jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I can't claim I had anything to do with the construction, but I did the hardest part which was writting the checks. So far about 4 weeks old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 We have 12 fancy gold fish and 2 small butterfly koi (gold). The biggest orange comets are 10/11 inches. At the deepest its about 4 feet so the fish can winter. There are two native pickeral/ southern leapard frogs who are calling it home now as well. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brac Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Pretty nice Bart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 FISHY FISHY IN THE BROOK,,PAPA CATCH THEM ON A HOOK,, MA MA FRY THEM IN A PAN,,BABY EAT THEM LIKE A MAN,,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCliff Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 WOW I did not realize how nice Pluto looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 TOP NOTCH!!!!!! [Y]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Where did you get the lilly pads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Congratulations, outstanding! Pluto is a beautiful place, however the winters are very long and cold.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Where did you get the lilly pads? Its actually just one plant from a feed store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted July 19, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 19, 2011 I can't claim I had anything to do with the construction, but I did the hardest part which was writting the checks. So far about 4 weeks old. But that's the part that hurts the most, I have seen the pain in person, that's how we got started in landscaping about 20 years ago, building ponds and waterfalls. That looks great, I have seen alot of ponds/landscaping and I would have loved to have had the natural rock like your back yard to work with, perfect ! The sitting area is very cool also . [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted July 19, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 19, 2011 Where did you get the lilly pads? Its actually just one plant from a feed store. It's probably in a pot with some kind of soil with rocks on top, or a container with kind of a mat which acts as something the plant can root in. Waterlilies, hardy or tropical LOVE fertilizer, if you can get into the container keep fertilizer in it all season, the cold will be the only thing to make them go dormant and back to the root. You can tell when the fertilizer is wearing off, the new pads sprouting will not be as big as the pads on the plant already, then you need fertilizer, the little fruit tree fertilizer stakes work great for just a few plants, I just use 8-8-8 but I have alot to feed. JB do you ever go walk out there at night or early in the morning ? If so I have a waterlilly for your pond you might like that blooms around sunset and closes back up around 9-10 in the am and bright red, it's called Antares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 The pond is in its 4th week, with the 10 fish (comets) and the Lilly plant. I have since added some anacharis, chameleon plant, water haycinth, water mini bamboo, and a cardinal flower. All except the water hyacinth and the anachris are in as pot exactly as you said. I noticed what I think is a bloom poping in the below pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Since adding the additional plants I added 2 shabumkins and 2 butter fly koi. The pond is approx 3400 gallons with a lower skimmer/5600 gallon pump which pumps water into a bio falls some 14 feet above the water level to create the multiple falls. Below is the some more plants. I also noticed some small black snails, which I am sure came in from the plants. Also been adding some Microb Lift weekly to get the process started in the bio falls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Are cranes a concern where you are? I know several people who've lost fish to cranes. Cranes can spot a dinky pond from high aloft. That large pond of yours would be very attractive to the cranes here on Earth.[Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 First class Jackson. Impressive most impressive. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Are crains a concern where you are? I've know several people who've lost fish to crains. Crains can spot a dinky pond from high aloft. That large pond of yours would be very attractive to the cains here on Earth. I have seen an immature Blue Heron in the area late last fall for the first time ever. There is a state park where those guys summer with in 6 miles of my home. I think the one last fall diminshed the local frog population before heading south. The pond was built to discourage water birds who feed on fish with the rocks and step design, but as you mentioned its a risk. I have hesitated on naming the fish for that reason or buying expensive fish. Mine are heathly cheapos, not feeder fish, but not high priced KOI either. If they get bigger you can bet I will get more protective and give the size of the pond they should grow to it. My hope is they start reproducing with in the next few years to exceed or match any losses. These fish are dumb as a box of rocks, so as they have rock caves to hid, I doubt they would if the scenario emerged. They are pretty well trained to meet me in the morning for a feeding as well as an adult Blue Heron. I feed them only a little, so they keep at the algae. We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnatnoop Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 fansastic, you write great checks! [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted July 19, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 19, 2011 Very true about the Heron, blue or white, the small ones and the big ones, there different, not just young birds they all can pull a 18'' Koi out of a pond, caught them doing it. Also koi like to jump so if you find one out the pond don't be surprised, if they are not mostly eaten they probably jumped. In the spring when the water gets above about 70* and you notice the Koi are acting crazy and chasing other Koi there mating. The males will follow the females and push them against the sides of the pond or a rock, this pushes the eggs out of the female and the males fertilize them. They hatch in 3 days, the Koi will eat the eggs but once they hatch they will not eat them, other fish will, you may still end up with a few. We only had Koi and would hatch them to sell, just one or two females can produce thousands of babies, when we separated them after spawning we would get so many, we would ended up giving the last bunch (ugliest) away after keeping the best colored and marked fish for ourselves. Jb; "If they get bigger you can bet I will get more protective and give the size of the pond they should grow to it. " For the most part they will only grow to match the pond size, eventually you may want to get rid of anything but Koi , they can breed with pool comets, the only way to tell them apart is Koi have whiskers, pool comets are never worth what a Koi is even if the markings are the same. I would run off that heron, we had 2 fish for breeding, from Japan a heron got one of them, I got the heron. [] We got away from breeding them, I picked my favorite fish and put them in the big pond in the back yard, 1.5 acres, those Koi are now between 2 1/2 feet to 3 feet long which are still not full grown by far. Sorry to go on, but Koi are a very cool fish, the Japanese did some amazing things with them to get the colors, including metallic, special patterns and what type of scales and even no scales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Well done and top notch. Looks great. Come build me one...or just write the check, either will do.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 Dtel, could you please post some pictures of your pond and your Koi? Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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