If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond. While it will be just a shed from outside,
inside I plan on making it a bit more comfortable. Air conditioning
and glass door aside, it is also going to have WiFi access,
refrigerator, microwave, etc. The back section is where I'll put my
batteries and inverter. The whole thing (less air conditioner and
refrigerator) will run off of photovoltaic cells on the roof. I put a
big solar cell array on the top of my electric golf (I've never
played) cart and haven't had to plug it in to recharge in almost a
year now.

Right now the 1/4 acre back pond (where I'm going) is covered in
duckweed. I have a theory about duckweed control that I am going to
get to test as soon as I get power back there. Moving water seems to
inhibit duckweed growth, and I have an aerator in the big pond by my
house (now nothing but a weed infested wet depression) that I'm going
to put down at the back pond. I'm also going to have a pump for a
stream that will just flow back into the pond. I know it's moving
water around for no good reason, but if it helps with the duckweed...

Wow, Galen,

A major project!

Let me know how much power you can get from the sun. I suspect it
might be hard to run our pond pump on solar, but I sure would be
willing to try if we had a reasonable payback period.

I think you will enjoy your hide out. Post a pic! What prompted your
"move"?

Duckweed is a favorite of various carp...koi, goldies, etc. They
clean our main pond. If your moving water pushes the surface in a
given direction, the duckweed will be pushed up there and will not
thrive. If the pond flowed over something to the pump return with
sufficient flow, it would clear the pond. Our berm pond grows a
covering of duckweed before the hyacinth or parrots feather start
their year. The flow is not enough to clear the surface. Then the
hyacinth loses to the more powerful cover plants. Enough survives for
the next year's cycle. In the main pond, it simply gets gobbled up.
It does thrive on our wet falls, so we never are in danger of losing
it all. Actually, there is plenty wild around here!

Will you put any fish in your pond? Walking catfish? Gators? Carp?
Mosquito fish? Will you BB the weeds? A million questions spring to
mind!

Have fun. Post pics.

Jim

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:17:04 EDT, Jim Hurley
wrote:

Wow, Galen,

A major project!

Let me know how much power you can get from the sun. I suspect it
might be hard to run our pond pump on solar, but I sure would be
willing to try if we had a reasonable payback period.

I doubt a pond pump would be a good candidate for solar power.
Photovoltaic cells only put out power during the day, and while they
do put out some power on an overcast day, it isn't nearly as much as
bright sunshine. They put out no power at night. You would have to
have sufficient battery power to run your pump all night as well as
sufficient panels to not only run your pump during the day but to have
enough extra power to re-charge your batteries.

I think you will enjoy your hide out. Post a pic! What prompted your
"move"?

Duckweed is a favorite of various carp...koi, goldies, etc. They
clean our main pond. If your moving water pushes the surface in a
given direction, the duckweed will be pushed up there and will not
thrive. If the pond flowed over something to the pump return with
sufficient flow, it would clear the pond. Our berm pond grows a
covering of duckweed before the hyacinth or parrots feather start
their year. The flow is not enough to clear the surface. Then the
hyacinth loses to the more powerful cover plants. Enough survives for
the next year's cycle. In the main pond, it simply gets gobbled up.
It does thrive on our wet falls, so we never are in danger of losing
it all. Actually, there is plenty wild around here!

Will you put any fish in your pond? Walking catfish? Gators? Carp?
Mosquito fish? Will you BB the weeds? A million questions spring to
mind!

Have fun. Post pics.

I managed to get two pictures to photobucket, a "before" clearing and
an "after" clearing shot. It isn't nearly as nice as other ponds, but
this is a natural mud pond, with a spring in it somewhere, because the
water level never goes down and it overflows into a little stream
which eventually makes it down to the Suwannee River about 3 miles
away.
http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x278/ghekhuis/
I don't know about putting fish in the pond. There used to be
mosquito fish, but I haven't seen them recently. Of course, I haven't
seen much underwater recently because of the duckweed. I have a time
lapse camera that takes pictures once every ten seconds. You can see
it in the "before" photo where it sits on a pole overlooking the pond.
It will run for about two days on batteries, then I review what it has
seen in the form of "movies," so I can watch the entire day in a
matter of minutes. Most of the time nothing happens, but I have
caught pictures of ducks, turtles and other critters in the pond even
with the duckweed. When I point the camera at the land right beside
the pond I've seen deer (natch), 3 hens and their 12 wild turkey
chicks, raccoons, a wild boar (actually probably a feral pig, but it
sounds more exciting if you say "wild boar," though), rabbits, and
various other critters that don't hang around long enough for me to
identify. I won't go looking for alligators, but a few years ago one
moved into the back pond. It isn't there any more but I don't exactly
know what to do if one moves in again. They are rather well protected
by law here in Florida.

