Assistance with a new pond please

[jay24k]

Well, I searched on the net and found this place so I'm hoping you guys can help me out. My neighbor has a pond that she is unable to keep up with 2 huge 2' foot koi that are very nice. I have a question since I've never kept such a large pond.

My current water adventures are a 44 gallon saltwater full reef which I'm in the process of transfering to a 180 gallon and my 50 gallon small pond.

Her pump burned out so I will probably have to pick up a new one. Is there any brands you all recommend? The pond is approximately 20 feet long by 12 feet wide and 3 feet deep at the deepest portion. I'm figuring maybe around 4000 gallons at the most. I figure I will probably need about 6000gph pump before head loss correct? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The liner she already has and any dry rotted I will cut away and shrink the pond some if I need to. It's still filled up currently.

For Filtration, her husband (just passed away recently) has a 50 gallon tub that has some rocks on the bottom (not sure what they are) and then a layer of this green filter stuff that is one solid piece. On top of that is a mesh bag (huge bag) of some type of filtration rocks. The plumbing comes in from the bottom and then flows out the top into a rock bed which drains into the pond.

My additional questions are, what do I need? and what do you all recommend?

Is the filtration enough?
I'm going to add some plants and have palms around it to provide some shade since I'm in Florida.

What pump should I buy? I'm looking for quality that is going to last awhile and LOW wattage even if the pump costs more in the long run.

How do I keep the water crystal clear or am I fooling myself. I see some people's ponds that are barely see through and others that are absolutely amazing looking.

Please help a new guy.

Thank you.

 

[zacdl]

You are about right on the GPH but I have no clue what kind of waterfall you are putting in.

Get a new liner too, if its old you dont want it.

Filtration sounds OK too. That should be enough EX if it is already working.

I have never delt with 6000 GPH pumps so I do not know what to tell you there.
I think external pumps are the best electricity savers for something that large.

Get a UV light. That helps with your algea problems alot too.


You didnt mention, are you digging up her liner? Or are you just taking over the care of the pond?

 

[jay24k]

I'm digging it all up. I've been digging the hole in my yard to fit this beast. Her liner appears in very good shape so I'm going to probably use that. I'm making my pond longer but not as wide so I'm estimating maybe 2-3K gallons tops. I'm probably going to pick me up a 3K gph pump. For UV lights, what do you recommend and do they plumb in the pvc line or seperate? Never used one on saltwater.

 

[frog girl]

I hate it when I write a long post & it disapears because the internet kicks me off.
Harumph!

Anyway here is the abbreviated version.

UV is easy to plumb with PVC inline but be careful not to overtighten the connections & break the bulb. You will have to periodically clean the lense. The size will depend on what you want to kill. Different exposures (flow & wattage) kill different algae & disease organisms (usually the manufacturer has a table you can look at. Check out www.aquaticeco.com they are usually very helpful. I don't think you will want your flow through the UV light to be 3K gph (your exposure would be too low to kill much of anything). You might have to plumb this a bit differently with a flow regulator.

To reduce algae you need 1) soft water like roof runoff rainwater, 2) about 75% coverage of the pond area with floating plants like lilies to starve algae of sunlight (or a shady area for your pond), 3) good circulation with few dead spots, 4) good cleanout of leaf & other organic debris which adds nutrients that feed algae, 5) A good biofilter (you have that), 6) don't overfeed your fish - extra nutrients are used by algae, and it is also recommended by some that you avoid areas less than a couple feet deep because the warm water is heaven for algae. This limits the wildlife use potential for your pond but it depends what you want. If you want a formal look to showcase the fish it will work fine. If you want birds & other wildlife to watch you may want to put in a shallow slope for bathing etc. Also the first couple seasons expect some algae as the pond gets back in balance (maybe shorter for you since you have an established setup). Its like new tank syndrome.

I can't help with the pump because I don't use inlines.

Koi are notorius diggers so plants need to have heavy rocks on the surface holding the soil into the pot & not just pebbles. You might also consider having an area for plants & smaller fish that the koi can't access. Oxygenators like anacharis & hornwort if kept seperate will likely smooth out the bumps in the transition.

Look into getting American Flag Fish which are string algae eaters ( your UV won't help a huge amount with this form). I'm not sure they are compatible with koi which live in dirty water but its worth a shot.

Make sure you feed that biofilter with ammonia (dead shrimp or fish) when its not connected to the pond. Otherwise you might have trouble with bacteria die offs.

HTH

 

[zacdl]

They have some Fish Mate UV and Bio filters.

You could put a T or something in somewhere (or use their current pump or something I do not know) but the water goes under a UV light first, and then goes through mechanical and bio filtration (extra filtration never hurts)

Depends on the personality of the koi. I have HAD koi in the past and never had problems with them growing. I am down to two koi now (pond tragedy a while back) and all goldfish. I find I like goldfish A LOT better (dont know why just do).

I used to keep rocks on top of the pots but I knocked some off each time I messed with the pot and ended up cleaning them out of the pond bottom.

I am just doing open-dirt now, with no rocks over top, and they have not messed wtih any.

Also, on the biofilter....
Freshwater is much much much less pickey than saltwater. EX pond situations.
Sometimes my bio media gets clogged up I wash it off with a hose really well and stick it back in. It doesnt go through a cycle, prolly because the pond itself has enough bacteria in it.

I am planning on washing out the whole pond (I do this yearly) and I guess you could say it goes through a cycle (I never test the pond) but it doesnt hurt anything.

Ponds are much easier to keep than tanks, so keep that in mind (You dont need to take extreem measures)

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Wouldn't flagfish be a bit small for 2' koi and be eaten?

 

[zacdl]

I dont know what a flagfish is, but koi do not eat other fish (They eat small minnows and such, but when they have been raised on fish food they dont eat other fish)

I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[jay24k]

Ok thanks for the information. For external pumps, what would you recommend and do you build a rain safe area for it? I prefer external but it seems internal is so much easier to do.

Pond area is dug and boy am I tired. It's about 20 feet long and the widest is maybe 7 to 8 feet. Roughly around 2'+ depending on the area. My hands are sore and I hope to never do this manually again lol.

I checked home depot pumps and they are pricy for their high wattage and low gph. Going to check a few online places.

Does anyone have any recommendation on good fresh water pumps?

 

[zacdl]

They are supposed to be weatherproof but it is better if you cover them up so yes.

www.drsfostersmith.com is where I buy stuff, use their site to pick a pump you want and them check online and see if you can find it cheaper (ebay maybe)