~ * ~ My Pond & Aquarium Pages ~ * ~
 ~ Updated 12/2005 ~
Page 1

After several years of thinking about adding a pond to our property I finally decided to try a small 150 gallon lined kiddy pool.  I added several goldfish and a load of hornwart and elodia.  There was a light coating of gravel on the bottom.  There was no filter or aeration.  The fish thrived through the heat of summer and the cold of that first winter.   I was hooked.  The following summer (1996) I ordered a 60 mil liner from Tetra and started to dig.   The first year we used a homemade filter.  The second year we bought a Tetra filter and pump.  There were no predators that first year.





The yard before the pond was dug.  The first pond, 800 gallons, went right were that flower bed was.  Summer 1995.

What it looked like before adding the liner.  July 1996.

Before adding the fish.  There was a layer of gravel on the bottom, later removed.   The homemade filter was replaced by a Tetra filter.  July 1996.


By 1997 it looked a lot different.  But preditors were becoming a serious problem.  These consisted of snakes, bullfrogs, herons, snapping turtles and an occasional kingfisher.

The 2000 gallon pond was added in 1998.  By this time the predators were  removing the fish almost as soon as we purchased them.   Almost all the koi were taken over that first summer.

All but a few of these beautiful koi were taken by predators.  It was either net the ponds or give up on keeping fish.  We netted the ponds. 



The large pond in winter.  1998



The rails were removed.  The leaves don't gather to the point of dragging the net down.  2003.



Once netted no more fish were lost and no more plants were trashed in the night.



The fish were replaced but some colors couldn't be found in the local stores.  Many were replaced with Butterfly koi, our favorites.  Summer 2004.


Some water lilies in the smaller pond.  There's a white, a yellow, a red and a mini-changeable.  All thriving on Jobe's Rose spikes.  Summer 2004.


View of the ponds from the sunroom  window. 




That original kiddy pool with a waterfall added. Summer 2005.  It's home to green frogs, rosy reds and a few calico goldfish.   7/2005.


Red tropical swamp lily.  It blooms in late summer.   9/2005


A group of water plants near the pond.  Purple taro, water lily, lotus and an orange hibiscus.  6/2005.
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