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:02:37 EDT, Galen Hekhuis wrote:

http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x278/ghekhuis/
-snip-
I have a time
lapse camera that takes pictures once every ten seconds. You can see
it in the "before" photo where it sits on a pole overlooking the pond.
It will run for about two days on batteries, then I review what it has
seen in the form of "movies," so I can watch the entire day in a
matter of minutes. Most of the time nothing happens, but I have
caught pictures of ducks, turtles and other critters in the pond even
with the duckweed.

That's a cool way to watch critters. Does your camera spit video out,
or do you need to convert jpg's to avi? What resolution do you get
from the individual frames? I've gotten nice video at 1200x1600, but
then the software seems to choke- and I can't take as many pictures-
yesterday I took 4700 on a 4gb card- 5 seconds apart, about 8am-8pm.
The individual photos look ok at 4x6- and they made a 2 minute video
at 35 frames per second.

For Christmas my son gave me Canon point & shoot camera- and a pointer
to http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK .

Time lapse is one of the things this free, open source, software makes
[almost] any Canon point and shoot do. It is a cool way to see
your pond-life in a few minutes.

My little 8x12 pond had its first lily bloom last week. So I set up
the camera to watch it open and close. Took a picture every 10
seconds, all day long.

My plan was to just get the flower, but when I went to set the camera
up there was a frog on a nearby piece of driftwood, so I zoomed out a
bit and included the driftwood in the frame. All told I framed about
12x18". from 8am-8pm I captured a sparrow, 4 frogs, 2 damselflies,
several water skippers, a damselfly larva, a couple water beetles, an
apple snail, an inch worm & a bunch of pond snails. Oh-- and a white
water lily opening and closing.

When I point the camera at the land right beside
the pond I've seen deer (natch), 3 hens and their 12 wild turkey
chicks, raccoons, a wild boar (actually probably a feral pig, but it
sounds more exciting if you say "wild boar," though), rabbits, and
various other critters that don't hang around long enough for me to
identify.

Cool bunch of critters. Does your camera have infra-red or are
these all daylight?

I won't go looking for alligators, but a few years ago one
moved into the back pond. It isn't there any more but I don't exactly
know what to do if one moves in again. They are rather well protected
by law here in Florida.

Glad I'm in NY. No need for gators in my pond. A boar would be
cool, though. I've had turkeys at my feeders next to the pond- but
none since the pond has been there.

Jim

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:22:00 EDT, Jim Elbrecht
wrote:

On Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:02:37 EDT, Galen Hekhuis wrote:

http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x278/ghekhuis/
-snip-
I have a time
lapse camera that takes pictures once every ten seconds. You can see
it in the "before" photo where it sits on a pole overlooking the pond.
It will run for about two days on batteries, then I review what it has
seen in the form of "movies," so I can watch the entire day in a
matter of minutes. Most of the time nothing happens, but I have
caught pictures of ducks, turtles and other critters in the pond even
with the duckweed.

That's a cool way to watch critters. Does your camera spit video out,
or do you need to convert jpg's to avi? What resolution do you get
from the individual frames? I've gotten nice video at 1200x1600, but
then the software seems to choke- and I can't take as many pictures-
yesterday I took 4700 on a 4gb card- 5 seconds apart, about 8am-8pm.
The individual photos look ok at 4x6- and they made a 2 minute video
at 35 frames per second.

It's 1280x1040. The camera uses a little 2G (I think) flash drive,
and puts them in .AVI format whether you want it or not. It's a
pretty brainless camera (probably why I can use it), a point and shoot
that doesn't have any night vision or other stuff, but at least it
knows enough to shut down at dusk and then start up at dawn the next
day.

For Christmas my son gave me Canon point & shoot camera- and a pointer
to http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK .

Time lapse is one of the things this free, open source, software makes
[almost] any Canon point and shoot do. It is a cool way to see
your pond-life in a few minutes.

My little 8x12 pond had its first lily bloom last week. So I set up
the camera to watch it open and close. Took a picture every 10
seconds, all day long.

