OK, OK..!

You know I work nights and sleep days (Vampire by profession) but you've kept on 'til you got me out in the sunlight with a camera.

First off is what I call the pond. It's where my breeder KOI reside. It's 22' long X 10' wide. The deep end is 5' under the black rubbermaid tubs up to 3 1/2' at this end next to the swimming pool. Yes, I know it isn't clear and that's the way I want it. Here in Fl. we have the Great Blue Heron (bitch) and Osprey (double bitch). Both are protected by law and they know it. There is also 80% shade cloth above the pond and deck. The light you are seeing is afternoon sunlight from the SW.


THE THREE PVC TUBES YOU SEE AT THE VERY BACK ARE SIPHONS LEADING TO THE SUMP. THE WATER IS THEN PUMPED UP TO THE BIO-FILTERS AND THEN GRAVITY FED TO THE GROW BED AND THEN BACK TO THE POND


THE PVC SQUARE IS FOR FEEDING PURPOSES.



Next comes my experimental continuous flow grow bed (slash) Ryukin breeder Goldfish tank



The grow bed is 16' long X 4' wide X 12" deep with a standing overflow PVC that flows the water back into the Pond which can be see in the second photo on the right bottom elbowed over the edge.

In the first photo you can see the PVC going from the bio-filters (rubbermaids on shelf) to the far end of the grow bed.

The water is 10" deep and the black plastic pots are sitting on concrete block and a stepping stone so only about the bottom 1" of the pot is submersed in water. It's the pot in a saucer of water theory experiment. It was my mother's (she's 93) suggestion and it's worked great.

The goldfish have body sizes ranging from tennis ball to slightly larger and there are 20 of them and they are truly little pigs even with all the scuds and algae they can eat, they still run like a herd of cattle to the end of the grow bed to be fed each morning.


THE GREEN STYROFOAM RING YOU SEE SURROUNDS THE OVERFLOW STAND PIPE TO KEEP THE DUCKWEED FROM GOING INTO THE POND



The Tomatoes played out and stopped producing about 2 wks ago but now are blooming like crazy again with tiny tomatoes already showing. I have a few climbing beans that for some reason didn't do well but the yellow sweet banana peppers have been producing like crazy non-stop. OH and yes, there is a potted house plant in there also...wife's idea and it's worked well also.

OK, I will tell you before you ask, the pots are filled first with a square of old bed sheet material to make a liner all the way to the top of the pot. Then filled with potting soil, then I planted the seedling in the soil, pull the cloth up over the soil and around the plant. I put a few pieces of red lava rock on the cloth to hold it down.

NO keith_r, THERE ARE NO WORMS IN MY SYSTEM...!

The sheet material works as a wicking material that brings water up the sides and keeps the soil moist bottom to top as needed. When the plants finally matured, their roots have grown through the sheet material on the bottom of the pots and out through the holes to float in the grow bed.

Next is my swimming pool. My son is going on 25 yrs of age and since he graduated from High School, he no longer was interested in the pool. Now he and the crowd go to the beach.

The pool is 9' deep at this end however, I keep it low to keep the Great Blue Herons from standing on the side and eating or killing my KOI if they are too big to eat. Yes, that's what they do. They will regurgitate into the water to draw the fish up and if the fish is too big to eat, they will spear them right through the middle with their beak and the KOI will die within 30 minutes or so.

Yes, I know it's too high at the other end but it has been raining like crazy here every day and I am hard pressed to keep it pumped down. It's also not clear to keep the Osprey at bay.

Also, see how thick the duckweed is in the first photos, that's the way the pool looked yesterday morning when I gathered about 8 pounds of duckweed from the pond and the grow bed and put it in the pool. It was covered completely.

There are approximately 60 to 70 one and one-half year old KOI in the pool ranging from 10" to 18" in size. There are a few smaller runts in there also but you would think they were Piranha the way they go after the duckweed. I have to get them out and separated between now and next spring so I can do a final cull and start marketing them for sale. I have already sold approximately 500 of them from the first two sell-able culls when they were about 3" - 5" long at about 3 months of age for $3.00 each.

Those that are left are going to be somewhat more inexpensive...

They and the breeder KOI also get fed each morning the same as the goldfish.


HERE AT THE BOTTOM YOU CAN SEE A COUPLE OF THE WIFE'S ROSES IN POTS COMPLETE WITH WEEDS. SHE WATERS THEM FROM THE POND BUT NEGLECTS TO PULL THE WEEDS. THEY LOOK TERRIBLE BUT SHE'S NOT IN THE BEST OF HEALTH EITHER. DON'T TELL HER I TOLD YOU..!