Sedges

Out of sheer frustration trying to keep my fish pond/pot going, I intro’ed a couple of baby sedges after most of the so-called water plants died, and even the duckweed gave up.

Sedges will grow half in water, and in my past life, when I had a frog pond going for years, swamp plants were a strong feature. These often have their roots and soil substrate in the water, and their leaves above. s

I suspect they somehow condition the water, enabling other plants to grow. I certainly never had any problem keeping either Azolla water fern or duck weed alive and used to raise dozens of tadpoles to frog-dom.

If I knew anyone with karamat I’d go and beg a cutting but haven’t seen it since leaving the Byron Shire. Both these sedges are usually quite weedy though the little one at the back as far as I know is native to Australia.

‘Weeded’ them both from the local verges while out walking. One of them from the creek overflow. About ten days in their new position they don’t look like they’re dying.

The pebbles are to provide an island for bees and other insects to drink. (Though I need to top up the water.) And if I pour the water onto the pebbles there is hardly any disturbance in the water.

There’s one lone Pacific Blue Eye remaining of the seven fish I got for my birthday 10 months ago.

Duckweed …

As you can see when you zoom in, most of the duckweed is white and dead.

I’ve been keeping fish and frog ponds for about fifteen years and I’ve never had such a wholesale dieback that even the duckweed carked it.

The feathery green plant seems okay so far. Fingers crossed that they make it. And, I hope that both the Azolla waterfern and the duckweed have left spores and seeds behind, that hopefully will sprout when we leave winter behind.

While you are zoomed in you may be able to spot the two remaing fish. Though they look like leprosy warmed up in the photo, in their analogue state they‘re stockier than they were, but at least still alive.

I moved their habitat back under the outdoor light, in the hope that that gives the plants enough light to survive until I get my grow lights. An added bonus is that I can sometimes see the fish flitting about from inside my living room.

Fish Pond is Leaking!

This morning early, everything OK, fed the fish and they loved their new food. Probably hungry.

Little time later, an hour, noticed water level descending quite fast from yesterday when I replaced about 3 litres.

Checked around. Oh no!

A lot of water creeping over the tiles to the balcony drop off.

Seepage not only from underneath … but also from the side! Ceramic side! Meant to be water-proof!

Every time I dried it off, couple of minutes later it’s wet again. Condensation? I don’t know how that works.

But started bailing into hopefully still waterproof plastic crate.

Transferred two fish so far …

A Sunday Celebration …

Weekends are for celebrations, right?

Whatever day of the week they fall, there’s no time between going to work—adult ‘kids’, —going to school and daycare—grandkids—and me unpacking, to celebrate birthdays.

So about 11.15 I get a text. “We’re on our way.”

About fifteen minutes later all four of them tramp in carrying stuff. H with small sealed plastic bag with water in it. A mystery.

L with a small bag of a granular substance. Huh? K with a small plastic bottle and my white bucket. I didn’t even see these to begin with.

Because then B came in with a ceramic plant pot that had the drainage hole epoxied over.

Ahh! The key to it all.

Assembling it all, water was fetched, de-chlorinated, granular pebbles poured and laid and sculpted by H and L, B fetched ‘the swamp’ from the carpark—a crate of water plants I’d asked him to keep for me—and we transferred the plants from it into their new home.

Last, the fish!

Pacific Blue Eyes, H proudly told me.

Back in the days that I had a bathtub frog pond I’d yearned for Pacific Blue Eyes. I must’ve talked them up, because both B and H remembered, they are the fish that eat mosquito larva, but do not eat frog spawn.

Back then, Cyclone Yaasi took out the Townsville breeding facility that supplied petshops.

So, finally, Pacific Blue Eyes. Though I will need to run to the shops later to fetch fish flake as no mosquitos and no larva.