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Az tortoise compound

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Great thread Yvonne. I like the idea with the barrels. Will you be able to see the tops of them when the pond is full? It's hard for me to tell.
I know we use cinder block quite a bit. It seems someone is always giving it away for free somewhere.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm hoping that the water will come right up to the top of the barrels so that they won't be visible. But William didn't "string level" it, he just eye-balled it, so it may be a little off. I will eventually plant some sort of trailing plant that will hang over into the water, so they shouldn't be visible after the plant gets started good.
 

terryo

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Do they have access to the land area around the pond? Where are the turtles now? So many questions..I know, but I'm really enjoying this thread and the pictures.
 

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There is a brick-lined landing on the front side of the pond where the turtles can just walk right up to the bank. However, when I come towards the pond, I see them jumping off the sides. So even though the sides are straight up and down, they are able to climb out of the water anyplace in the pond. When totally full, its about an inch from the top of the cinder blocks. I'm going to put wood on the top of the blocks to keep the turtles and toads out of the holes in the blocks, but that will come later. I haven't figured out just yet how I'm going to do that.

The turtles were in big water troughs. I've found a home for the RES, and they'll be adopted out on Sunday. All the rest of them are back in the pond and loving it. I bought some bog plants online and planted them around the edges of the pond, but they're pretty small yet.
 

Len B

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Yvonne, You could lay boards on top without securing it to the block and use some of that plastic type trim or treated wood cut to fit and secure it to the bottom side of the boards either on the outside of the block (you would need a small over hang) or use small pieces and place them on the inside in the holes of the block to keep the boards from moving around. Just an idea.
 

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Len said:
Yvonne, You could lay boards on top without securing it to the block and use some of that plastic type trim or treated wood cut to fit and secure it to the bottom side of the boards either on the outside of the block (you would need a small over hang) or use small pieces and place them on the inside in the holes of the block to keep the boards from moving around. Just an idea.

I was thinking about 2"x6" boards laying on top with heavy-duty nails going down through the boards and up against the inside of the holes to keep the board from moving. But then I'm wondering what will keep the board from warping up or down? So then I thought about nailing or screwing a 1"x2" along the side of the board, but that creates an overhang that I don't think the turtles would be able to climb over. I like your idea of filling the holes with, for instance, a piece of 4x4 cut to fit, however, I would still have the problem of the rough surface for the turtles to climb over...the edge of the cinderblock. I can't picture your other suggestion, the one with the trim.
 

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What about just using smaller bricks or patio stones, like I do on top of my cinder block walls?

KristinasPictures3818.jpg


The patio stones are only about an inch thick and relatively cheap. No worries about moving or warping, either!
 

Yvonne G

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That looks really nice, Kristina, and I DO have masonry caps that fit the top of the cinder blocks, however, I'm trying to make it so the turtles don't scrape their plastrons on the rough cement as the climb over.
 

Len B

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Another option would be, Cement some allthread in some of the holes in the block and bolt the boards in place. If you used a 2 inch(really only 1 1/2) thick board you could recess the nut below the surface, And this should keep the boards from warping.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm not quite sure what that is, but you've given me a great idea. I'll run it by my across-the-street neighbor and see if he understands and can do it. Thanks!!
 

dmmj

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I like this thread I am curious as to why you did not use pond liner? could not find big enough? decided to go all natural? I can't wait to see the finished product and how awesome was it finding those baby soft shells? they are one of my favorite water turtles.
 

Yvonne G

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Well, when my daughter's family and I traded houses, the pond was already full of water and inhabited by ducks and fish. He (my son-in-law) left a very large piece of pond liner here, but it was just too big a job to let the water evaporate, dig it out and add the liner. By the time it became necessary to let the water evaporate and to dig out the sludge I had already given away the liner. And since the pond was the way it was for the past 10 years or so, I just decided to let it stay like that. I really do think that it works out better for the turtles, because they can dig down into the mud and hide. They seem to really like that.

Its going to be a while before we get it all finished, but I'll be sure to revive this thread with the pictures of the completed project, whenever!
 

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I'm still working on the pond, but I've done a bit more and here's a couple more pictures. I had a GREAT BIG algae bloom

pond-13.jpg


and we were thinking about putting in a bio filter, and didn't want all that algae going into the new filter, so we drained it again:

2elfu4i.jpg


In this picture you can see that we've capped all the cinder blocks with wood. It really finishes it off nicely and covers all the cinder block mistakes.

Here's where the filter is going to go:

pond-18.jpg


I'm not sure my motor is big enough, but it DOES circulate the water. I don't have enough bio stuff in there yet. I'm waiting for the Fed-Ex guy. After its all set up, I'll find a way to disguise it with either real plants or fake ones.

pond-20.jpg


Still filling it up.

While we were in there working on the filter I decided to change the Aldabran's water. When I lifted it up to dump it there was a BIG old bull frog underneath it. Don't know where he came from, but I know where he went. I hope the turtles don't eat him.
 

terryo

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Yvonne, I'm just loving this thread. Especially with all the pictures, and I can't wait to see it when it's finished. I'm starting to get jealous and wishing I had my big pond back.
 

DeanS

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I know what you mean Terry...It's giving me ideas!
 

Yvonne G

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This will be the last set of pictures for a while. The pond is basically finished. I'm going to be watching the nursery sales over the winter and plant some shrubs and flowers around the outside of the pond, and in the Spring, I'll post pictures again. I'm still waiting for my shipment of filter media, which was supposed to arrive Friday. I put some artificial plants around the front of the filter and it looks a little hokey, but eventually I'll have it disguised with real plants.

This is the haul-out area, however, they still climb up the side even though its about 3, sometimes 4 inches from the top of the water:

pond-22.jpg


pond-23.jpg


pond-21.jpg


pond-24.jpg
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Considering that I know what the pond has looked like over the years I have to say this is just awesome! It looks great...I can hardly wait to see it in person and sit there and feed the turtles from the swing...which by the way I don't see...?
 

RV's mom

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What a beautiful project. How did I miss this thread before? I wish I lived somewhere that we could have a pond with turtles. maybe someday.
 

Yvonne G

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Well, we're all finished with the pond. I'm not going to plant anything around the outside because I don't want to have to water any more plants, and I'm not interested in putting in a drip system to water them either. So, I've got a rose bush that will water itself from the pond, a water iris and a little clover on the near side. The barrels contain a cat tail, a mini papyrus and some penny royal, which the turtles keep breaking off and it floats around the pond. The biological filter works great, and if I had a liner, the water would be crystal clear. But with all the mud and silt, this is as clear as its going to get.

pond-25.jpg


pond-26.jpg


I forgot to mention: Thanks, Len, for your idea about the bolts, cement and all-thread. That's basically what we did and it worked great!
 
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