What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

Today, in my water gardens...

I have two small (100g) preform ponds. For one I made a filter from a 5g bucket filled with scrubber pads, but after 6 years exposed to the weather it started to break apart.

From 2018:

The water is pumped up into the top of the bucket and filters down through the scrubber pads, out through the spout and back into the pond.

Today when I tried to remove the pads to rinse them the bucket edges and the handle broke off. Ouch. I didn't want to spend money on a new bucket and lid.

My solution, what I had on hand:

I had to trim the edges of the grid/screen as it was too wide for the smaller, square bucket.

That's a brick in the bottom, for stability.

Then I added the rinsed scrubber pads, some filter material, and a mesh bag of rocks that keeps the pads in place.

I fed the tubing through the hole in the bucket lid, put the T-splitter in the end, laid it on top of the filtering materials, and closed the lid.

Ta-da!

I added a flat stone and a pelican on top as weight and discouragement...if animals jump on top of the filter it can be knocked over. It has happened in the past, and it drained more than half of the water out of the pond!

I've had a lot of string algae so far this year, cleaning the filter should help it reduce the nitrates in the water.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my afternoon project.

 

[Smokerbill]

Today, in my water gardens...

I have two small (100g) preform ponds. For one I made a filter from a 5g bucket filled with scrubber pads, but after 6 years exposed to the weather it started to break apart.

From 2018:
View attachment 3815135
View attachment 3815136
View attachment 3815138
The water is pumped up into the top of the bucket and filters down through the scrubber pads, out through the spout and back into the pond.

Today when I tried to remove the pads to rinse them the bucket edges and the handle broke off. Ouch. I didn't want to spend money on a new bucket and lid.

My solution, what I had on hand:
View attachment 3815144
View attachment 3815145
I had to trim the edges of the grid/screen as it was too wide for the smaller, square bucket.
View attachment 3815146
That's a brick in the bottom, for stability.

Then I added the rinsed scrubber pads, some filter material, and a mesh bag of rocks that keeps the pads in place.
View attachment 3815149
I fed the tubing through the hole in the bucket lid, put the T-splitter in the end, laid it on top of the filtering materials, and closed the lid.

Ta-da!
View attachment 3815157
I added a flat stone and a pelican on top as weight and discouragement...if animals jump on top of the filter it can be knocked over. It has happened in the past, and it drained more than half of the water out of the pond!

I've had a lot of string algae so far this year, cleaning the filter should help it reduce the nitrates in the water.
View attachment 3815169

I hope you enjoyed reading about my afternoon project.

How does it remove the nitrates? Does the filter system become biologically active, "eating" the nitrates as water passes through?

 

[cj2024]

Today, I decided to take down my generic Tycoon tomatoes in my DYI earth box. The generic seeds I got from amazon doesn't have the TYLCV virus resistance that I need to grow tomatoes in my yard. I can tell because the Tycoon seeds, I got from Reimer seeds had a green coating and they are not stunted like the generic uncoated seeds.

I ended up salt brining the green tomatoes that were on the vine. I am debating whether or not to add vinegar. I used 2 tsp of salt to 1 cup of water and each quart took about 5 cups of boiling salt water, so it kind of blanched everything in the Mason jar.
View attachment 3811708

I decided to put in 2 tbs of sugar and I let it sit another day before tasting it and it tasted better than the other jar without sugar, so I put sugar in all the jars. In addition, I put 4 tbs of 5% cider vinegar in each jar and made a jar with cucumbers and ripe tomatoes.

I just ordered these glass fermenting covers from amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Cedilis-Fermentation-Fermenting-Sauerkraut-Dishwasher/dp/B0BLZ1Y7X9/ref=sr_1_34?crid=2V2HBCFA770L&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tZ28pu_peMHCPC1lNtlCo_xlSx_HulbdPJOe8VssAbbLUfUO9AjbJJrj2nW9KqijSdIOSAsTKlEc4AwTxMt--XMmVctK90spI1quEXy_RTAViDIKHQseKV4U05ZhH8h7_ujBNlrC0Q36UVQ-f2-xAeeYI-KPvuLmwyK0nQ4n7RrNx0qs1fGCxkSnICJ3OTJ902-ABXCOTDigK_XbbO7bd30XTi9vyK9674mfLlnHla6-7Os_bevw3uqHg7darcOXVsZElpoAFk2IDt3p-M7dJVb2lrW-gyuLrYL0KHA7EJs.Q20RFsqVdSqFelxUnHysWrYjTl5VQK6pWKBhGvHdcwE&dib_tag=se&keywords=fermenting+lids+for+wide+mouth+mason+jars+ball&qid=1714328672&sprefix=,aps,179&sr=8-34#customerReviews

 

[Jenbirdee]

Picked dandelions for my daughters guinea pigs

 

[cj2024]

Today, in my water gardens...

I have two small (100g) preform ponds. For one I made a filter from a 5g bucket filled with scrubber pads, but after 6 years exposed to the weather it started to break apart.

