do you hide ponds? you’re an addict.

Jonna — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:45:28 +0000

I have a bit of an addiction to ponds, fish and water plants. I know I’ve posted pictures of the hall pond, the garden pond and maybe even the little Betta pond, but have I mentioned that I also have a big, ugly, plastic, kiddy pond on the roof? Yea, I do. It has plants and fish that I want to propagate or that I don’t have room for in the other ponds.

cute, eh?

I bought the kiddy pool over in Playa del Carmen one time when I saw it on sale in Soriana. I didn’t have any measurements from the roof with me and I just thought it would fit. Well, not so much. It ended up overlapping the concrete beams and kind of draping over the sides. Every morning I looked out there to see if it was still holding water, I was afraid that the combination of bad seating, full tropical sun, and windy downpours would collapse it. Plus, did I mention it was really ugly? I put a laundry basket, home made filter in it which added to the charm.

So, look what arrived day before yesterday.

Mimi measuring to see if it will fit through the roof door

Luckily, Mimi figured out it would fit through the roof door so they didn’t have to hoist it up from the street with ropes. That would have been a sight. Instead, they managed to haul it through the house, up the stairs, through our bedroom, past the laundry and onto the roof.

luckily, it's not really heavy

Gabi laughs as it comes through the bedroom

So, yesterday Mimi and I spent many hot hours, bent over with a net, in full sun on a white roof, catching teeny little Molly fry and moving them to the new pond. We both have a pretty good base tan but both of us have a bit of a sunburn today.

the Molly hunt

By the time we had walked around a bit and pulled out the plants, the gunk on the bottom of the plastic pond was pretty stirred up. It didn’t help us find the fish.

tiny fish in green muck

Mollies in their new home

So, now I have nice new pond on the roof. It has less surface area than the old one but it is deeper. It takes up a lot less room and isn’t as big an eyesore. We’re going to wash out the plastic pond and take it to Gabi’s house for the kids to cool off in. I’m afraid if it stays here, I’ll fill it with water again and add more plants.

Water lilies and Mollies

Jonna — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:02:25 +0000

Foxfire

The outside pond is starting to come together as well. The water is clear as gin – I love that phrase – and the lilies are blooming. I’ve identified one positively, which is the one I most wanted so that’s cool. It’s called Foxfire and was developed by an online friend Craig Presnell. How the lilies got to me is through another water lily aficionado who was instrumental in developing the Aquaparque – Mérida’s incredible public water garden. He has ponds of his own here and sold me 5 of Craig’s lilies. They weren’t all tagged correctly though, in fact they had no tags at all but he said he thought he knew which ones he pulled up for me. All his lilies came from Craig so I knew I’d figure it out when they bloomed.

probably Manassas

I’m still waiting for confirmation but I think this is another of Craig’s hybrids called Manassas. I am waiting for the third lily to bloom so I can send Craig the pictures and be certain. That third lily could be another favorite of mine although not one of Craig’s, there is a bud rising now so I don’t have long to wait.

Water Hyacinth

I’ve also had one of the hyacinth’s bloom, they are a reviled water weed in some places and a valuable plant for cleaning water in others. Almost forgotten at times is how beautifully they bloom. They are a floater, with trailing roots in the water that can absorb and detoxify even heavy metals. In a pond, they take up a lot of the organic waste and keep the water clear. The fish like to eat the roots as well and I had problems in the beginning keeping them alive. I think most of that was the elevated PH from the curing concrete. The lilies are doing better, the hyacinths and the cannas in the pond as well.

lily pond

I had a vision of this pond as mainly a water garden with small colorful fish darting among the lily pads. It’s coming together, it’s not there yet but then when you are hooked on gardening or ponds you rarely feel they are finished – that’s why it is an endlessly fascinating hobby.

Duque or Duke Mollies

The Mollies are still numerous but I have added 5 small and 1 more large Angel Fish to the pond, there are now 4 large adults and 5 younger and smaller. Hopefully I will achieve a balance and the Angels will only eat enough of the Mollies to keep the population down without decimating them. My bet is that the Mollies breed faster than the Angel’s eat. The Angel’s only eat the very tiny fry so the adults pretty much ignore them, they aren’t a threat. I might even get some baby Angel fish, two of them have paired off but I haven’t seen any breeding activity. I can’t take a good picture of those Angel’s for anything. They are paranoid and shy and you have to catch them from the side or they disappear they are so narrow.

I do get out and about and I’ve got some ideas for posts that aren’t just gardens and ponds. Plus, we’re going over to Akumal this weekend. Mimi is working at the annual free spay and neuter clinic. So, more pics of the beach and the Caribbean.

blah...blah...blah... Ginger! » Mollies

do you hide ponds? you’re an addict.

Water lilies and Mollies