First time pond owner in western NY

[busterny]

Thanks for all the information on this forum. I am a Long time fish keeper, but new to outdoor ponds. I have a 218 gallon preformed pond with 7 small koi. My plan is to move the waterfall back and add a stream.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @busterny to the pond life! I hope you'll stick around!

I know you didn't ask, but I feel compelled to add - 7 koi in 200 gallons is a recipe for disaster. I know you said "small koi" but that's an oxymoron, as any koi owner will tell you. Either plan for a bigger pond (like 10 times bigger) or plan to find them a new home. Your pond is well suited to goldfish.

 

[busterny]

Welcome @busterny to the pond life! I hope you'll stick around!

I know you didn't ask, but I feel compelled to add - 7 koi in 200 gallons is a recipe for disaster. I know you said "small koi" but that's an oxymoron, as any koi owner will tell you. Either plan for a bigger pond (like 10 times bigger) or plan to find them a new home. Your pond is well suited to goldfish.

I had a feeling the first comment would be about the number of koi, lol. My son will be expanding his pond at some point. More than likely he will be the recipient of some extras.

 

[sissy]

welcome and remember not only do they get big but the need lots of aeration and you will need to plan for winter now .A deicer and aerator of some sorts .I have koi over 2 feet long and they had babies again .This is the third time this year and I thought I got all the eggs but looked this morning and saw teeny tiny baby fish .less than an inch long

 

[busterny]

welcome and remember not only do they get big but the need lots of aeration and you will need to plan for winter now .A deicer and aerator of some sorts .I have koi over 2 feet long and they had babies again .This is the third time this year and I thought I got all the eggs but looked this morning and

Congrats on the babies. I am not sure if I should try to keep them outside or bring them in. I believe my depth is only around 2’.

 

[sissy]

not good for koi .I don't want babies ,I just got rid of some .I had a preformed when I was getting this house finished and I knew it was just temporary at the time ,but that first winter was a nightmare for me .I ended up building the new pond in december as the weather here is not to bad compared to NJ but I knew that winter here can get cold in Jan. and Feb. so took the plunge and started the new one in the nicer weather .I am 15 minutes from the NC border so not bad but I had never lived here and was not sure about winter weather .I ended up putting the fish I had in a stock tank in the basement .Most preforms are around 18 inch's deep .I was lucky that winter was really mild so got it done and waited for it to establish and tested water often while adding water from the stock tank every time I changed water in the basement tank .I was lucky and have well water .

 

[j.w]

@busterny
Looks like you have a nice big area to dig a bigger pond...................and maybe a son w/muscles to help, lol? We will help too! You could then use the small pond for just goldfish or Shubunkins (my favorite kind of goldfish)! They look sorta like small koi w/o the high price tag!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[busterny]

I built this last week, figuring they would need to be brought in. Couple of questions:
1.what do I do with the plants? I have mostly marginals and 1 lily along with he hyacinth.
2. Based on the answer to #1 about the plants. If I bring in all the plants, what do I do with the pond outside? Drain and tarp?

 

[sissy]

if you drain it will crack and during freeze and thaw it will come out of the ground .I have 1 of those tanks but only cut a small hole in the top to keep the intergrity of the sides .It keeps the edge from flexing .You can do a hang on the side filter and get a small aerator .The reason I left most of the top was for the filter .Plus you will need an aerator and need to think about power outages.Plus you will need to think about humidity ,you don't want mold in your house .I use a dehumidifier in my basement

 

[Lisak1]

I had a feeling the first comment would be about the number of koi, lol.

Aren't we helpful? haha! You'd be amazed by the number of people who are surprised by that, though, so I always mention it. Don't want you to get caught off guard with a bunch of fish that are too big for your pond.

As for overwintering in the pond, I'm in Chicago and while my pond is a bit over 3 feet deep, I've visited lots and lots of ponds in my zone (5B) that are only 24" deep and have koi that stay in them all winter long. Probably more importantly in your case though is water volume - the pond won't freeze two feet deep, but the ponds I've seen are in the 2-3000 plus gallon range. More volume is definitely a plus. My fish do just fine in my pond - this will be winter #7 and we've had some brutal ones!

There are others here more versed in overwintering fish inside so I'll leave that to them. As for plants, a hardy lily could stay right in the pond. As long as it's below the ice, it will be fine. Are your other marginals in pots? If so, you could just dig a hole in a garden or flower bed area deep enough to "plant" the pot up to the crown and they will be fine all winter. I've done this with a number of times and it works fine.

 

[Tara]

Hello, I like the tank set up for the winter. Where I am the air is so dry in winter people end up using humidifiers during the winter. A large tank like that for winter would solve that issue.

 

[sissy]

We are extremely dry during the winter months ,but with insulation there it will wick water into it .I have seen it lots of times in NJ.Basements are always more humid then the rest of a house and mostly trap humidity down there .My house in the winter with heat can get down to only 15 % but the basement humidity can be up to 55 % when I did not have the dehumidifier in the basement .That is the main reason I had to get it .First it was white mold and then black and everything had to be removed and basement walls had to be treated for the mold .My floors are insulated so I was lucky there it did not get into upstairs .I was lucky not to have basement access to the inside of the house .After that it had to be watched closely with a moisture meter .If not the humidity will rise again and cost over a thousand dollars to fix again .So if you do not have a moisture meter it can be a hidden killer .My humidity upstairs is always around 20 % and really needs to be 30 % to make you feel warmer .

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[Gemma]

Welcome to the forum!