Since You Talked me out of a Bartisian, let me Have a Koi Pond

DucatiHoney

DucatiHoney

Administrator
Staff member
I think you should make a Koi-tisian...make something delicious out of your new koi farm.

Koi-water tea?
Koi-poop crunchies?
 
i_am_the_koi

i_am_the_koi

Be Here Now
lefty;10704294} Update- I found a couple of units that are 4 feet deep said:
I forgot my safety section: Check your local regulations. Most counties require a 6 foot safety fence around any "water feature" that is 3 feet or more deep. Not sure if that's been updated since I used to build them but a lot of people who built large beautiful features, would get pissed when the inspector came by and said they needed a fence. That being said, anything more than 6 inches is going to be a hazard and you need to really teach safety on her end as much as prepare for the worst. How old is she? Islands are huge as well for safety, hard to swim across a pond, easy to hold onto an island/plant/fountain head/whatever is sticking out of the pond.[/B]

Regarding Fish- I will be filling it with Feeder Goldfish. I have no desire to spend big $$'s on fish (no offense Koi).

All Good. Again, with a quarantine tank, you can get koi for 2-5 a piece from walmart that are small. Get them healthy and boom, you've got ugly koi fish. The "pretty" ones are kept for the main companies and the ones that don't match any official "type" of koi are culled out to the chains. Also get some mosquito fish, good health indicator to your pond and get into all the nooks/crannies to keep mosquitos away. Absolutely make sure they're healthy before adding them to your pond, they're usually full of disease.

Remember, you'll be looking at them from above, so think about how they look on top, not on their sides

Regarding Critters- I have two Pit Bulls (that are super sweet) but will eat ANYTHING, other than my Cat, that enters our yard.

I do not have a problem putting landscaping stones around the edges to deter critters. Also, I can use netting as well.

I will heed your advice and get the best pump possible. One coworker told me to get a type of pump/filter that sits OUTSIDE of the pond, not inside. He said that it makes it much easier to clean, if you do not need to reach into the water.

Absolutely go external filter and I'd go internal pump. External filters are much easier to clean, and you get a lot of extra debris and cleanup needed. Handy to have an internal filter until you go to pull it out and all the debris falls out into your pond. External filter like this would be something I would recommend. Replace the bulb every year on the day, replace the filters every other year or as needed depending on your pond and it's debris.

Internal pump. If it goes dry it'll burn out the motor quickly, so anything that disrupts flow to the pump will cause it to lose water pressure. Usually snaps the shaft or just freezes the motor inside. Internal pump won't go dry until the pond goes dry, which you'd hopefully notice before then. You might need to build a cage for it to keep debris or roots from clogging it, but that won't damage the pump as much as just slow the flow.

Go as big as a tubing as you can stand visually. It's easy to install a bulkhead in the side of the container you choose so it's not just going over the side of the pond, but that's not hard to disguise either. On your return flow, try to break up the water, fountains, waterfalls, a pipe with a screen over the end to cause cavitation and adding oxygen to the water. i never liked the bamboo spouts that just poured water into the pond, good, but not great for adding O2 to the pond which helps the ecosystem.



Thanks Everyone!!!!
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DucatiHoney said:
I think you should make a Koi-tisian...make something delicious out of your new koi farm.

Koi-water tea?
Koi-poop crunchies?
Click to expand...

Koi Poop Cakes are actually a thing and make great fertilizer for other plants :smoking
 
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i_am_the_koi

i_am_the_koi

Be Here Now
Also, really really REALLY easy to build and install one of these.

il_794xN.2278282476_6l1f.jpg
 
i_am_the_koi

i_am_the_koi

Be Here Now
Meh

Do your research on your pump. Power usage vs output. It's really going to depend on what you want to do with the water. The filter does require a minimum flow, but it's basically enough to push through the dirty fine filter once it's clogged, like 500gph or something like that. But you can also fix that by making your own foam filters. Any filter material works but they sell pool filter material you can "customize" your filter once you figure out what works for your system. Maybe you don't need the fine, maybe the course filter never needs cleaning so you put a finer one in. it's like, 10 bucks for a sheet to cut your own out.

Want the filter right outside the door while the pond is in the far corner? doable, going to need a different pump.

Want the water to do billagio effects and light show? Different pump.

12 tier waterfall?

Little drip from a cherub?

Big spray from a cherub?


Figure out your pond before going with the pump. 1900gph is a good pump for turnover, but it could also be way overkill for your pond, or not enough.
 
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Critter

Critter

A car in space...hmmmm.
LEFTY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT DO THIS. I have an uncle in AZ who just spent uhhhhh A COUPLE THOUSAND on a.....FUCKING FISH. Hes got a bad ass set up but the amount of money he has swimming in his pool is obscene.

I was considering it (yeah I'm a fish dude) until I started digging into the actual costs of the fish. Ok I may still do it but with Gold Fish LOL
 
i_am_the_koi

i_am_the_koi

Be Here Now
Critter said:
LEFTY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT DO THIS. I have an uncle in AZ who just spent uhhhhh A COUPLE THOUSAND on a.....FUCKING FISH. Hes got a bad ass set up but the amount of money he has swimming in his pool is obscene.

I was considering it (yeah I'm a fish dude) until I started digging into the actual costs of the fish. Ok I may still do it but with Gold Fish LOL
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Couple thousand? So he got a cheap one.... :twofinger


Ever given Chemotherapy to a fish worth more than, well, everything you own? :wave I have
 
lefty

lefty

Well-known member
Critter-

I cannot get myself to pay massive amounts of money on this. I will be getting feeder goldfish, and hope that they grow into decent sozed fish.
 
nakedape

nakedape

Well-known member
i_am_the_koi said:
Figure out your pond before going with the pump. 1900gph is a good pump for turnover, but it could also be way overkill for your pond, or not enough.
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WAY overkill. My comets are 6 years old and about 6" in a 300 gal set up. I run a 400GPH pump with box filter intake. The pond guy was like WTF man you only need 200. Plenty of plants on stands (taro, equisetum, lilies, papyrus) and seasonal hyacinth. Recently added red cherry shrimp, but they are either dead from chill or too small to see.

Don't get koi, they are a huge pain, eat plants and roots, slow as shit so predators can get them, and costly, as the Koi human noted.

Consider siting it above ground and building a skirt of brick/stone. Get a straight-sided trough-type plastic water tub for livestock. Mine is 32" tall and hard to clamber in for a toddler.

PM an email addy Lefty and I'll send you a video walkaround of a small pond and some of the tips and tricks to make it more fun than work. Make sure you have a hose nearby! I started my pond hauling water from the sink in buckets. Literally moved units so I could have a bigger patio with a spigot.
 
littlebeast

littlebeast

get it while it's easy
fish are awesome. my personal fav that i ever had was a large piranha. i think that fish was actually in love with me (he would turn from silver / grey to bright red when i came near his tank and coil his body around my hand when i reached into it).
 
lefty

lefty

Well-known member
littlebeast said:
fish are awesome. my personal fav that i ever had was a large piranha. i think that fish was actually in love with me (he would turn from silver / grey to bright red when i came near his tank and coil his body around my hand when i reached into it).
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That's a smart fish!!!! :thumbup

I picked up my liner from Lowes yesterday

https://www.lowes.com/pd/MacCourt-7...ty-Polyethylene-Pond-Liner-125-Gallon/3389466

and I ordered a pump and filter from Amazon. My Electrician is coming over today. I'll start digging tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and advice!!!
 
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