From 2018:
View attachment 3815135
View attachment 3815136
View attachment 3815138
The water is pumped up into the top of the bucket and filters down through the scrubber pads, out through the spout and back into the pond.

Today when I tried to remove the pads to rinse them the bucket edges and the handle broke off. Ouch. I didn't want to spend money on a new bucket and lid.

My solution, what I had on hand:
View attachment 3815144
View attachment 3815145
I had to trim the edges of the grid/screen as it was too wide for the smaller, square bucket.
View attachment 3815146
That's a brick in the bottom, for stability.

Then I added the rinsed scrubber pads, some filter material, and a mesh bag of rocks that keeps the pads in place.
View attachment 3815149
I fed the tubing through the hole in the bucket lid, put the T-splitter in the end, laid it on top of the filtering materials, and closed the lid.

Ta-da!
View attachment 3815157
I added a flat stone and a pelican on top as weight and discouragement...if animals jump on top of the filter it can be knocked over. It has happened in the past, and it drained more than half of the water out of the pond!

I've had a lot of string algae so far this year, cleaning the filter should help it reduce the nitrates in the water.
View attachment 3815169

I hope you enjoyed reading about my afternoon project.

Instead of having the water drain directly from the bottom, I put a 90 elbow on the bottom drain hole and let the water drain from the top to bottom out, and instead of having the water pumped in on top, I have the water circling on the bottom up. I use bio balls that float and leave enough space for the water to circle on the bottom. The water moves the fish poop up off the bottom, so when I stuck my hand down to the bottom to check, I didn't feel any muck build up. Most of the poop gets broken down and accumulate around the floating bio balls. I clean and drain it once in a great while by pushing the floating balls up and down and opening the drain valve.
The return water from the filter goes into a plastic cement tub with a bell siphon that has a hole on top, so the water drains from the bottom up, but never empties. The nutrient in the water gets used up by the duck weed in the plastic cement tub. This prevents green algae from turning the water green and the duck weed is fed to the fish by lifting the bell siphon.

However, in this close system the KH in the water gets used up by the beneficial bacteria and when it goes to zero the nitrification or good bacteria goes dormant, and the water becomes toxic. I add baking soda to keep the nitrification bacteria active and do 10% water changes daily. If you see sick fish, this is the problem.

 

[fuzzi]

How does it remove the nitrates? Does the filter system become biologically active, "eating" the nitrates as water passes through?

The filter harbors bacteria that consumes the waste in the water, converts it to ammonia, which is then converted to nitrites. Then other bacteria converts it into nitrates. It's the same as what happens with biological aquarium filters.

I misspoke, the nitrates are removed through plants taking them up or through water changes. But if the filter is clogged as mine was, the waste is not converted, and builds up. Results of high nitrate levels are algae blooms or dying animal life.

 

[Sally PB]

Rainy today, so I didn't get anything done outside. Hubby and I both worked on indoor projects, and we got a lot done.

 

[fuzzi]

Instead of having the water drain directly from the bottom, I put a 90 elbow on the bottom drain hole and let the water drain from the top to bottom out, and instead of having the water pumped in on top, I have the water circling on the bottom up. I use bio balls that float and leave enough space for the water to circle on the bottom. The water moves the fish poop up off the bottom, so when I stuck my hand down to the bottom to check, I didn't feel any muck build up. Most of the poop gets broken down and accumulate around the floating bio balls. I clean and drain it once in a great while by pushing the floating balls up and down and opening the drain valve.
The return water from the filter goes into a plastic cement tub with a bell siphon that has a hole on top, so the water drains from the bottom up, but never empties. The nutrient in the water gets used up by the duck weed in the plastic cement tub. This prevents green algae from turning the water green and the duck weed is fed to the fish by lifting the bell siphon.

However, in this close system the KH in the water gets used up by the beneficial bacteria and when it goes to zero the nitrification or good bacteria goes dormant, and the water becomes toxic. I add baking soda to keep the nitrification bacteria active and do 10% water changes daily. If you see sick fish, this is the problem.

Mine is just a simple system that generally maintains the pond water so fish and frogs and dragonflies can thrive.

I learned about soft water and pH crashes the hard way, lost my fish. Our water here is so soft that it barely registers hardness. I add buffers to my aquariums with weekly water changes to prevent pH crashes, and to keep my snails alive. Without buffers my snails' shells disintegrate and they die.

 

[akroberts1085]

Went out to clear an area I want to make a edible plus flower bed. I started the tractor and after 2 pushes of weeds out I decided the girls needed to be free to range a little. I have done this for 3 days now and it is still causing me to feel like oh no wait what are you doing where are you going. Dang girls are gonna give me a heart attack. Wally likes trying to herd them and dig up the ground for them.

 

[BReeder!]

Out with the family much of the day, but we managed to transplant 8 summer squash, 6 basil, and 4 dill. Getting out done little by little. Need to plant more greens (lettuce, spinach, kale and chard) and get those pepper seeds replanted.