My plan was to just get the flower, but when I went to set the camera
up there was a frog on a nearby piece of driftwood, so I zoomed out a
bit and included the driftwood in the frame. All told I framed about
12x18". from 8am-8pm I captured a sparrow, 4 frogs, 2 damselflies,
several water skippers, a damselfly larva, a couple water beetles, an
apple snail, an inch worm & a bunch of pond snails. Oh-- and a white
water lily opening and closing.

You can't zoom or anything with this, but it is weatherproof.

When I point the camera at the land right beside
the pond I've seen deer (natch), 3 hens and their 12 wild turkey
chicks, raccoons, a wild boar (actually probably a feral pig, but it
sounds more exciting if you say "wild boar," though), rabbits, and
various other critters that don't hang around long enough for me to
identify.

Cool bunch of critters. Does your camera have infra-red or are
these all daylight?

Nah, just daylight stuff.

I won't go looking for alligators, but a few years ago one
moved into the back pond. It isn't there any more but I don't exactly
know what to do if one moves in again. They are rather well protected
by law here in Florida.

Glad I'm in NY. No need for gators in my pond. A boar would be
cool, though. I've had turkeys at my feeders next to the pond- but
none since the pond has been there.

Jim

cool - a man-cave with pond.... nice.

"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
...
If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond. While it will be just a shed from outside,
inside I plan on making it a bit more comfortable. Air conditioning
and glass door aside, it is also going to have WiFi access,
refrigerator, microwave, etc. The back section is where I'll put my
batteries and inverter. The whole thing (less air conditioner and
refrigerator) will run off of photovoltaic cells on the roof. I put a
big solar cell array on the top of my electric golf (I've never
played) cart and haven't had to plug it in to recharge in almost a
year now.

Right now the 1/4 acre back pond (where I'm going) is covered in
duckweed. I have a theory about duckweed control that I am going to
get to test as soon as I get power back there. Moving water seems to
inhibit duckweed growth, and I have an aerator in the big pond by my
house (now nothing but a weed infested wet depression) that I'm going
to put down at the back pond. I'm also going to have a pump for a
stream that will just flow back into the pond. I know it's moving
water around for no good reason, but if it helps with the duckweed...

On Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:03:38 EDT, "JDS" wrote:

cool - a man-cave with pond.... nice.

I guess. Anyway, I went down there and sat much of yesterday late
afternoon and this morning. There isn't any power yet, so I tend to
hide in an air conditioned spot during the heat of the day. I'd seen
an otter in the pond a few weeks ago, and figured it was just a
visitor or something, but there it was again this morning. It swam
along the bank and poked its head up from time to time to check out me
and the building. There is no way it could have missed me. I wasn't
singing or dancing or anything, but I wasn't trying to be quiet or
hide or anything either. The otter was only about 10 yards from me
and looked right at me, probably snickered, and then went back
underwater. It would poke its head up now and again in other parts of
the pond. I haven't the foggiest what it finds to eat. Stocking the
pond with fish sounds a bit too much like "feeding the otter" for me
to get real excited about that right now. The ducks are kind of
miffed at me for getting rid of the fallen tree trunk they used to
hang out on, but the time lapse camera shows them still swimming
around the other side of the pond. This is what I stared at this
morning.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x.../jul223009.jpg
(I screwed up the date on purpose. Yeah, that's the ticket.) I think
the picture shows off the carpet of duckweed rather well. If my
theory is correct, the duckweed should clear up from the agitation of
the aerator I'll toss in when I get power. I wonder what the otter
and the ducks will think of it? I remember the frogs spent almost two
whole days before they got used to it in the middle pond (now a mere
mud puddle).

Impressive pond. I did not realize how big it was.

Jim

On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:19:43 EDT, Jim Hurley
wrote:

Impressive pond. I did not realize how big it was.

Thanks. It is shaped kind of like New Hampshire. You're looking at
the wide part. It continues way up to the right, but it gets narrower
there, not much more than ten feet across.

I was fussing around this weekend and found a photo of the pond taken
about five years ago, before it was covered in duckweed.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/backpond.jpg

Unfortunately, this is what it looks like now.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x.../jul223009.jpg

but it will be pretty again, I promise.

"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
...
If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond.........

=========================
Why not buy a used inexpensive travel trailer from Craig's list and pull
it
back there? They're like small motel rooms complete with beds,
toilets/showers,
AC, heat, sinks and stoves and even small fridges. You can get small
ones in good condition for less than $3000.

