Speed Racer and I had a brilliant idea. Since the pond is still suffering from an overabundance of algae, we thought we would make a super-duper filter, which we will inoculate with a special culture of algae-eating bacteria (which I have yet to order.) Speed Racer bought yards of filter floss stuff and carbon mats, and yesterday we went to the Home Depot and bought various bits and pieces of tubing and galvanized nipples and a large and decorative pot with a nice hole in the bottom. From these ingredients, and a bag of river pebbles, we created the super-duper filter. We were so proud of ourselves!
Next, we filled the thing with water-- and found that the pot leaked! We removed all the filter floss, carbon stuff and the river pebbles so we could line the pot with black plastic garbage bags and re-assembled the whole thing. Again, pride at our own cleverness ensued, especially when we saw the that pot no longer leaked when filled with water.
After several attempts to connect the pump, we got the system going. However, the pond pump moves too much water for the super-duper filteriness of our super-duper filter. We quickly moved to Plan B -- using a pump that splits the output between the filter and a fountain. Poor Speed Racer had to keep getting in and out of the pond as he attempted to adjust the flow-rate of the pump and fountain. Jaws, the koi , was very annoyed and bit Speed Racer's foot. Finally we thought we had it right -- just the right amount of water going to the filter, and not too much going through the fountain, so the fountain wasn't spitting water out of the pond. Again, we were full of pride!
But last night, I went out to check the whole set-up before I went to bed, and found that the filter was overflowing, spilling pond water into the yard. So I turned the pump off. Speed Racer pondered what to do, and he just got back from Home Depot with a new galvanized nipple with a very beautiful valve in the middle of it. He just needs to get a few new hose clamps, and he'll try again. I have no doubt that he'll make it work, he always does.
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About Me
- MadeMarian
- East Coast burbs, United States
- Who am I? At least half a century old, working for a Big Company, married for more than half my life, raising boys in my spare time.
i decided to pay for all the free info i get from wikipedia...you can too....
2 comments:
Been away from the computer for awhile: tooting my horn up in VT and attending a conference when I got back.
I love the idea of galvanized nipples.... wish I could have had them when the kids were babies.
I had the impression you might be heading north some time. Any chance you would be around on August 19th? I think that is when we are going to have a theater showing of Jericho. CBS/Junction has confirmed that they will make us a DVD and we should be making a final decision this week about which episodes to show.
On a totally different note. My #1son would really like some flight simulator software for his birthday. That I think we can get, but they all require joysticks and I was wondering if any of your three offspring had any words of wisdom concerning what to or not to get and how much to spend on a decent joystick.
Hi ccpdppr,
I think galvanized nipples would make breastfeeding a lot more popular.
I will ask First Son to contact you regarding the joystick.
Tempting offer regarding your little addiction there.. would this be in the evening? Problem is, I am out of vacation (that is if I want to take time off at Christmas,) so I can only do the kind of weekend trip where you go home on Sunday night.
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