running up and out.
#pondpool #backyardpond #diy #portalberni

#pondpool #backyardpond #diy #portalberni
Currently turning a very useful and formerly solid box into swiss cheese 🧀 to enable entry of one, and eventually up to two, 2" outlet pipes from the pump(s). This box is both a home for the pump and will act as a prefilter and skimmer. Need maximum inflow from the intake bay of the pond without totally compromising the strength of the box.
I am going to make seven big holes around the top/front and side and then perforate the box with smaller 1/4" holes around the bottom to promote circulation from all parts of the bay.
I will back fill around the box with pebble and 1" drain rock before concealing it with large rocks and flat slate.

Pond Slider on a rock. Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, California, USA. March, 2021. #descansogardens #turtle #slider

2/2 Then it was time to decide exactly how to create the manifold to direct the return water back into the pond or into the filter. I decided that I wanted the manifold to be well within the pond liner in case anything was leaking so I cut the black tube and extended the PVC to meet it into the main area of the pond.
One valve goes to the bottom return sprayers. One valve goes to what will be sprayers along the long edge of the pond. And the last valve allows water to go into the filter.
Note to self: at least one of these valves must be open at all times if I don't want to blow up the pump :-)
#poolpond #diy #backyardProject #watergarden #pond #pondlife

Placid pond with rocks and reflections. And a duck. #laarboretum #landscape #pond #reflections

Now that we have had our brief bit of fun with the #poolpond, it’s time to drain it so work on completing it can continue! It took just over 12 hours for my little spare pond pump to empty the main pond of about 80% of its water.
It will be empty by morning. I will empty the filter and intake bay as well just to clean everything out. The movement of the past couple weeks through the system will have loosened up a bunch of the gunk still on the various rocks in the filter so a full pump out should remove all that.
I will then concentrate on finishing the piping in the bottom of the main pond for the intake for the second pond and the “periscope” for the bottom returns.
Then I can work on building the rock wall to line the inside of the pond. Or at least experimenting to see if it will work at all!
If it *does* work and I have enough rock to at least start on the bottom layers of the inside wall, then I’ll be able to achieve another milestone: placing the final pebble on the bottom. Important, because that will prevent any groundwater from infiltrating and causing the rubber liner to bubble out.
Really really want to get past that mark before the autumn rains come! For obvious reasons! ☔️
Other jobs that need to be done before winter:
- finish the manifold for the second pump to distribute water to the sprayers and filter and figure out how and where to house and conceal it.
- Dig the electrical trench from the house all the way around the long side of the pond to the back tool shed so we can start wiring it in.
- Clipping the wires on the pumps and adding extension wire to them so they can reach said electrical supplies.
- permanently shore up/modify the borders of the ponds where they were found to be low.
- make a few other minor terraforming modifications for the stream and some of the edges so the water goes a little more where I want it to and a little less where I don’t.
#poolpond #backyardProject #portalberni #ponds #watergarden

Mallard Duck, resting on a rock in the middle of a placid pond. #laarboretum #duck #mallard #pond

the City just put in Stage 1 restrictions (we're very lucky here that we have abundant water resources, many places on Vancouver Island have restrictions almost immediately every summer)
So the clock is ticking! If we get to Stage 2 and I haven't filled the pond yet, I'll be prohibited from doing so until the rains come! We can only "top up" pools and ponds in Stage 2. And (god forbid) we get into Stage 3 or 4, the pond will have to be left to dry up. (at which point I would probably just use it as a watering source for the gardens)
I don't think we've ever reached Stage 3. The last time we got to Stage 2 was about 5 years ago I think, after the Heat Dome.
I would be surprised if we got to Stage 2 this year. It has been dry, but not excessively hot, so hopefully our resources can hold through August.
The good news is... I'm close to at least filling the intake bay and wetland filter.
Once the rest of the rock/pebble comes tomorrow I'll immediately start moving the rock into those two holes as quickly as I can, and once done, I'll start filling them with water so I can test out the pumps.
I might set up a temporary path for the water to recirculate through the intake bay and filter, avoiding the pond. That way those two parts can start to grow good-bacteria for the filter while I work on the big pond.
#pondlife #poolpond #backyardPrpject #diy #rock #labour

pick up a rock
clean a rock
move a rock
place a rock
pick up a rock
clean a rock
move a rock
place a rock
#poolpond #diy #backyardProject #watergarden #pond #pondlife

