They say size doesn't matter...

[Jhn]

So, who can blame me for encouraging others now to enlarge their own pond? It just seems so, so...natural! Moral of this story? Don't get into turtles...

Pretty much sums up my ponds, had painted turtles, decided they would be better off in a pond outside, so I built one or actually 2 separate ones around 5000 gallons. I decided if I was going to build a pond for turtles, Might as well make it big enough for koi. So that lasted about 15 years, By then the painted turtles were reproducing and living in the pond year round, although had to keep them out of one of the pond loaded with plants as they loved to destroy plants.

Then we moved left the turtles and Fish there as the family moving in wanted to keep them and it was early winter when we moved, so had nowhere to put them, anyhow.

Fast forward 11 years and the current pond is 10,000 gallons housing 7 diamondback terrapins, and a lot of orfes, koi, catfish and goldfish. With a fence to contain the turtles and a wide weave net strung up about 8’ high to keep predators out. Also enlarged the bog this past spring to a 12’x12’x3’ to better handle the fish and turtle load now that predators can’t thin the herd anymore.

Still have an 1800 gallon turtle pond built about 3-4 years ago that contains 3- 4 year old and 3- 2 year old Terrapins, some shubunkins and native darters and dace. Its Filtered by a bog and plants.

Will expand the 10k pond again sometime soon to install an intake bay so I can abandon the traditional skimmers, as I get tired of cleaning them.

So yeah I agree don’t get into turtles.

 

[Gemma]

Bitten by the koi bug, I got 5 more, you know, just because I lost 1.

This used to be my thinking too!

 

[GBBUDD]

Pretty much sums up my ponds, had painted turtles, decided they would be better off in a pond outside, so I built one or actually 2 separate ones around 5000 gallons. I decided if I was going to build a pond for turtles, Might as well make it big enough for koi. So that lasted about 15 years, By then the painted turtles were reproducing and living in the pond year round, although had to keep them out of one of the pond loaded with plants as they loved to destroy plants.

Then we moved left the turtles and Fish there as the family moving in wanted to keep them and it was early winter when we moved, so had nowhere to put them, anyhow.

Fast forward 11 years and the current pond is 10,000 gallons housing 7 diamondback terrapins, and a lot of orfes, koi, catfish and goldfish. With a fence to contain the turtles and a wide weave net strung up about 8’ high to keep predators out. Also enlarged the bog this past spring to a 12’x12’x3’ to better handle the fish and turtle load now that predators can’t thin the herd anymore.

Still have an 1800 gallon turtle pond built about 3-4 years ago that contains 3- 4 year old and 3- 2 year old Terrapins, some shubunkins and native darters and dace. Its Filtered by a bog and plants.

Will expand the 10k pond again sometime soon to install an intake bay so I can abandon the traditional skimmers, as I get tired of cleaning them.

So yeah I agree don’t get into turtles.

I guess addy is in good company your self and I just keep going and going. The two of you make my pond seem blazea

 

[addy1]

You have 10 ponds? View attachment 135263 I thought you had just one large pond

opps I forgot the hot tub pond, make that around 11 ponds. It is 300 gallons.

 

[Lisak1]

opps I forgot the hot tub pond, make that around 11 ponds. It is 300 gallons.

Oh boy! Better update that signature!

 

[Jhn]

I guess addy is in good company your self and I just keep going and going. The two of you make my pond seem blazea

Haha, I don’t know about your pond looking blazea, don’t think that is possible. Your pond looks like it has been there as long as mine, and hasn’t even been there half the time.

 

[Spartamets]

I voted for the "refusing to believe" option, but really I just can't expand my pond further. Neither my yard nor my wife will allow it. So I add waterfalls--I'm up to three now--and work on converting the remaining lawn into "pond border." It is inconceivable to me that I could ever be satisfied with my pond as-is. Every day I get to exercise self-restraint by not fixing or changing or redoing something. Unless I do fix or change or redo things. Or buy more plants and fish.

