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Pond Cam

Spawn

The frog has laid eggs, spawned*, in the pond.  We know she spawned in the swimming pool a few month ago but this is the first time we have seen frog eggs in the pond. Koimageddon**: The death of the Koi last month was essential to this remarkable event.  Previously even if the frog had laid eggs in the pond the Koi would have eaten them.  What we don’t know is whether the eggs were fertilized.  Stay tuned. * Spawn is a noun meaning fish… Read More »Spawn

Lily Pond Reborn

  Last Friday evening I left the hose running into my pond and by morning all of the fish were dead.  No they didn’t drown.  They were poisoned by the Chloramine in the tap water. RIP Fish It was the Chernobyl disaster of my pond.  Fortunately I had some mosquito fish in the small fountain and the frog survived so there will be some fauna continuity.  The frog probably survived because he has been adjusting to chemicals by taking nightly swims in the pool. The… Read More »Lily Pond Reborn

Frog Pond Pool

The frog in my pond is rarely seen.  We hear him sometimes, croaking or plopping, but sightings are rare.  Maybe once a year.  So imagine my surprise when I heard a plop in the swimming pool filter basket.  I looked in and saw the frog.  He was surprised himself and probably terrified he jumped out of the basket and swam to the bottom of the pool.   I took this picture and them used the skimmer net to scoop him back into the pond.  At… Read More »Frog Pond Pool

Big Head RIP

Rebecca found our special needs fish dead this afternoon in the pond filter basket.  She is not a suspect. An investigation by FCSI (Fish Crime Scene Investigators) ruled the cause of death to be “extremely large growth on the head.” Big Head lying in state by the side of the pond.

Special Needs Fish

One of the Koi in my pond has a very large growth on its head. It started small a few years ago and I thought it must be a disease.  But none of the other fish got it so I let “Big Head” stay.  Now he is so ugly and noticeable that Jason S who takes care of the house when we are gone was concerned enough to ask me about him.  I explained that we accommodate him because he’s a “Special Needs Fish.”  He… Read More »Special Needs Fish

Pond Photo

Lots of algae and beautiful Water Lillies.  I’m focused on the positive:

Bad Pond Two

I went to the Pet Expo with Lillian last weekend to see the pond equipment.  I have decided that I have to many large fish for the size and type of filtration system I have.  It is time to find new homes for some of these guys.  I don’t want to add more filtration. This Fish is Available for Adoption

Bad Pond

Regular readers of simonburrow.com/ might be wondering why there has been no pond news since January.  The reason is that lots of bad things have been happening to the pond and I’ve been embarrassed to report.  For instance I replanted the Lilies and the fish dug them up and dumped the dirt out of the pots I tried to clean the gravel in the stream and hurt my back. The UV filter stopped working and I had to buy a new one. The fish kept… Read More »Bad Pond

The Pond in January

The pond always looks good when the water is cold in January: To bad it is really too cold to spend much time out there enjoying it.

Algae Elegy

Back in mid August I reported on the Algae Bloom in the pond.  I’m now very pleased to report that the bloom is over and the pond is clear again. clear water It appears that the new UV light has done the trick. happy and visible fish This incident did give me an idea for a new product.  Since a UV bulb can continue to give off  visible light after it stops emitting UV rays, we need a simple inexpensive UV detector. It could be… Read More »Algae Elegy