Got my water/utility bill for the spring/summer yesterday. (we get billed 3 times a year as part of our general city utilities bill including water, sewer and garbage/recycling fees).
Figured it would be a big water year this year so I've been wanting to see this. And of course, I have data going back to 2019ish.
Today's bill only goes to August 1st, so it doesn't include when we started to fill the #pondpool!
This was already a dry year in the spring and we were doing lots of watering in the front yard for the new ground cover in the modified driveway and the 3 new fruit trees.
Verdict:
2024: Apr 12 - Aug 7: 122, 200L
2025 Apr 14 - Aug 1 (7 less days!): 136,600L
It will be interesting to see if the August pond filling will add a big chunk onto our summer/fall consumption or if that is offset by both the brief August water restrictions, and the departure of both kids this fall to consume other people's water. ;=)
If you want an indication of how much water people use vs. yards: look at our August 2022 bill, which captures when we were on our cross-Canada roadtrip for 30 days in July/August of the 100 day period.
#water #consumption #gardening #utility #PortAlberni

And a quick update on the big project.
The main pond is drying out! I'll let it dry today and then put the liner over tomorrow morning and start working on the plumbing asap so I can get the pebble in there to weigh it all down!
Note little dig marks in the filter pebble where I stole some for the pandemic pond.
#pandemicpond #poolpond #backyardproject #diy #ponds #gardening #watergarden #bloomscrolling #goldfish

A #pandemicpond post.
The bog-barrels that I added last summer have done an absolutely incredible job at keeping the water crystal clear and almost completely algae free this summer.
Only the much warmer stream between the ponds has more algae than I really like.
I also added the bigger pump at the same time which likely helped a little but the added flow also raised the level of the top pond just above the liner in some spots. So yesterday when I topped it up, I took away the flat border stones to inspect where it was leaking. It turns out, almost everywhere!
So I added some handfuls of pebble taken from the #poolpond filter since I know there is extra there..: and stuck it under the liner to raise it an inch or two all the way around.
Here is a before and after. The first pic with the purple lilly
pads is last year with the algae that was common in the summer before the big filters. The second pic is a few weeks ago when the pond was full, clear, but overflowing, notice the water overtop the flat stones. The last two pics are today after raising the liner a little under the stones.
And a pic of the happy dual-barrel bogs (which are just small versions of the giant filter I just finished in the backyard). The marsh marigolds have not bloomed in the bog barrels. Not sure if they will this year. It is quite shady for them.
Oh and a lilly is about to bloom!The fish are also very active and happy.
#backyardproject #diy #ponds #gardening #watergarden #bloomscrolling #goldfish

Progress.
Attachments and hose lengths made final for the second pump. Caps drilled with holes for each return bottom outlet. Three loads of gravel dumped into the #poolpond for the floor. Then I realized there was a section of the wall near the yellow crate that was not actually touching the inner wall, meaning there was a gap. Not good. But the sun has broken through the morning fog so it’s too hot in the hole now to fix it. Will have to wait until Labour Day!
This weekend is the 1 year anniversary of renting the digger to make the holes! I am about where I figured I would be one year later :)
#backyardProject #diy #pond #pondlife #gardenpond

Thank god it wasn't too hot today (only 27°C). It still felt like a million degrees in the hole as I pulled and shifted and adjusted the pond liner so it would lay flush against all the contours of the hole and gradually locked it in place with the gravel.
All the gravel bottom is in. The bottom plumbing fixtures are set. And I even managed to start playing with how the stairs might look/work.
I ran out of steam after shoveling/hauling/spreading the last load of gravel 🥵 🪏 🪨
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #pondlife

Looks like up to two pumps will fit nicely in the bin... this is good. Ill make holes in the bin for the pipes to exit one end.
The bin will be installed in the intake bay of the pond to draw/skim water from the surface.
These are skookum pumps. 💪
At full power (180W each) together they will move 40,000L/hr (666L or 175gal/min). That's almost twice the pool volume of 21,000L.
But I should not need to move that much through the bog. One pump will be dedicated to the bog filter while the other will go to both the bog and/or the sprayers in the pool.
That said, if I do need a third pump there will be room in the bin for three.
I may put one pump in the far corner of the pool itself with an inlet hose to reach the bottom of the pool to really ensure there is good circulation of the water. We'll see.
#poolpond #diy #pondProject #Backyard #unbox