Speaking of which, fun fact: I "planted" some water hyacinths this year by keeping some of them within a garden-y part of the pond. (Yes, they sprawled out of it, too.) The "planted" hyacinths all bloomed, right through to November. I had one raggedly bloom one time, ever, but this year, in the non-floating zones, they bloomed reliably all season. I never saw anything like it. So now I've got something new to tinker with next year now, along with the fountain I'm adding.

 

[brokensword]

I voted for the "refusing to believe" option, but really I just can't expand my pond further. Neither my yard nor my wife will allow it. So I add waterfalls--I'm up to three now--and work on converting the remaining lawn into "pond border." It is inconceivable to me that I could ever be satisfied with my pond as-is. Every day I get to exercise self-restraint by not fixing or changing or redoing something. Unless I do fix or change or redo things. Or buy more plants and fish.

Speaking of which, fun fact: I "planted" some water hyacinths this year by keeping some of them within a garden-y part of the pond. (Yes, they sprawled out of it, too.) The "planted" hyacinths all bloomed, right through to November. I had one raggedly bloom one time, ever, but this year, in the non-floating zones, they bloomed reliably all season. I never saw anything like it. So now I've got something new to tinker with next year now, along with the fountain I'm adding.

I think I see signs of denial...

 

[TimL94]

I am the: Bought House with small kidney shaped Pond (3 feet x 4 feet) but the liner stopped about 20 - 30cm down the side of the pond... and you had to stick your face into the "hole" to see the pond.... :/ so naturally I had to make it a bit bigger and now have maybe 4m x 3m and its 1m deep, that is slightly raised above ground level with shallow berms... and wish I had made it bigger.... but I think will just make another pond

 

[Lisak1]

The "planted" hyacinths all bloomed,

I shared a similar experience in another thread. My hyacinths that had roots touching "bottom" all bloomed, both in the pond and the pondless waterfall. My free floaters never do. That's what I love about gardening - always learning new things!

 

[brokensword]

I shared a similar experience in another thread. My hyacinths that had roots touching "bottom" all bloomed, both in the pond and the pondless waterfall. My free floaters never do. That's what I love about gardening - always learning new things!

I read that too and already started laying out exactly where I'd try this lil experiment next summer! I had great growth this year, what with warmer than usual June and lots of sun, but only got 3 blooms, jammed together and protected by a netting. Plants were probably 2' tall by summer's end! I wonder exactly why they would bloom more if not floating, though? Glad @Spartamets reported this in!

 

[Lisak1]

I think the accumulated "dirt" helped, too. I had to literally tug mine out of the pond and they had accumulated a lot of silt. Normally I can just fish them out with a net. This year mine multiplied like crazy so I started tucking them behind rocks and into all kinds of nooks and crannies. Those were my bloomers!

 

[brokensword]

I think the accumulated "dirt" helped, too. I had to literally tug mine out of the pond and they had accumulated a lot of silt. Normally I can just fish them out with a net. This year mine multiplied like crazy so I started tucking them behind rocks and into all kinds of nooks and crannies. Those were my bloomers!

I routinely put in the floaters because I was told their aggressive root systems were great for keeping water quality up. Still believe that but makes me think re blooming that they need more than I'm giving them. An indictment on having too many plants? Maybe. It'll be real interesting next summer though, when I apply some of your tricks re hyacinth. Phosphorus is supposed to be the ingredient that promotes flowers so maybe it's more a matter of not having enough of that available. Green is a result of enough nitrogen, so that should tell me the nitrates are being removed nicely. I might have to do both to get this best of both worlds.

 

[Lisak1]

I have noticed that my pond marginals that creep into the landscape are much greener when they are growing in the soil vs the pond.

 

[addy1]

I have noticed that my pond marginals that creep into the landscape are much greener when they are growing in the soil vs the pond.

Mine look about the same, I have bog plants growing all along a fence now.