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Thank you for your e-mail and advice.
We finally "completed" our work in progress pond! It is sitting
at approx. 1500 gallons for main pond and approx. 150-200
for secondary, not counting boxes, which should give it an
additional 100 gals?! Ahh close enough anyway! Once we get
everything settle I will be joining the Koi Society hopefully
maybe by summer's end next year!
1) We actually decided to use a compound system of several
components. We have an upper pond of about 3 1/2 feet long
by 3 feet wide by 17 inch deep. We have a Tetra Bio Filter
for ponds up to 2500 gallons, with 4000 gph pump (on top of
liner on bottom). We have a skimmer box with 1500 gph pump
and a filter tub with pads. For piping we choose 2 inch all
the way around top increase flow, but also not flow too much
(none of my fish are small anyway). In total there are two
water falls, one for the filter tub dropping into the upper
pond, and one for upper pond to lower main pond.
2) I am purchasing a UV light next spring for the bio filter
we loving call R2D2, but wanted to know if it is worth the
200+ dollars? I wanted to know is charcoal bags really worth
it? One article said yes 7.5 LB bag per 1000 gal pond another
says it is a waste of money?! I was considering putting them
in along with pads in the filter tub (skimmer box system).
3) Plant suggestions? We are going with water hyacinths, cat
tails, lettuce, and some lilies. My mom loves the grass so
we might try some in the pond, but room is an issue sooner
or later. Is there some must haves?? We have no bog FYI &
can't install one.
4) Currently we stock about 9 fishes ranging in size, but
the largest ones are koi ranging 20 inch, 18, 22, all koi.
We do have two smaller koi, which range in the 9 - 14 inch
size. I also have two larger goldfish probably 6-8 inches
each. The hope of the goldfish was to clean and eating debris.
Is it necessary to have more gold fish? Some snails? A catfish?
Or is this a pretty good ratio and system as is. Bearing in
mind are current pond size, and the size of our fish, is the
pond at max capacity still? Do I have room for more fish?
I would like a few more koi, but am afraid my koi will be
enticed to grow substantially bigger now that they have a
bigger home, thus making it impossible?! I know gold fish
do that at least... I don't want to entice breading, is there
a way to prevent it? I like having control on how many and
what kinds! I like playing god in my pond a little!
The pond cannot be increased in size anymore, as we took up
half are back yard in this creation. So, as a result I can't
have a problem like we had before, I am forced to learn from
my lesson(s), and am now making sure I will be okay this time
around!
5) Rocks?! We have none at the bottom or in the pond, all
are currently on the outside. This was by what my mom says
your suggestion? Is this correct, I wanted a double check
and make sure it was a good way to do it?
6) I like tetra products for chemicals such as koi vital,
which I had to use a lot previously to maintain some balance
in are old pond! In the new pond will I need to use these
as much? Should I try to avoid the use? Is there better? Is
there a rule of thumb?
7) My mom wants to not have to clean the filters and such
every week, ideally once a month would be nice.
With our previous pond she was doing it twice -
three
times a week, which drove her nuts, and made her
make
me get a shovel for the new pond!! She blames me
entirely since I own the fish! :)
8) All in all it took us the best part of 5 full days to complete
the pond manually digging and finishing everything ourselves.
I must note it really does take up half of our back yard now
and looks really good, but my back still hurts from all of
the digging!
Dear Pat,
1) Congratulations! Remember, your water temperature is probably
below 55 degrees, so you shouldn't feed your fish until next
year. Your filters will not be able to do anything but mechanical
filtration until next spring, and then not until the water temp
has been above 50 degrees for about six weeks.
2) Absolutely get the UV. Without it you will have pea soup.
With it you will have clear water. Forget the charcoal. It becomes
saturated quickly, and is a bitch to recycle. Stay with easily
cleaned biomedia such as Biofil or Kaldnes media, which are
light and require minimum servicing. Never clean your media
with tap water. Always use pond water to preserve your bacterial
population.
3) Plant small stuff between your edging rocks like pennywort,
water mint and watercress to soften and naturalize the edges.
Talk to the aquatics person at Pesche's or Sid's.
4) My rule of thumb for fish of that size is 50 gallons of water
per inch of koi. You do the math. Goldfish are much easier on
the environment than koi, but you can't stop the little buggers
from spawning. Can't stop the koi, either. It'll happen as the
days lengthen and the water temp reaches the high 60s and low
70s. Your biofilter should take care of it in a few days, but
you should stop feeding until the ammonia and nitrite returns
to normal. Koi and goldfish birth control can be managed with
orfes, and by not protecting the eggs.
5) Leave the bottom bare. Bottom maintenance will be much easier.
6) Koi Vital is good stuff, but pricey. Water changes and monitoring
alkalinity with supplements with baking soda is cheaper and
just as effective. I like LaMotte for test kits. See the FAQs
section on the website for more info.
7) A good box filter shouldn't need cleaning more than once
a month, and then only when the mats are so fouled that they
impede flow. A couple of whacks on the driveway and a dunk in
a tub of clean pond water should do it. Tell your mom that she
was not cleaning up fish poop. What that sludge was, was byproducts
from beneficial filter bacteria.
Bob Passovoy
President
MPKS
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