SWCAMBORNE

The pond always looks good when the water is cold in January:

To bad it is really too cold to spend much time out there enjoying it.

Back in mid August I reported on the Algae Bloom in the pond.  I’m now very pleased to report that the bloom is over and the pond is clear again.

clear water

It appears that the new UV light has done the trick.

happy and visible fish

This incident did give me an idea for a new product.  Since a UV bulb can continue to give off  visible light after it stops emitting UV rays, we need a simple inexpensive UV detector. It could be strips like ph paper or a meter like an amp meter.  The market is fish and pond supply stores but could also be worried moms and people at the beach.  Maybe super sensitive skin is the answer.

We got home from Arizona yesterday and while cleaning out the pond filter basket I saw something wriggling.  It turned out to be a tadpole.  There are tadpoles in the pond! In fact there were three tadpoles in the basket.  Tadpoles means Frogs.  With Rebecca’s help I took a picture:

This is great news there hasn’t been a frog sighting since last September.  A Frog in the Pond. This proves it I am an environmentalist.   Do I have to buy a Prius?

Is there a difference between a Tadpole and a Polliwog?

After two years the algae are back in the pond.

The green colors are beautiful but the overall look is definitely worse and you can’t see the fish.  I checked the UV filter bulb and it was still working.  However Steve at PTF told me that the bulb can be glowing but not “UVing” (the verb form of UV).  I ordered a new bulb and we shall see.

For now we will enjoy the luminescent greens.

I have built a new bridge in the stream above the pond using Bamboo Pipes.

Hopefully it will be more stable than the old one that you can see here.

This isn’t my final bridge which I hope will be a stone arch that can take a wheelbarrow.  It does indicate a bit about my personality.  I take great pleasure and pride in making small improvements while still planning to make things perfect in the future.   My old bridge was not a failure it was a learning experience.