My Pond w/pics : Plant and Turtle Suggestions?

17 years ago

I nearly came to blows with my contractor over it...but I am now excited to actually make my new pond come alive. We need to paint the walls and stain the concrete patio but blessedly the pond build is over :D I am hoping you guys can help me with some plant ideas and settle some questions about the animals I should put in here.

The Pond

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Its 12'x8' and basically two different ponds. The back corner is going to be wall to wall plants to act as a second filter and the bottom portion is where the fish and "other tenets" will live.

Plant Area

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The water coming in from the filter is in the right corner near the camera and it comes out a good clip. The water does a circle then ends up coming down the falls by the pink rock in the bottom left corner.

Floaters?

Given the falls and the current can I get away with any floaters up here?

Plants

In the far corner I want to put a really tall plant so that the eye is drawn upwards. Then a couple pots of something maybe 3-4 feet high so I can see it above the boulder waterfall. Then right up at the rim, some sort of underwater plant that might creep up over the rim. Parrot Feather maybe? Also I want to stick with red, yellow orange and whites flowers.

Fish?

I want to put some mosquito fish up there but am worried the falls will eventually put em all below. Any thoughts?

Fish Area

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Here's where the fish and "others" will live. I know the fish I want down there, but wonder if I have room for 2 lilies and where they should go. I also want to know if I can put a turtle in there.

Fish

I have decided on goldfish and some mosquito fish. I think I will start with maybe 6-8 fish so I have room for a few babies in the future. Shibunkins, comets and maybe an oranda or two.

Plants

With a skimmer is there any floater plants I can use?

I also want to put one or two lilies in here but am not sure where to put them. The far wall on the left is where the skimmer is. In the left corner closest to the camera is the bottom drain, then you have the water fall in right corner. The ripples are lessened by the stones so the water isn't too turbulent. Against the back wall it is 12" deep and then a gradual slope down to 36" at the bottom drain. Can I put a hardy on that back wall and maybe right in the corner

Turtle?! :D

I really really want a turtle. However, I need to be sure he can't escape the pond and if there's enough land for one.

Enough Dry Land?

The rock in the middle is about 1 inch below the surface with a gradual slope up to the other two rocks which give about 2 square feet of dry land. I had a turtle as a kid who lived in an aqaurium that makes this pond look like a palace. But, on occasion I would let him run around the yard. I don't think I will be able to catch this guy without getting really wet, so he probably won't get to get out much. Will he be happy with that much land?

Escape Proof?

The bigger question is whether one might be able to get out. As you can see its a 24" drop to cement around the pond and if I am not really confident that one can't get out, I won't get one.

From his sun rock it would be a vertical climb on the far side then a treachorous climb across three boulders to the far wall which is only 4" wide and sloped so if he could get out that way he would be part frog. In theory I guess he could get up the waterfall and in to the top pool if he is some kind of super turtle, but the sides are 6 " above the waterline and sheer around the top and bottom ponds. So if he got up there he wouldn't get out.

Filtration

The 1100 gallons are recirculated 2.5 times an hour (3200gph pump with loss through head and plumbing) in to a Nitramax filter, so I am fairly confident that I have the filtration I need to keep up with 10 goldfish and turtle.

Heh heh sooo after all that, what do you guys think? Can I get a little green guy and what kind of plants would look good in there?

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Comments (7)

sheepco
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm not a turtle expert, I'll leave that to someone else.

I had never seen a tree frog in my area until I put in my pond and last summer I had 12 at a time walking on the siding of the house near it.

You may want to try dwarf varieties of water lilies. Dwarf "Sioux" is one of my favorites, its 6" pads nearly cover my 5'x5' pond if I don't trim it back once or twice, and its a prolific bloomer (even when I forget to fertilize it). Water canna lilies are vigorous growers and good for your back wall. My dwarf gets 3-4' high, and one with nice varigated leaves would be 6-8' if it wasn't root-bound :)
Pickeral rush comes in purple and white, dwarf and regular. My dwarfs get to be 1 1/2 - 2' high and bloom all summer. And you can't beat water iris for nice foliage to cover the wall too. I got a nice big handful of plants here on the exchange last spring and they were bursting from the 5 pots I planted by fall (about 3' tall). My dwarf papyrus tends to be slow starting, but maybe I'm not treating it right.
Don't forget oxygenators for the fish, and I think Parrot Feather would be great in the top.

Floaters like WH, water cress and water lettuce are wonderful filters. Bigger plants won't go over the falls, but azolla probably would. You might try a water forget-me-not tucked in the rocks, they love flowing water. If they spread too much you just rip out a bunch and compost it.

Good to keep the fish load down - my 6 feeder goldfish equalled 28 in one short summer, so plan on sharing.

Your pond is lovely, I can see why you stuck to your guns to have your vision come out just right!

Good luck and happy spring!
azponder
Original Author
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My worry with frogs is once they got out, they are miles from any other water and would not be able to get back in to the pond :(

Hmmmmm great idea with the Forget me not. I like the idea of something alive in those rocks. I am kicking myself for not building in a knook or two to plant some terrestrial greenery.

