A Water Trough for Many Pond Functions

[brokensword]

It turns out the 4ft trough is closer to 3ft, so I got a 6ft trough that's closer to 5ft instead. I guess they make them different sizes so they can stack them inside each other for shipping.

Should make a reasonable winter home for now.

if that's galvanized, you need to read up as we've had posters with problems when they use such containers. Might need to line it.

 

[DavidWH]

if that's galvanized, you need to read up as we've had posters with problems when they use such containers. Might need to line it.


View attachment 143646

I'm reading about it now. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DavidWH]

I've read different things on the galvanized trough. Some say it worked perfect. Others say it started killing their fish. I think I'm going to drop a liner in to be safe. Again, thanks for the heads up.

 

[DavidWH]

Update. My koi arrived today and they're in their temporary home.

I used an inexpensive liner in the trough to protect against the potential zinc issue identified here. - Thanks again for that info.

I started to cycle the pond with goldfish leading up to the arrival of the koi. The goldfish were moved into the outside pond today. They can now cycle that. Despite the colder temperatures outside, they are swimming around in their new massive home and seem to be doing well.

The blue barrel has 2 cubic feet of K1 inside. I plan to add another 1-2 cubic feet as it starts to become mobile. Right now I can feel the media on the bottom churning if I put my hand in, but the top layer is static. I have lots of air moving inside. According to everything I've read, I need to be patient.

Above the barrel is a sieve filter that I built while watching football this weekend. I might have gone a little crazy with the staple gun. Because I was in a time crunch, this is a temporary, smaller version of the one I want to build. As you can see in the picture, it's already doing it's job. It's constructed from 120 micron stainless mesh. Below the sieve I have sponges, a couple luffas and two bags of bio-balls. From there it falls into the barrel with k1.

I'm using a 420gph pump to get to the top of this. It's likely putting out a little over 300gph at 4-1/2 feet in height. Based on recommendations I received here, I'm going to add a second pump to get to 600gph

. This will cycle the pond about 1-1/2 times per hour.

I'm working on a plan for additional bio filter capacity. If anyone has any suggestions for that, let me know. I've seen some cool ideas online, but I haven't decided yet.

I've already started identifying fish to cull. I'll post here before craigslist to see if a Portland area local forum member wants them. I have lots of similar fish of some varieties and I don't need that many. I plan to cut the population by about 1/3 in the next few weeks, keeping a good colorful mix that I can continue to adjust down as they grow.

In addition to the air from the falling water leading into the pond, I have a large air disk in the center and two large-ish air stones on the back sides. Lot's of surface agitation and bubbles.

 

[DavidWH]

Also, when I move the trough outside in the spring, I might apply a fish safe epoxy coating to protect against zinc leaching.

 

[brokensword]

Update. My koi arrived today and they're in their temporary home.

I used an inexpensive liner in the trough to protect against the potential zinc issue identified here. - Thanks again for that info.

I started to cycle the pond with goldfish leading up to the arrival of the koi. The goldfish were moved into the outside pond today. They can now cycle that. Despite the colder temperatures outside, they are swimming around in their new massive home and seem to be doing well.

The blue barrel has 2 cubic feet of K1 inside. I plan to add another 1-2 cubic feet as it starts to become mobile. Right now I can feel the media on the bottom churning if I put my hand in, but the top layer is static. I have lots of air moving inside. According to everything I've read, I need to be patient.

Above the barrel is a sieve filter that I built while watching football this weekend. I might have gone a little crazy with the staple gun. Because I was in a time crunch, this is a temporary, smaller version of the one I want to build. As you can see in the picture, it's already doing it's job. It's constructed from 120 micron stainless mesh. Below the sieve I have sponges, a couple luffas and two bags of bio-balls. From there it falls into the barrel with k1.

I'm using a 420gph pump to get to the top of this. It's likely putting out a little over 300gph at 4-1/2 feet in height. Based on recommendations I received here, I'm going to add a second pump to get to 600gphView attachment 143888. This will cycle the pond about 1-1/2 times per hour.

I'm working on a plan for additional bio filter capacity. If anyone has any suggestions for that, let me know. I've seen some cool ideas online, but I haven't decided yet.

I've already started identifying fish to cull. I'll post here before craigslist to see if a Portland area local forum member wants them. I have lots of similar fish of some varieties and I don't need that many. I plan to cut the population by about 1/3 in the next few weeks, keeping a good colorful mix that I can continue to adjust down as they grow.

In addition to the air from the falling water leading into the pond, I have a large air disk in the center and two large-ish air stones on the back sides. Lot's of surface agitation and bubbles.

if that foam I see in your pics is not dissipating almost instantly (like I think), it is a sign of DOCs in the water and you'll have issues if you don't keep an eye on it.

