2011 Pond Redo

What have I done? This picture reminded me of how good the pond could look. Well this is the year. We are finally going to redo the upper pond. This pond was built 16 years ago. It has no rock shelves and plant shelves that were too narrow and over time tilted down. Only 20 inches deep, it was designed to be more of a water garden. That was all before I got addicted to Koi. So, we're not getting any younger. We decided to raise the edges so I could sit on the short wall and hand feed the koi. This will increase the depth by 2 foot at least. We're trying to think through this so that it is easy to clean and maintain. We don't ever want to have to redo it. Someday, if we find we can't handle crawling down into the filter pit of the other lower koi pond and we have to fill it all in, then at least maybe we can still maintain this smaller pond. And so, the hard labor part begins... I thank God I have Harry. He is going to do all the back breaking work of course. We started last Sunday by moving all the necklace rock out. In a mere 3 hours we had most of it out, had relocated it in other various parts of the yard and were both suffering from lower back strain! After only 3 hours, we were both ready for the couch and we still felt like we had got a lot done. There was no turning back now. The pond was in shambles. Harry had to take a ax to the now large bush that was planted next to the pond, while I began to dig up and move other plants that were also planted next to it. Over the past 16 years there was actually almost 6 inches of dirt that had filled in the area around the pond. The rubber that originally ran under the necklace and was only covered with a few inches of gravel is now buried under 6 inches of rock and dirt. Looks like a mess now. There are no real building plans drawn up or anything. This will be a design and build as we go project. Stay tuned for more pics and pains!

Basement mystery solved

Look at this nasty little critter! I've been fighting with my basement fish having mouth and fin rot since I brought them into the inside pond in the fall. When I brought them in, I used Terminex and Prazi on them to prophylactically de=bug them. But, despite that, while many got better and most of the ulcers healed on the big fish, many of the smaller fish still have been fighting something. I've fed medicated food to try to help them. I have one small chag that has had a sore on his back for at least 3 months! Not getting any better, not getting too much worse. Danged if I could catch him though. Then just last week a second chag started to develop a sore. Over the weekend I was lucky enough to net him during feeding. I did a scape on him, and much to my surprise here was this guy, a fluke! I was blaming all my problems on bacteria, cause the fish never displayed any fluke signs like flashing or hiding in the corner or anything. While I could see problems with them, they always acted quite normal. And, mouth rot is not really a sign of flukes. Regardless, there he was under my scope, big as day and doing his familiar fluke dance. So, apparently my previously de-bugging didn't take care of them all. So, I re dosed with Prazi again and am hoping for the best. Knowing this, and knowing they were having problems before they ever came inside, I know I have flukes in the main ponds. So, now the trick is to get them out before they take over and kill my outside koi before their immune systems wake up from their winter nap. Which may be a trick. I will need to dose as quickly as the temps will allow. I swear, I have no idea where these things come from. It's a mystery.....