--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Wow! If that isn't a perfect illustration to show
the proficiency of duckweek I don't know what is!!

kathy :-)

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:44:06 EDT, "ReelMcKoi" wrote:


"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
.. .
If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond.........

==========================

Why not buy a used inexpensive travel trailer from Craig's list and pull
it
back there? They're like small motel rooms complete with beds,
toilets/showers,
AC, heat, sinks and stoves and even small fridges. You can get small
ones in good condition for less than $3000.

I thought about that, then figured it wasn't really what I wanted. I
used to live on a 27 foot yawl and years later on a 32 foot sloop, so
the close quarters don't bother me much. But I wanted a real
composting toilet (I know that sounds kinda strange for a priority,
but I sure didn't want to put in a drain field and I really didn't
want to fuss with a chemical toilet). Then there were other little
compromises I would have to make, so I considered it, and then decided
that the modifications I would have to make would be too much work,
and work is something I try very hard to avoid.

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:44:06 EDT, "ReelMcKoi" wrote:


"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
.. .
If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond.........

==========================

Why not buy a used inexpensive travel trailer from Craig's list and pull
it back there?... for less than $3000.

Because than he'd attract tornadoes? ;-) Actually reading Galen entries
sounds like he's got the building w/sliding glass door already. For under
$3K he can spiff it up pretty nice I would think. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:07:51 EDT, ~ jan wrote:

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:44:06 EDT, "ReelMcKoi" wrote:


"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
. ..
If the pond will not move to me, then I guess I'm gonna have to move
to the pond. Well, I'm not going to really move there, I just got a
building put back there and I'm gonna get AC power back there. The
building is going to be air conditioned, and has sliding glass doors
looking over the pond.........

==========================

Why not buy a used inexpensive travel trailer from Craig's list and pull
it back there?... for less than $3000.

Because than he'd attract tornadoes? ;-) Actually reading Galen entries
sounds like he's got the building w/sliding glass door already. For under
$3K he can spiff it up pretty nice I would think. ~ jan

That 3K is getting soaked up by the cost of getting power out there.
It's only $.50 / foot to have the trenching done, but when you figure
there's 800 feet, that's a fair chunk of change. Then there is the
sheer cost of the cable (minimum of 3 wires heavy enough to carry the
load). It looks like it will be darn close to a grand just for the
cable (the weight of the cable makes shipping costs very important).
Then there are the additional circuit boxes, breakers, etc. As a
retired electrical engineer I thought electrical stuff wouldn't be a
major expense, but I'm not a licensed electrician in this state and
there just aren't that many corners to cut, anyway. Oh well, I've
often said that projects take way more time and money than you
estimate, even if you take that into consideration. This is no
exception.

The back pond has a small spring in it somewhere, I am pretty sure of
this because the water level never drops and a tiny "outflow" creek
never dries up, although when it is dry like it is now, the flow isn't
much more than a garden hose on about 1/2 way. I think now, when it
is dry, the outflow is just fed by seepage from the pond. When it
rains and is wetter, the pond actually flows over the western edge
(kind of a natural spillway) into the stream that flows down to the
Suwannee River. I think (hope) it is the mechanical agitation of the
water (when it is wetter) that helps keep the duckweed in check. That
is a big reason for getting power back there. I have hopes that the
agitation of the water by an aerator will inhibit the duckweed. I
have a pond out front which used to be pretty much covered in
duckweed. A few years ago, I got a backhoe to clear out one side. (It
was a rectangle, about 40x120 ft, surrounded by trees and growth, I
had one of the long sides cleared.) Today, while it still has
duckweed, it is 3/4 - 4/5 clear of it. The time lapse camera told me
why. Although the front pond looks entirely still, when you view it
as a movie where the frames are ten seconds apart you can distinctly
see two almost whirlpools of water which pick up a lot of speed in the
wind. At the back pond, I had a solid blanket of duckweed and almost
no water movement. Now that a wide section of it has been cleared, I
can see east-west water movement (especially when the wind blows). I
think I can also see (wishful thinking?) "stress cracks" on the once
unbroken carpet of duckweed. I don't particularly want to eradicate
it, but I'm hoping the water motion (much like the wind blowing across
the water) caused by the aerator will banish the duckweed to the still
backwaters of the pond, leaving most of it clear.