Thursday, August 31, 2017

Perfect Light For The Almighty

Much needed rain has begun to gently and steadily fall. I was washed out from work. While that is a minor pain schedule wise, I'll live. Since I was in the neighborhood and had the time, I stopped by to check on my fish.





















The Almighty Falls is getting its first real bath post construction, thank you very much. Cleaner wet rocks and the flat light were perfect for picture taking. This monolithic creation is settling in to being.





















The baby fishes are doing fine. You have to approach slowly and view from a distance to make sure most of them are still there. It is astounding how well fishes can detect movement above the water. The koi in particular are skittish and head for cover immediately.

That is a good thing since a heron ate way too many fishes from the three other ponds this year. I lost one large koi to a bear or raccoon mauling. Somehow it ended up back in the pond still alive, but severely damaged. After a week of no improvement I gave up. Watching it suffer was too much.





















The falls continue to run on operational overflow. The spring is mightier than the splash. I also anticipated that splash and made sure there was wide and plenty rubber liner to catch it. Being the pond scum maintenance technician, that operational overflow is seriously the thing I am most happy about.





















I am getting used to the not so great fake rock hiding the skimmer, hence the papyrus to deflect attention. The one for the filter falls up top blends in much better. I've had this notion of finding a scaled to size turtle head to attach to the thing. Then it won't be a mismatched fake rock anymore.

It is light and very easy to remove. I have to give it that.





















The island ended up with a cave of sorts that opens all the way down to the solid slab of rock beneath. I noticed today it has started to grow some green fuzz. I'll need to check and see how thick the layer of mud on top is. I might be able to stick a plant in there.





















So your luck ran out. The Almighty Falls was looking rather fetching today with a nice gentle rain and here it is again before next year and any growth on the plantings. The 'Black Gamecock' Louisiana Iris are the one thing that are showing signs of growth.

Overtime I will likely add more plants to the stream channel. That will help soften the monumental rockiness. Just as important, plants are crucial to keeping the water clean, clear and healthy.


2 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Looking good. I feel sorry for those fish. I hope they have some rocks or something to hide underneath.

Christopher C. NC said...

Baby fish are way smarter then big fish and they have so many places to hide I sometimes don't know if they lived for weeks. Feeding them changes their behavior to the complete opposite. I can tell when the heron has been around. They are freaked out for a few days to weeks and run for cover again when movement above is detected.