Journey from dining room to fish room.

[Oldspartan]

I have now accumulated enough 1 by 6 and 1 by 8 poplar boards to dress the inside of the pond house. It does present a quandary though.

Do I now insulate the build and apply the boards or do I proceed to the fish room build. Finishing the inside of the pond house is not a large job but the insulation, stain and trim is a cost factor to an already overburdened budget. However, it would make the pond house a year-round structure which is intriguing. Finishing the structure would also require building windows. Again, an added expense. The drawback is the construction would mean pushing the fish room build back to the first of the year when the "fun" budget can be replenished for 2025.

Another consideration, I am tired. I can never remember being tired before. I think we pushed our old bodies beyond the limits imposed by age this past summer. Not a complaint mind you, just a realization we are not what we once were. I am uncertain if I am up to a large project at this point in time. Finishing the inside of the pond house is a small job that is not physically taxing. The fish room is a large project in comparison.

Both will be accomplished. We just need to decide the order and schedule.

Linda and I will need to discuss this over the weekend and choose how to proceed.

 

[GaryE]

When I was 25 I'd look at the trust fund kids and wonder how much I could get done if I didn't have to work long hours to get by. Now I'm an older guy, retired, with a pension. I wonder how much I could get done if I were 25.

You can deny age, but we do slow down and get tired more easily. My favourite way of relaxing is working hard, but working hard at what I choose to work at. Alas, life can't always be fun, eh?

Why I prioritized a fishroom was that it gave me an opportunity to channel my restlessness all year round. I do less in summer when I'm outside with taking care of the house, welcoming visitors who come to see us and to see the sea, and generally enjoying the short season. Now, as the days shorten and the wind gets cooler, I'm prepping the garden for winter and thinking of indoor fish projects. I rarely manage to sit and watch the fish unless they present a puzzle I want to figure out. My set ups are constantly fiddled with, improved or led astray, adjusted, rethought and revamped.

You strike me as a high energy guy who doesn't sit around. I guess my question, coming from my own experience, is which of the projects will give you more pleasure? I know pleasure seekers are supposed to lie around getting grapes dropped in their mouths, but I suspect we're both more of the make something, maintain something, create something that works type.

When we moved here, I found myself with a space and a budget for the first time, but also with a need to move fast because the fish are living creatures and my temporary fishroom wasn't going to cut it. You don't have that pressure. I'd like to have planned better, with a bit more time to calculate out what I wanted the fishroom to do. I made a couple of minor mistakes I'd love a take back on, but since I'd already had a series of improvised fishrooms, I did okay.

Do you plan all winter, or enjoy a fishroom sooner? Do you fill the other structure with fishtanks when you finish it? You've wandered into a corner of the internet where people who choose fish projects tend to be the local majority.

 

[Oldspartan]

When I was 25 I'd look at the trust fund kids and wonder how much I could get done if I didn't have to work long hours to get by. Now I'm an older guy, retired, with a pension. I wonder how much I could get done if I were 25.

You can deny age, but we do slow down and get tired more easily. My favourite way of relaxing is working hard, but working hard at what I choose to work at. Alas, life can't always be fun, eh?

Why I prioritized a fishroom was that it gave me an opportunity to channel my restlessness all year round. I do less in summer when I'm outside with taking care of the house, welcoming visitors who come to see us and to see the sea, and generally enjoying the short season. Now, as the days shorten and the wind gets cooler, I'm prepping the garden for winter and thinking of indoor fish projects. I rarely manage to sit and watch the fish unless they present a puzzle I want to figure out. My set ups are constantly fiddled with, improved or led astray, adjusted, rethought and revamped.

You strike me as a high energy guy who doesn't sit around. I guess my question, coming from my own experience, is which of the projects will give you more pleasure? I know pleasure seekers are supposed to lie around getting grapes dropped in their mouths, but I suspect we're both more of the make something, maintain something, create something that works type.

When we moved here, I found myself with a space and a budget for the first time, but also with a need to move fast because the fish are living creatures and my temporary fishroom wasn't going to cut it. You don't have that pressure. I'd like to have planned better, with a bit more time to calculate out what I wanted the fishroom to do. I made a couple of minor mistakes I'd love a take back on, but since I'd already had a series of improvised fishrooms, I did okay.

Do you plan all winter, or enjoy a fishroom sooner? Do you fill the other structure with fishtanks when you finish it? You've wandered into a corner of the internet where people who choose fish projects tend to be the local majority.

All good points ColinE. Pretty much sums up the quandary of vision versus energy, I think.

