making a koi hideout ?

[ohfortunate1]

i used an bakers bread tray upside down and stood my pump on it, it also stops the pond completely draining if my plumbing goes faulty

 

[Lisaebetten]

If you look at my picture you can see my fish tunnels and hides. I used a 5 gal. bucket and cut in 1/3 then cut the bottom out. Bigger side in bottom and the smaller slice on a shelf for the smaller fish to hide in. I am covering them with black liner scraps and gluing thin rocks to camo the buckets. I also used a large clay elbow and dug it into a shelf then cover with a piece of slate. I'm not a fan of seeing none pond type stuff in the pond. I'm weird I know! I am still in my build but I hope the fishes like their play ground!

 

[RobAmy]

I used drain pipe, ribbed on the outside and smooth on the inside. Works great. I bridged stone on those also in which made additional tunnels.

The bridging with stone

 

[ashirley]

I used black plastic trash cans & cut the bottom out

 

[Lisak1]

We used black drain pipe as well and stacked rocks on it so it looks like an underwater stone bridge. We cut 1/3 of ours off (a lengthwise slice) so it's in the pond cut side down. The fish love it!

 

[sissy]

the only problem they are saying with koi hide outs now is that a sick fish will go in there and possibly die .I saw that on you tube and on my local pond show here .They say it should be made of something you can see inside of like a crate .

 

[Sunshine]

I used a big plastic flower pot, cut 2 holes in the sides opposite each other, turned it upside down with a brick on it to hold it down.

 

[Lisaebetten]

I used drain pipe, ribbed on the outside and smooth on the inside. Works great. I bridged stone on those also in which made additional tunnels.

View attachment 71740

The bridging with stone

View attachment 71741

Hi there, what do you have on the bottom of your pond, cement?

I see you use to aerators. What area do you put them in and why? I plan to use one in my bio falls and of course for winter.

 

[RobAmy]

Hi there, what do you have on the bottom of your pond, cement?

I see you use to aerators. What area do you put them in and why? I plan to use one in my bio falls and of course for winter.

That is not cement on the bottom, it is stone dust. Stone dust when wet smooths out like concrete so it is easier to shape and no sharp or larger stones in it. I use cheap Laguna pumps, they sell for around $35.00 and they work great. One has been running for 3 years non stop, because I run that one all winter. I put them in areas where the pond does not have much movement, my pond is 26ft long so the waterfall from the stream does not have as much force down at the other end. So I have one on each side of the pond at around 22ft and then the skimmer is in the middle of them. They also help turn the water in those areas a bit more. I should of put 2 skimmers in my pond, one on each side. I will do that in my next pond

 

[Lisaebetten]

That is not cement on the bottom, it is stone dust. Stone dust when wet smooths out like concrete so it is easier to shape and no sharp or larger stones in it. I use cheap Laguna pumps, they sell for around $35.00 and they work great. One has been running for 3 years non stop, because I run that one all winter. I put them in areas where the pond does not have much movement, my pond is 26ft long so the waterfall from the stream does not have as much force down at the other end. So I have one on each side of the pond at around 22ft and then the skimmer is in the middle of them. They also help turn the water in those areas a bit more. I should of put 2 skimmers in my pond, one on each side. I will do that in my next pond

Thanks for the info. I thought of a stone for the deepest part of my pond but it happens to be in the middle. I'm thinking I didn't want to see bubbles as my pond is 14 L x 11W x 3 D. I am going to put a small fountain pump to circulate deep water up toward the skimmer. Thanks goodness my husband put 8 outdoor plugs in for me!!!

 

[toytika]

I'm using the drain pipes as well and also some different sized potting plant containers with the bottom cut out and sanded down then add some electrical tape just to help soften the edge, I'm thinking of using that as a mold also for making either with concrete or the foam and then some liner over it haven't thought it completely through but I took two gallon or three gallon sized pots with the bottoms cut and fit them together and that will be the mold for whatever my brain thinks up! I should also tell you, the really flimsy cheap pots are dangerous, mine were from rose bushes and they are as heavy plastic as the drain tube. Haven't ran across a dpw guy to ask them about some of the big pipe so until than my brains hard at work, I also have dug out areas along the side walls to give them a place to hide in which I plan to lay some large rock over so I shape them and make sure they are level and can hold a flat rock before I cover it with liner!

 

[toytika]

@RobAmy awesome pond!

 

[RobAmy]

@RobAmy awesome pond!

Thank you