 

[DavidWH]

if that foam I see in your pics is not dissipating almost instantly (like I think), it is a sign of DOCs in the water and you'll have issues if you don't keep an eye on it.

View attachment 143893

Thank you! Looking into it now.

 

[DavidWH]

Update.

The garage trough pond is going better than I could have hoped for. The system is continuing to establish itself with biological filtration. The water looks clearer every week. There is a good bio film covering everything.

I'm down to weekly water changes of about 180 gallons once per week on the weekend when it's convenient for me. The water has maintained a garage temperature in the mid 50's. The fish have at least doubled in size. The growth has been slower than some suggested. I wonder if that's because of the water temperature. The fish seem happy and hungry. I'm giving them a blend of commercial fish foods and cut up salad shrimp on the weekends as a treat.

I'm thinking of rounding out my collection with a few specifically chosen fish in the near future. I want to add a couple Sanke, I only have one since one jumped early on. It is my only jumping casualty. My favorite fish of course and the only one with a name. Red Head.

I'm also thinking of a Platinum Ogon and maybe a Karasu for luck.

It's working.

 

[DavidWH]

My wife was talking to me the other day about turning the remaining north part of our yard where the grass gets little sun into a paver deck. I was like - what if we turn it into a koi pond and connect it to the other one with a tunnel?

She may have roller her eyes, but don't count me out just yet.

 

[brokensword]

I'm also thinking of a Platinum Ogon and maybe a Karasu for luck.

just so you know, and I did the same (got a karasu; but I did it because I have an UW cam and would definitely see it), but once you put one in, you'll never see it. Black from the surface is almost impossible. Trust me; I routinely go looking for EVERY new koi I put in and I bet I saw it twice in a month before it died on me.

Okay, so you were warned; g'wan and grab one!

Now, the platinum ogaon you'll see very much! Quite striking among all the other colors!

 

[Lisak1]

We have just the one koi in our pond and he's all black. He is harder to spot than the other fish for sure, but it's quite a sight to see him rise up out of the deep!

 

[DavidWH]

I realized I didn't post my improvements in this thread. Instead I posted them elsewhere on the forum.

To summarize -

I did have an ammonia problem almost immediately. All of my other readings were good except ammonia.

I started to have struggling fish soon after the picture was taken. Thanks to brokensword's heads-up when he noticed the foam, I tested the water and got to work on a solution early saving most of my fish. A couple fish showed signs of swim bladder problems, but most of the problem was the ammonia level. I added additional mechanical and biological filtration and more than doubled my pump capacity. For a short-term solution I began very large daily water changes, removing about half of the water from the system each day. I also quickly started treating with a better chlorine remover that also reduces the harmful effects of ammonia, and started seeding the bio filter with daily doses of bacteria. The foam immediately went away, but the ammonia levels remained high at about .5ppm.

I added an extra 2 cubic feet of K1 and two pressure filters with mechanical and biological filtration. I also culled fish (on Craigslist) to quickly reduce the load in the tank.

The next weeks were rough with lots of getting up at 2am to check on my struggling fish, but the system slowly established itself and I started to see improvements.

Today, it's awesome. I just feed the fish as often as they will eat and do weekly cleaning and water changes.

If I had this to do over again, I would add the additional pumps and filtration from day one. I would also start with a smaller load of fish and add them more gradually as the biological system gains the ability to filter out toxins from the water.

Though I've successfully kept koi alive in the past, I've never started a new pond environment for them. Overall, it has been a great learning experience. I feel confident that I can have a well stocked pond as long as I do the work ahead of time to ensure adequate mechanical and biological filtration.

I'll continue to post occasional updates as the project continues.

 

[reefsr]

plants don't readily take in ammonia, they take in the nitrogen from nitrates. Where are you reading/seeing plants prefer ammonia?

https://www.leaffin.com/role-ammonia-aquaponics-system/

And no, I'd not push anything from the bottom to the bog; that's trouble waiting to happen.

Plants use Nitrogen only in the form of ammonia and have to spend some energy to convert nitrate (and nitrite) back to ammonia.

How the Ammonium-nitrate ratio affects your plants | CANNA Gardening USA

It’s a well-known fact that plants need sufficient nutrients to grow and that

www.cannagardening.com

 

[brokensword]

Plants use Nitrogen only in the form of ammonia and have to spend some energy to convert nitrate (and nitrite) back to ammonia.

How the Ammonium-nitrate ratio affects your plants | CANNA Gardening USA

It’s a well-known fact that plants need sufficient nutrients to grow and that

www.cannagardening.com

hmm, that's AMMONIUM, not ammonia;

Nitrogen form

fish waste

 

[reefsr]

hmm, that's AMMONIUM, not ammonia;

Nitrogen form

fish waste

The practical result is that it reduces both. Ammonia and ammonium are both easier to process and convert into energy than nitrates.