I've been meaning to post but never got around to it. So here goes. We initially started with a 3000 gal turtle pond with no filtration and various turtles, primarily RES. Fast forward 25+ years and we now have 6 ponds with around 80 turtles. We have 2 -300 gal cattle trough ponds with DIY retrofit BDs to malatal mats filter to shower filters, an 800 gal blue P.E. pond with retrofit DIY BD to static K1 prefilter to shower filter; a 500 gal blue cattle trough with BD to static K1 prefilter to anoxic filter, and a 5000 gal PE liner pond with 2 bds ad skimmer to a Zac built rdf, anoxic filter to tpr and waterfalls. We also have a 1700 gal epdm lined pond with bd and skimmer that feeds a settlement tank to broken blue eco to anoxic filter to waterfall. We're working on replacing the blue eco with a Filtreau rdf. We pulled the blue eco today and set up a by pass to work on installing th new rdf. will post as we go.
Our goal was to have separate ponds for the male and female RES, have a pond for the painted turtles, the maps, and juveniles, and a large pond for the yellow and red bellied sliders. We destroy the eggs as we don't want any more turtles, and now with the RES separated, we're doing much better with controlling egg production. Here's our original pond anda picture of the 6 current ponds. I'll attempt to post more picures.
These are photos or our 5000 gal pond. We originally had the blue eco on this pond until it started to falter. We had Zac make one of his rdfs with the capacity for matala mats should we need it in the future. This area allows us to catch the large scutes that the turtles shed. It's amazing how many come through. His rdf is so reliable. Whenever we have any issues, which has been so infrequent, he's on it. We really appreciate his workmanship and work ethic.
Our original pond deteriorated from uv exposure...Hawaiian sunlight! We went bigger and with an rdf and anoxic filter. The liner is 80mil polyethylene that was installed by a company that does wastewater lagoons, golf course lakes, etc. Really top notch and cut us a huge break. I had the good fortune of meeting the owner when I worked in wastewater. As an afterthought, we added 1 tpr before the waterfalls that we're able to adjust depth and direction. It makes a huge difference in water circulation for efficacy of the bottom drains. The guys that did the concrete stamping thought it would be a good idea! Glad they were thinking! They primarily do high end pools for luxury homes. We were lucky to have them help us on their days off. The turtles really enjoy being able to climb out wherever they want, and the liner is protected from sunlight. The 500 gal trough pond was in the installation process.
One photo is our 1700 gal pond that houses 15 male RES. We had a static K1 prefilter set up in a 150 gal tuff tub barrel but it just wasn't doing a good job. So many fines were getting through. So when we pulled the blue eco we set it up as part of the filtration in hopes that it would help. It broke immediately after we got it all hooked up. We've essentially been using it like a poorly designed sieve.
The other photo is the 500 gal painted turtle pond. We installed a bottom drain, which was a real chore trying to level the tank. The bd feeds a static K1 drum to an anoxic filter. Our property slopes a bit so I had to build retaining walls. What's nice is it allows us to discharge the overflows and waste into a leach field in the goat pasture. Works well for us! Mike's friends helped us install the ponds with his heavy equipment and brawn. He runs a ranch and made sure all the bottom drains had clean outs. I didn't think of that! I did purchase a bunch of ball valves, but clean outs didn't come to mind.
We haven't had problems with the ag panel fence that's about 15" tall, but the vinyl lattice can be an issue. The vinyl lattice is too flexible and the turtles can push their way under or climb the corners where it meets the block wall. We're sticking with the ag panels cut in 3rds for fencing. What's nice about it is that it can easily be configured using concrete forming stakes and it's so sturdy and durable. If you need to changed the configuration, it's a breeze!
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