TWO PONDS FROM ONE -- POSSIBLE DESIGNS?

[Mmathis]

CALLING ALL CREATIVE GENIUSES!! OK, just searching for design options and since I've never had a pond, was sorta wondering what works & what doesn't. From a physics standpoint about all I understand is that gravity makes water flow to the lowest point (that college education was good for something, wasn't it?).

For those who haven't been following, I am making a pond for my box turtles, which are NOT aquatic turtles but still need water to soak in. My plan is to have a false-bottom to keep the turts at a shallow level, but have overall depth & volume to facilitate good water flow & filtering (and maybe a few fish). But that's not my point of posting.

Because I have boy & girl turtles that need to be kept apart, I want to come up with a design that will let me somehow divide the pond into 2 sections. All that my limited imagination has been able to come up with is to put a wooden wall in the middle of the pond, and through that section of the habitat, but that doesn't sound too pretty. Boxies are good climbers, so just piling rocks up probably wouldn't work. Would like to have somewhere around 100 gals(but as a true newbie, not sure how reasonable that is).

HELP!!

The way my habitat is (will be) designed, the boy & girl sections will be side-by-side so the area for the pond will be able to be accessed by both sections. I'm not on the computer that has my photos or I would include a pic or 2 that might clarify this concept.

I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO, JUST NOT HOW TO MAKE THE IDEA WORK. So, what are some practical design options? Shape of the pond? Two ponds on one pump/filter (is that even possible?)

TurtleMommy

 

[HARO]

How about a strip of Plexiglass (acrylic, etc.) across the pond! It would be nearly invisible, but would obviously have to be high enough to prevent the little turds OOPS, I meant turts from climbing over. John

 

[ididntdoit99]

Are you talking about a preformed pond you want to split into 2 smaller ponds?? or are you digging a pond with a liner? I have some ideas.. but dont want to start rambling about the wrong thing here.

 

[adavisus]

An informal bamboo barrier might be a logical choice... Mebbe even a perty solution...
Another option, let the box turts have their own enclosures and let them take turns to have a gate open to the pond enclosure....
Regardsandy

 

[sissy]

haro LMAO

 

[addy1]

How about a strip of Plexiglass (acrylic, etc.) across the pond! It would be nearly invisible, but would obviously have to be high enough to prevent the little turds OOPS, I meant turts from climbing over. John

Aww and tease the poor little things can see but not touch! lol

 

[Mmathis]

I'm going to use a flex liner and would like to make a single pond that can be divided. IOW, shared water, but separate "spaces." I'm open to any suggestions, however.

Thought about plexiglas -- good idea, but one of the traits of the turtles is that if they can see it, they want to go there. Needless to say, they're not too bright and would probably kill themselves trying to get through the plexiglass! Silly little "turds," is right! LOL!

 

[Waterbug]

Have the female's mother come stay with them.

 

[fishin4cars]

have you thought about using egg crating material instead of wood or plexi glass, It would have holes so water could flow between the two ponds or areas, the turtles could see each other but they also see a barrier so they aren't as likely to try and go through it like glass. You could run risers out of wood that the egg crate material would slide down into there fore securing it in place yet a section could be lifted out to allow them together when you wanted them to be together. Also if you use this as a shelf water could flow through it and you can place a screen mesh on it and cover it with some gravel to make a shallow habitat for the box turtles and allow the water to go to the rest of the pond. I think a 2'x4' sheet at lowes runs about $5 It will be in the lighting, or ceiling tile sections.

 

[Mmathis]

Fishin -- good idea, too, except that, alas, boys & girls must nevermore know that the other exists! I know, sounds cruel, but .... Those darn boys get so aggressive toward each other when the girls are around, and they chase & hound the girls relentlessly!

Actually, the "egg crate," as you call it, is what I'll be using as my false-floor.

But wonder if there's some way to use that as a base or "armature" for a vertical-ish wall? Cover with mesh and sculpt a little mini-mountain out of Quikcrete or some other similar material -- like they make the fake rocks & stuff at theme parks?

What would be safe to use in a pond?

 

[Waterbug]

Making rocks out of cement is either safe or deadly. Depends on who you ask.

 

[addy1]

That would be neat, a mini mountain.........make sure they can not scale the mountain on their women hunt!

 

[fishin4cars]

For turtles concrete would be 100% safe, actually high ph and high hardness will benefit them. low Ph can act like a acid to the shells of turtles Soft shell turtles are about the only species that will do better in low PH than high. If you wanted to play with it fiberglass would work as well too.
Do they get aggressive year round or just during mating season? I'm thinking about doing something kind of similar for my tortoise next year. But I'll only need a small shallow pond for them to get in and out of to soak. I'm trading off my Musk and softshell for another sulcata Friday. I just finished building them a outside enclosure (4'x8') with a hide house for when they are outside, going to work on them a inside enclosure starting after Christmas so they have a nice size place to wander when inside. I found out they don't like aquariums even when very small.

 

[HARO]

Plexiglass comes in a variety of colours as well as clear; had a medium gray sheet a while back that was dark enough you couldn't see through it, yet I don't think it would be too obvious in a pond. Just a thought. John

 

[Mmathis]

Fishin -- I see you're from my neck of the woods, more or less ( Shreveport). Well, males tend to be aggressive toward each other almost any time, but I have a HUGH outdoor habitat for them which gives them lots of space. It does seem to be worse when one of the girls is around. Supposedly the major mating season is spring, but I think that's a hormonal thing that has to do with their brumating cycle. I'll be glad when I get the girls' addition completed for them in the spring.

Other ideas: I'll look into the plexiglass idea. Even if I had to end up doing a double-thickness, it might work. But I've had issues in the past with cutting plexiglass. Suggestions?

Quikcrete will be heavy and I know it leaches, so just a passing thought, there.

Thought about fiberglass, but have never worked with it. Is it expensive?