 

[Oldspartan]

We have chosen to "winterize" and finish the pond building this fall. As previously posted I now have enough 1-inch thick, rough-cut poplar to finish the interior. The boards will need to be roughly sanded, 80 grit paper, and edge finished as they are live edge on one side. This part of the project is not work; it is hobby.

We will add 1 inch furring strips to the floor then put 1 inch foam down between them, cover with 8MM plastic and then OSB panels. An indoor-outdoor carpet will follow after walls and ceilings are complete. The walls and roof rafters will have FG insulation 3 1/2-inch R13. The electric boxes all extend 1 1/8 inch from studs and rafters as I planned ahead for a finished wall at a future point. The future has come sooner than I planned.

I have a 100-pound LP Gas tank from our RV days. After I have it recertified at the local LP Gas dealer it can be hooked up to a wall mounted heater and WALLAH, the pond building will be a four-season retreat a short walk away. The entire job can be easily completed but will not be rushed.

We will leave the waterfall running all winter this year. I will add a bypass in case we get a long-term hard freeze period. This will allow us to avoid an ice bridge problem that causes the pond to drain. It is unlikely to be needs but safe rather than sorry is my motto. All other water features will be stored after cleaning probably mid-November.

The pond still contains perhaps 50 Rosey Nosed Minnows that were born this summer as well as 20 or more largely black goldfish. The minnow trap was mostly unsuccessful in their removal, and they are nearly impossible to net from shore. I will shortly drain the pond by about 2/3 and then wade in to net them. We are planning to keep our original 5 goldfish plus 2 newbies that have interesting coloration. We will also keep a half dozen of the Rosey Nose. The surplus golds will be taken to another and larger pond a short distance away. The LFS will take the Rosey Nose. When the pond is drained, I also plan to clean the bottom and remove the couple dozen rocks that belong on the bank that Buster has knocked during his frog adventures.

The fish room project will be slowed somewhat. I will build the cabinetry in modules at my leisure during the winter months. The shop has some heating and is comfortable down to about 20 degrees so I can use it most days during the winter.

Frankly the need to purchase a new vehicle was an unexpected and heavy expense that leaves a hole in the budget for the next year. Money that would normally be free to use on projects is now owned by Honda. The slush fund needs to be replenished so next year we will need to be careful in what we tackle. Fortunately, we have the necessary tanks and most equipment on hand and the plumbing and electrical is mostly in place.

Age has caught us and we are facing that reality. Projects will get done, just not at the pace I am accustomed to.

 

[Oldspartan]

The pond house is pretty much complete. The walls and ceiling are insulated to R13, the wall mounted LP heater is hooked up, and the walls are finished with poplar boards. Poplar does not shrink much as it dries so the gaps should be minimal and easily filled next summer with a sawdust and glue compound after which some quality paint will be applied. I watched the Sunday night football game to the background music of the waterfall. A dorm style fridge will complete the structure soon.

This week my cousin from California will be visiting so beginning Wednesday we will be relaxing and entertaining.

Linda took a fleet of guppies and swordtails to the LFS yesterday and came home with two large air stones for the pond aeration system in exchange. The "baby tank" is now empty and will be cleaned for the next group, she expects a litter of molly any day now. With luck they will be black. We are now approaching a point where all our Molly and Swords are homegrown, although we still have most of our starter fish as well as a couple of male Molly and Swords Linda bought specifically for her breeding experiments. She is having fun with the fish, and I am having fun watching her have fun.

Linda has the Angel eating from her hand now which is pretty cool. The pond goldfish also eat from her hand as do a couple of the frogs, squirrels and a chipmunk. She has a way with animals that is amazing, at least to me who they flee from.

The Monarch Butterflies are still flitting about the milk weeds and butterfly plant, and we still have hummingbirds which is a surprise this late in the year. Lots of honey and bumble bees, (and unfortunately wasps), are feeding on various plants. The sunflowers have mostly reached seed stage and because they are in front of the pond houses side window we are enjoying a variety of birds who relish the seeds. The birds also seem to like the bog and little stream bed we built this year. I did find a dead chickadee, still with down, at the edge of the pond Friday. I think she got wet and was unable to take flight.

It seemed we would never finish this pond project, maybe we never will entirely. We are already making plans for a small reflecting pool on the backside of the pond house with a lighted fountain and stream connecting it to the pond as well as a summer kitchen of sorts. For now, however, we are finished and enjoying watching the critters delighting in the fruit of our labor.