Tuesday, March 29, 2011

something fishy going on


As you may remember, we finally got the big pond set up and moved Big Mama out to the country house last October. For those of you who are newer readers, Big Mama is our 20 year old red ear slider turtle and her new pond is a 600 gallon plastic stock tank.

When we moved Big Mama we also moved the pond filter. It hadn't been cleaned out in a few years so we gave it a good cleaning in the process, which kills or otherwise gets rid of the bacteria that eats the scum it filters out of the pond. It also has a foam pad and a charcoal pad the water first seeps through.

Anyway...

I situated the pond in a spot that gets sun most of the day in the winter and morning sun in the summer. We moved Big Mama and her attendant goldfish groupies into a pond of clean clear water and a couple of weeks later added four large goldfish and a handful of minnows that needed a new home.

As the weeks went by, however, the water got murkier and murkier until you couldn't see anything at all. We would see the turtle slip into the water from her sunning spot and then nothing til her head popped up somewhere. And the fish not at all.

The pump was taking a long time to regrow the bacteria and the two other filters were only catching the big stuff. I think that by the time it finally started working again, the pond was too far gone. We were waiting for spring to clean the pond out and start over.

Long about the beginning of March I happened to notice that the water seemed a little clearer. And every couple of days a little clearer still. And the foam and charcoal filters were beginning to collect more and more stuff. To the point that they were totally saturated every three days or so.

And now, the water is perfectly clear.

I can't decide if the filter finally got the better of the algae or if those first two weeks in February when the nighttime temperatures were in the 20s finally killed it all. Probably both.

Anyway...

Now that the water is clear and we can see the fish and the turtle, it adds a whole new layer of enjoyment to it. I'm no longer surprised by the turtle for one thing.

She has eyed my dangling fingers one too many times for my comfort.

Because I feed her by hand.


She really loves snails but I don't get the big ones out here that infest the city. And fruit. Bananas, peaches, grapes, watermelon. She really likes watermelon. When I give her watermelon, she'll take it over to the other side of the pond to eat it. When I feed her, the fish all swarm underneath her for the crumbs.


They are a thing unto themselves, the fish. They have formed a little school with the four big ones and the ten or so small ones. One of the large ones is swelling with eggs. They have learned the system, who feeds them. When I walk by, now that we can see each other, they swim toward me.

The minnows, they got their own thing going.

Yesterday, I was giving Big Mama some banana, holding another piece just under the water level while she consumed the one I had just given her. The pregnant big goldfish swam right up and tugged on it in my hand.

Cool.


26 comments:

  1. That is cool. I'll bet Mike would REALLY enjoy something like that. Wonder what the landlord would say?

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  2. I had to enlarge that pic of Big Mama and the fish just to love it more. So sweet.

    That is a neat pond Ellen - and she looks so happy. Glad it cleared up and you get to enjoy her.

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  3. Isn't it interesting, the way they get their own dinnertime routine going on. And you're a part of it :)

    In the summer, we take water walks in Long Island Sound and often there's a school of minnows ahead of us. To us it's a sign ... they're usually driven in to the shore by a bluefish or a striper, which we'll then see soon after the minnows.

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  4. Oh my stars....you were fishy blessed. I am so jealous. Your Big Mama is gorgeous and the fish are too much. I want a pond too but the idot little dog we have would make life miserable for all so......never mind. I'll have to make do with my recycling fountain bucket out in the patio area. Keep those fishy and turle pix coming. The Olde Bagg

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  5. Ellen, so glad to meet Big Mama! What a lovely turtle! Would certainly be Bigger Mama if she'd had all the snails I found! I once kept a terrapin, which seemed lonely, so I put some fish in with it to keep it company and the next morning there were no fish!

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  6. I love water gardens! I can sit for hours watching the fish.

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  7. OH I love your pets!The gold fish look tasty- I would think that Big Mama might taste them occasionally.
    Sweet- I had a tortoise once- she was a lovely pet and very agreeable. I accidentally killed her. Sad.

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  8. A beautiful environment right there for you to enjoy.

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  9. Sounds great. How fortunate to have room for a fishy and amphibian world. After 20 years Big Mama must have become a real pet, just like a dog or cat. Does she come when you call her? Or go for walks?

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  10. that is just too cool! i would love to see this in person.

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  11. Oooh, how cool. I've always thought of fish as being merely an expensive ornamental hobby, but you've shown that they can be so much more. Personality, huh?

    Our first spring here in the country, we dug up a garden spot in an area that had been a muddy pond. With the first shovelful of dirt, two tiny turtles came poking their heads out. They were baby snappers. Since it was still very early in the spring, we brought them inside, made a terrarium, and they buried themselves under several inches of dirt. I left watermelon and lettuce out for them, but they didn't emerge for several more weeks. Once out, though, they began climbing the walls. We released them beside a neighborhood pond. I've often wondered if they survived and now might have tiny snappers of their own.

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  12. little fins and flippers. i love watching the underwater world for its fluidity, its sinuousity. steven

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  13. That is indeed cool. You always have something interesting going on there. I'm glad you share.

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  14. Big Mama is adorable! I'm glad her house (and the fishes) is all set up and under control. The image of the pregnant goldfish stealing banana out of your hand made me giggle ;-)

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  15. Cool. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to feed a turtle by hand. I can believe the goldfish tug food out of your hands. My goldfish practically jumps out of the tank trying to get any tuna that I feed him.

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  16. A watermelon-eating turtle, huh? I've heard it all!

    I just read D.H. Lawrence's poem on a baby tortoise.

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  17. That is so cool!!! Love Big Mama!! She is beautiful!!
    Congrats on your POTW award
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  18. Great story and pictures, worthy of your POTW mention.

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  19. What great entertainment for you! Congrats on POTW!

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  20. This was very nicely written and an interesting pet tale.

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  21. That's quite the pond you have. Ponds aren't really something I think we'd have much luck with up here, but if I ever win the powerball, I think a koi pond would be pretty cool. No problem with turtles either.

    Congratulations on your potw.

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  22. My goodness Big Mama has quite the palate! Ellen, you never cease to amaze me. Do you ever sit?!

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  23. O my God. That's really outrageous. It's shining more then my shower doors.

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  24. Love turtles! I went to the turtle farm in the Cayman Islands and were amazed at how huge some of them are. They use lots of glass cleaner

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  25. i also have a turtle I got from 1989 and it's a red ear turtle. I'm putting him into a 125 gal pond. I'm curious about the filter. it's a waterfall that has a sponge and mesh in the container. Is that good enough?

    I don't want the water to get nasty.

    Rishi

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  26. Rishi, we use a Tetra pond filter good for 1000 gallons. it has small plastic cylinders in it with a foam and a mesh charcoal layer and it keeps our 600 gallon pond clear. I usually clean the inner filters every couple of weeks.

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