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Do you have a question about ponding, planting, fish, filtration? Send us an e-mail. We will do our very best to answer it.

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  1. I have a 27,000 gal pond in WI. Do you know anything about using those pond breathers I know most folks hoop and heat but the shape of mine does not lend it self for it. My pond will freeze all the way across the top so the pond breathers are the only means of a gas exchange. I do have a dozen aerator stones pulled to the surface that will bubble. (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  2. I was wondering if you would mind if I asked you some questions about my sick goldfish. (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  3. 6,500 gallon with waterfall pump and airation at bottom going,are problem is we keep finding are koi inside are skimmer still alive (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  4. I have one koi. One of his eyes has been clouded white...[healing the fish, building a pond, duct taping the mom...] (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  5. I recently installed a 1200 gal pond with a 20 ft stream. Right after I started the stream all the stones in it turned a dark brown color. I used an algae killer and all brown stuff disappeared from the stream. Ever since then (about one month) the water in my pond has been an ice tea color... (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  6. I am trying to not treat it [algae] chemically but feel i have nothing left to try. I have about 11 small koi fish. What would you recommend?Also do you have a list of places to buy koi? (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  7. ...Anyway, my questions are A) have you ever seen a liner pond tiled? B) will the mortar / grout have a negative effect on the water quality and fish? C) Is there a sealer that will help with keeping the mortar and grout from leeching into the water. (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  8. We are familiar with keeping fish and the biological process, as we belonged to Greenwater Aquarists Society of Chicago for 6 years and have raised many types of tropical fish (this is, Angelfish, small chiclids, etc) indoors over the years. But this is our first venture into "ponds"... (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  9. I have just finished a new 3000 gallon koi pond and am wondering how this large volume of water will show an ammonia spike when cycling... (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  10. Is there something natural that I can use to kill algae in my pond that won't harm my fish or frogs? (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  11. Help!! my Kois are dying! (Added 2-22-10) —See reply.
  12. The next day, the pump was inadvertently turned off at approximately 6 PM. At 6 AM the next morning I was saddened to see that 4 of my 7 beautiful (large) KOI were dead and a fifth (small) one was very distressed.... (Added 8-02-09) —See reply.
  13. I am building a pond approximately 23x19x3.5 with about a 30 f'oot waterfall/stream that will have about a 5' lift... (Added 8-02-09) —See reply.
  14. Our fish pond is going to be 5 ft deep at one end and 3 ft deep at the other end and 20 ft in length. I live in Missouri and I wanted to know if it is safe to leave the fish out for the winter? (Added 8-02-09) —See reply.
  15. My question is that my koi are very skittish, they won't come out to feed. We winter them over in a 90 gallon aquarium, in the house. They were beginning to come to my hand to nibble... (Added 8-02-09) —See reply.
  16. I have a fantail goldfish about three inches in length that I purchased from the koi show last year. It was fine until several months ago when it began having problems staying upright. Eventually it completely turned over and now does not swim upright at all. It has difficulty eating, and just lays upside down on the gravel of the tank. What is wrong with him and can I help him? (Added 8-02-09) —See reply.
  17. My Husband and I have a 28"-30" Tancho, he/she might be between 12-15 years old. Back in her day she had won a ribbon or two. Her / his once almost perfect red circle is today almost completely gone... (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  18. I have attended the MPKS show many times in the past but this will be my first time being a vendor... (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  19. I bought 50 feet of 2” flexible PVC pond tubing because (according to a couple of websites) it was suppose to be easy to connect and glue to PVC fittings. Well, I found that it doesn’t fit PVC fittings. So I called the company I ordered it from and the guy told me that fittings that you buy from the local hardware store will not fit. So I ordered schedule 40 PVC fittings that were made for flexible PVC tubing and they don’t fit either. The PVC tubing is still slightly too large.

