Heron deterrent - phase 1. Discourage them from landing on my roof with a 4ft wingspan bald eagle whirlygig.
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Cheers,
Ci
What a cool eagle! Where did you find it?
I made it - found a silhouette online, had it blown up to size at Staples, traced it on to plywood and cut out with a jigsaw. Painted with oil based. A wooden dowel is clamped to the eagle and inserted into a 3/4’ piece of pvc (fits nicely but not tight ) along with vaseline so it can spin smoothly. PVC is clamped to a 2x4 attached to the fascia board.
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Cheers,
Ci
-=[Sunny]=-
I have served, I have fought to defend the rights and freedom of all Americans. I am a proud Retired Veteran!
Heron deterrent phase 2 - after a dramatic and utter failure of phase 1 (I caught the heron at my lily ponds twice since putting up the eagle), I’ve set up a network of 150lb test black fishing line around the perimeter of the pond above the electric fence wires ... you can barely see it, but will it be enough?
The cedar boughs floating in the corner are there to collect eggs from the next spawn. New fish to populate the lily ponds!
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Cheers,
Ci
Tried a video with the polarized lens.
Water is 50F and they are begging for food!
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Cheers,
Ci
Love it, I see it.
-=[Sunny]=-
I have served, I have fought to defend the rights and freedom of all Americans. I am a proud Retired Veteran!
That's a very nice build overall and with the blacked out pergola, it looks really very calming.
I am quite interested in the river flow setup you have and like the idea of using two 3" pipes as the primary pickup.
I presume the other mid level pick up is to create a little swirl suction? Your videos show a very calm water surface... very nice.
I didn't see this mentioned, but are you using a check valve for the 3" pickups? If so, where is it placed?
thanks for sharing this.
The mid water pickup is a 3” opening capped with a grill (to keep fish out) and situated on the far wall right between the 2 bottom drain pipes (slightly higher). I included it because I wasn’t sure if my bd drains and skimmer would flow enough, plus it suited my existing filters to have this additional outflow. It does not cause any ripples or swirls.
The bottom drains exit the pond and are combined into a single 4” pipe that gravity feeds a 150g vortex settling chamber. My pump is a submersible set near the top of this tank and pumps to 2 shower/static bio combo filter barrels and they gravity feed back to the pond. I did not feel any need for a check valve - when the pumps are turned off, all the water simply equalizes at the same level.
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Cheers,
Ci
Small, but satisfying project - adding back the mirrors that I originally had on my goldfish pond:
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Cheers,
Ci
Great idea. Nice sitting area...your own little slice of heaven.
Wow, it’s been a few years sincie I’ve updated this thread!
The “Koi Kompound” is now almost 4 years old and running just fine. The ivy has grown in, the electric fencing has keept out otters and racoons, the fishing line is deterring herons well. The powder coating is holding up perfectly and thin coats of carpet algae grows on it nicely - the koi and goldfish graze on it all the time.
I added 4 tosai last year, but have lost a few goldfish, mostly due to old age, over all everyone is healthy and happy. Spring and warming temperatures are early this year and the fish are coming up for food every day.
It is kind of stormy and bleak outside right now, so here is a photo from sunnier days!
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Cheers,
Ci
Looks very inviting, especially with today's weather down here. Is that a mirror mounted overhead?