Vicki, There are many filter systems used by ponders but keep in mind it is a system. Since it is a run off pond with rocks on the bottom I don't think you have a bottom drain. So that in itself means eventually you will have to vaccuum the pond or drain and pump out the mulm and clay that accumulates under the rocks. Most people with rock lined ponds do that yearly. Pond skimmers will help keep the surface debris from eventually ending up in those rocks. Bead filters and pressure filters usually require a prefilter before them, and you must frequently flush them wich requires a lot of water. May not be a bad option if you install a skimmer and use it after the skimmer. But you must commit to those flushes. Your pond is twice the size of mine. How deep is it? What are the dimensions. If it was my pond and the theme was more natural vs crystal clear here is what I might do. I might just use two large skimmers and take them to skippy filters. I don't think I would retrofit a bottom drain due to the clay. So I would do a yearly clean out. If the clay was not that big of a deal I would retrofit a BD to a settling pond or chamber and take that to a skippy. Others with better ideas will chime in soon. Regards, Lisa

By 'propagator' if you mean one of those mini-greenhouse-type contraptions, I would strongly discourage it for the same reasons eluded to above - poor air circulation and increased humidity are not part of a successful Lithops equation. If you want to use a heater, you should turn it off at night, a large day-night temp. differential is beneficial to Lithops and other succulents' metabolism. And remember, when Lithops are young, they need more frequent light watering than adult plants, most are too small yet to withstand prolonged heat and drought, I would say that by next spring you can begin treating them more like adults. In the wild, most seedlings do not survive, so keep in mind they need to be pampered to some degree during the 1st 12-18 months. There is plenty of good advice to be had on this forum, simply do a search for "Lithops seedlings" and lots of reading will come up.

Fortunately....Tina has you beat! I cant imagine dumping 80,000 gallons of water!!!! Pool life is going good, we finally got bar stools today!!! I had ordered them 2 months ago so that they matched our patio table. Its looking better and better. We do need to re-enhance/seal the stone. It was so porous the sunny areas soaked it right up. Its just finding the time. It has to not rain for a couple of days so the stone is completely dry. I wanted to do it next week because we are hosting a cocktail party and I want it to look fabulous. Right now I am killing myself to finish the inside. It is funny how you feel like you know some of the posters...we all kind of went thru the same stuff around the same time. There was another lady....Beachdiva....who I shared similar stories with...we both had recently moved, bought high, market is now low, both our homes needed interior renovations..only she put in a pool, ours was a remodel. Hope your project is all back to normal...is the yard back together? Cant wait to see your whole finished project.

I don't really have anything constructive to add but I just had to tell you that your little shop is wonderful. It's probably a very good thing that it's on the other end of the continent from me because I would have a very hard time not spending a LOT of money (that I couldn't really afford to spend) in there. :-) I want the kitchen stove, the carved sideboard, the stained glass windows, the enormous pentacle (you call 'em Texas Stars) on the exterior wall, two or three of the armoires... LOL I do think the tin-covered house is cute, it does make it look funkier and more "shoppish". I agree that if you can afford to hang onto it, it might be better to take it off the market (formally, but if someone came along...) for a while. Maybe you could open one weekend a month instead of every weekend? There's an antiques shop where I live that does that, a long weekend once a month, and they do a ROARING business that weekend. Oh, wait! I do have something constructive to add, although it is a minor detail. On the website, it was a little annoying to have to keep flipping back to the photo index page to get to the various photos - "previous" and "next" links would be a Good Thing(tm) just for convenience.