    Since it doesn’t fit inside the PVC fittings, I don’t know if PVC glue will bond the tubing to PVC fittings Did I fall victim to a marketing scam? Do you think I can make it work by sanding down the tubing and fittings until the tubing fits inside the fitting? I’d appreciate any suggestions. (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  20. I'm building a new pond in my back yard and I wondering if I can use limestone in and around my pond. I believe it is limestone. I got the white rock from creek beds here in Missouri. (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  21. My dilemma is our pond has no filtration and we have a bad pea soup algae problem what is the best king of filter to get that will help control pea soup algae in ¾ sun. (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  22. I wonder how you prevent freezing the water left over in the pipe from the bottom drain to your filter system in the garage. I use a knife-valve that's buried in the ground next to the pond. I've never been able to completely shut it off and so the underground vortex always has water through the winter (that freezes). (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  23. We have an established 3,000 koi pond in the country. The past couple of years, we have had a problem with keeping the water clear. We are running 2 pumps and have more than sufficient water exchange/turnover.

    We began hauling city water in 2008 and have found the pond to remain more clear. Our well water has a lot of iron and calcium that seems to murk up the water. We do add a dechlorinator routinely when we add water. I have recently read that city water will kill our beneficial bacteria. Is this true? (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  24. The Question: Is there anything else i can do short of shooting the ducks ( I do have a 12 guage lol) but i realize ILLEGAL. Any help would be appreciated :) (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  25. Hi, Dr. Bob, I have about 900 to 1000 gallon pond with 4 Koi about 6 inches long. I was thinking of adding a few more fish but don't want to upset the ecosystem as everything seems to be fine right now. How many fish can a pond my size comfortably hold? (Added 7-06-09) —See reply.
  26. My property was sprayed by accident a week ago for gypsy moths with BTK and three days later the ecosystem in my pond died and now one of my fish is in critical condition and 8 more in serious condition... (Added 6-7-09) —See reply.
  27. Our pump is no longer working and needs to be sent back to dealer for a warranty replacement. How long will my Koi and goldfish survive without the pump circulating the water? (Added 6-7-09) —See reply.
  28. ...The fish is still alive, and there is swelling in the belly. The scales have not popped out or anything like that and the eyes are fine. I think that she may have come into season and not spawned. Perhaps she has a condition that I've heard of called egg impaction? (Added 6-7-09) —See reply.
  29. After draining out about 2500 gal of water, I began adding water directly to my 5000 gal pond then add amquel every 30 minutes. This is not the best way. Can this hurt the nitrifying bacteria because soon after this I notice the nitrite rising and is now (May 1, 09) at about .5 mg/L. Or is it more due to the spawning in the last week and the bead filter just can't keep up even though I have continued to change out the water. (Added 6-7-09) —See reply.
  30. I am about to install an new pond in the Kansas City area. I will be using the easy pro deluxe pond kit and the pond will be approx 8X12X3. Any suggestions on things that need to be added to begin with or things that what can be added later? I am wondering about a bottom drain (of course that will need to be added when I start), any additional filters, uv lighting, etc. Any ideas? (Added 4-19-09) —See reply.
  31. Koi Health Advisor Program forums and website (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.
  32. ...Is it possible I received a visit from a Heron recently or is there something wrong with my pond's environment? (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.
  33. I have three koi, about sixteen to eighteen inches long. They started out about six long, three years ago. Are there any telltale signs as to ther gender? (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.
  34. What do you recommend is the time to REALLY start up the filter system for our area? (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.
  35. I have a family (or more) of voles living in the rock wall of my stream. Any suggestions?
    (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.
  36. I am in my second year with my (around) 900 gallon pond and I had tons of string algae this March and tried winding it up like spaghetti as you suggested but got frustrated and ended up draining and refilling the whole pond. My Koi (4-8" and goldfish (2-6") nearly died! Duh! Anyways it's apparent I have too much sun, ammonia, etc. I haven't read much about pond vacuums, do you suggest that I get one to suck out the stuff in the bottom of the pond that creates some of the ammonia and perform smaller water changes? (Added 4-11-09) —See reply.

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