As for Iris, I heard they don't like shade and there is quite a bit of it in my pond.
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I just stumbled upon this forum and have read the above posts. I am linked with a turtle adoption agency and it is best for the turtles to eat in water. I do not find it a dumb idea to separate your pond since it is as large as it is. Sliders do need 10 gals of water per inch of shell and should be fenced in to prevent coons and other such animals from eating them and once they arrive they may eat the fish asd well. The best food for a slider is pellets containing much calcium the fish pellets lack the protien and nutrients they need. Their shells are vulnerable and need strenthened with thte calcium. If you raise an aaquatic turtle from a baby on pellets they usually don't bother your fish or plant. The plants contain nutrients they need as well as a natural food source. I suggest adding some to the turtle side if you create one. Sliders are not native to the area and a pet one being released is cruel and will not be likey to survive. For those of you wishing to obtain a turtle I suggest petfinder.com and emailing matts adoption. There are so many in need of homes and chances are good to get a baby to raise how you would like. I wish all of you the best of luck with your ponds, plants, turtles, and fish. I just hope I was able to shine some light on your dilemas. If you guys need any advice with your turtles you can email me at hallieeakin@yahoo.com.
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Personally I would take that tank, flatten it on one side about 12 inches around, maybe heat it and use a flat metal plate and a hammer to get it flat enough to drill a nice 4 inch hole in it for an out flow the higher the better, surround it with nice rock and dirt and plant some type of vine in and around the rock. Have the water flow in from the back side of it just go over the top with the pvc as it will add a nice running water sound to the pond and let it splash into the tank. Depending where you put the drain depends on how deep the water will get. I would also put in a 2 inch drain on the bottom with it feeding somplace you want some muck to feed plants or a drain area for cleaning. Of course you would need some ball valves and pvc all fairly cheap. The tank would be perfect for a settling tank with plants,, you could have the water flow into a basket with filter media first.A valve at the input would control the water flow in case 4 inch isnt big enough for output. You have yourself a nice waterfall to make splash into the stream.If the water level needs to be higher you can reduce the 4 inch with reducers till it is at a flow you like. You could also build a nice little deck around it and us the deck for a planter. you would need to put a grid of some sort around the output to keep the plant roots and such from getting in the pipe and clogging it. For an overflow I would drill into the bottom and add a pvc pipe cut to the height of the over flow and have it drain into the pond in case your output clogs up. The connection to your tank shouldnt sit directly on the bottom of the pond i personally would have it raised up about 6-8 inches depending on the size of the fish in case you have a problem and the pump wont be able to pump out all your water and leave the fish high and dry. Just my ideas is all on what I would do.
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I asked about frost lines and a backhoe because if you are planning a permanent home for your turtle inside a greenhouse, it occured to me that sinking the tank into the ground to below the frost line would make good sense for both heat retention and the comfort of the turtle, as you would then be able to allow it free access to water or ground. It might be more pleasing to you too, as you could line the tank rim with decorative logs to serve as both ramps and basking spots, rocks, plants, etc. If the tank happens to be a stock tank with a bottom drain, you could retain the ability to use it by making a permanent connection to it with a PVC pipe, then install a ballcock shutoff on that line with a long extension to an above ground handle. But to do it obviously requires drain lines and with a small backhoe, in short order- you would have the hole for the tank, the trenches for the drains and if it's your only option to discharge the water other than a sewer or septic, either a long gray water line or dry well. BTW: What species of turtle do you have? A friend of mine here in very cold in winter No. Il keeps turtles in an in-ground pond inside of a heated GH. The herons got all of his fancy Goldfish, so he erected a GH over the 1000 gal. stock tank he had sunk into the ground and while planning new fish, succumbed instead to the charm of turtles.
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moonie_57 (8 NC)
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wishing I had something like that for my turtle. How deep is the deepest part? I would worry about the water overheating as it looks too shallow for turtle comfort. Even with shade the summer temps will really heat it up. I use a kiddy pool to give my yellow-belly outdoor time but can't leave him for long or we would end up with turtle soup. :)

I see a nice little basking area, though... if you had a "deep end".
sheepco
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My pond only gets about 4 hours of sun/day. And the frogs (both leopard and tree) just showed up. They probably will at your pond too :)
robwoodruff
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Turtles are expert escape artists. They will climb up your rocks and fall off the 2 foot blocks and may get injured. Turtles are definately the most interesting thing to have in a pond. You need to have a verticle wall about twice the length of their shell to prevent them from climbing out. It is worth doing and you can still modify things to make it work.
azponder
Original Author
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Moonie-
The deep end is closest to the camera in the corner and is 34", also I am hoping that the shade will help with the water temps.

Robwoodruff-
Well I guess I need to decide on the adult size of my turtle. I assume that they cant get out from the water as its 6 inches straight up with no place for traction. As for the rocks and the waterfall I did some measurements. If you look at the third pic and imagine you are the turtle on the basking rock looking at the waterfall here is what you got to climb.

To the left is 12" fairly straight up. On the far right which is obscurred he would have to make 2 difficult 6 inch climbs and then a 10" one. The easiest one though would be to get in to the top pond. Once up there he has vertical climbs of no less than 7" of straight wall and then 9" in one spot but most are more like 11".

Is there a smaller breed of turtle I can think about?
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
17 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, tall plants: Papyrus, Iris, Colocasia (Taro) come to mind. They would screen out your block walls pretty well. I think water lettuce would be a good floater that handles current pretty well.

Your pond is beautiful! Thank you for sharing it!

My Pond w/pics : Plant and Turtle Suggestions?

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sheepco

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My Pond w/pics : Plant and Turtle Suggestions?

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