Matsutaro's ~150 Gallon Spotted Turtle Pond
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Matsutaro built this roughly 150 gallon liner-based pond for a small collection of spotted turtles in the Japanese Alps, a fairly high elevation. Therefore he didn't have to content to shallow-water predators such as raccoons, who could devastate such an enclosure in the U.S., or the vulnerability of such a setup to overheating (as would be an issue in the southern U.S.). It's one of the most beautiful enclosures we've seen & we're proud to have it in our galleries.
The pond is made with a 2 meter x 3 meter PVC pond liner, measured roughly 1.4 meters x 2.3 meters, has an estimated average depth of ~ 8 inches/20 cm, & the deepest section is a bit under 1.5 feet deep. The liner is secured by a combination of rocks, driftwood & soil-filled planters. River sand was used as an underlayment beneath the liner.
Filtration: Water is circulated by a Pontec Marathon 1500 pump submerged at the deepest point, sending water to the filter via 19mm hose and to another section of the pond via 12 mm hose. The homemade bio/mechanical filter consists of a stack of 3-4 pieces of standard fish tank filter floss on top of a mesh bag of pea gravel. Water moves through a spray bar, percolates down through the filter floss and gravel, then rises into the next compartment where it's returned to the pond through a 28 mm hose. The whole pond should be acting as a filter--more gravel covers the majority of the liner, and the pond is heavily planted.
Plants: About a dozen types of moss, liverworts, at least 4 types of sedum, sphagnum moss, cranberry, water hyacinth, duck weed, mosquito fern, 4 varieties of hardy water lilies, 2 varieties of Hostas, golden creeping jenny, mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), water hyssop (Bacopa caroliniana), Rotala rotundifolia, Ludwigia adscendens, Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides), Japanese shield fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum), one more local fern species, clover, Japanese iris (Iris ensata), and a few other things I'm not too sure about. Most of the moss was rescued from a construction site on Matsutaro's school grounds, along with some sedum. Ferns and mondo grass were rescued from his old house (where the landlord has since wiped everything out). Basically the soil is rather poor, mostly clay that's been strained to remove tons of rocks, although he's amended it in places. Aside from the two planters of sphagnum moss--which are filled with a river sand/peat mix--the other submerged planters have the same poor soil topped with gravel to keep it from washing into the pond.
Inmates: 2.2 group of spotted turtles, medaka or rice fish (Oryzias latipes), goldfish, Japanese tree frogs (Hyla japonica), snails, water striders, and anything else that wanders through.
Special Note: Although PVC is acceptable, in the major recommended pond liners are EPDM (in the U.S.) & Butyl (in Europe).
Photos: Matsutaro.
The pond is made with a 2 meter x 3 meter PVC pond liner, measured roughly 1.4 meters x 2.3 meters, has an estimated average depth of ~ 8 inches/20 cm, & the deepest section is a bit under 1.5 feet deep. The liner is secured by a combination of rocks, driftwood & soil-filled planters. River sand was used as an underlayment beneath the liner.
Filtration: Water is circulated by a Pontec Marathon 1500 pump submerged at the deepest point, sending water to the filter via 19mm hose and to another section of the pond via 12 mm hose. The homemade bio/mechanical filter consists of a stack of 3-4 pieces of standard fish tank filter floss on top of a mesh bag of pea gravel. Water moves through a spray bar, percolates down through the filter floss and gravel, then rises into the next compartment where it's returned to the pond through a 28 mm hose. The whole pond should be acting as a filter--more gravel covers the majority of the liner, and the pond is heavily planted.
Plants: About a dozen types of moss, liverworts, at least 4 types of sedum, sphagnum moss, cranberry, water hyacinth, duck weed, mosquito fern, 4 varieties of hardy water lilies, 2 varieties of Hostas, golden creeping jenny, mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), water hyssop (Bacopa caroliniana), Rotala rotundifolia, Ludwigia adscendens, Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides), Japanese shield fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum), one more local fern species, clover, Japanese iris (Iris ensata), and a few other things I'm not too sure about. Most of the moss was rescued from a construction site on Matsutaro's school grounds, along with some sedum. Ferns and mondo grass were rescued from his old house (where the landlord has since wiped everything out). Basically the soil is rather poor, mostly clay that's been strained to remove tons of rocks, although he's amended it in places. Aside from the two planters of sphagnum moss--which are filled with a river sand/peat mix--the other submerged planters have the same poor soil topped with gravel to keep it from washing into the pond.
Inmates: 2.2 group of spotted turtles, medaka or rice fish (Oryzias latipes), goldfish, Japanese tree frogs (Hyla japonica), snails, water striders, and anything else that wanders through.
Special Note: Although PVC is acceptable, in the major recommended pond liners are EPDM (in the U.S.) & Butyl (in Europe).
Photos: Matsutaro.
