My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Thanks Koiguy! Coming from an expert that means a lot. Well I bought my new pump and biofilter. I decided to buy them from a place that matched them up. It's hard to argue with success. I like everything i have gotten from AZponds and also I have been really happy with Laguna equipment. I bought a pressure flow filter Laguna 3000. it holds 8.2 gallons and has an internal 24W UV light. Also I got the Laguna 2000 pump. Supposedly this set up is good for a 1500 gallon pond in full sun or 3000 in full shade. I'll probably be somewhere in between that with 2000-2500 gallons so hopefully this will work out well. Also my new pond will have the same number of fish in a larger pond so I don't really see how I can go wrong with this significant upgrade over what I have now. I set it up in my "old" pond so the media will start to accumulate bb. The water is gushing out so hard I didn't even put a hose on the outflow and am letting it go in the middle of my pond. My old pond had slightly hazy water.

After less than one day of running it the water is crystal clean. I wonder how long I need to run it for the beneficial bacteria to grow on my new filter media before I move it to my new pond? I was thinking of running it a week but can let it go a little longer if necessary.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Thanks Koiguy! Coming from an expert that means a lot. Well I bought my new pump and biofilter. I decided to buy them from a place that matched them up. It's hard to argue with success. I like everything i have gotten from AZponds and also I have been really happy with Laguna equipment. I bought a pressure flow filter Laguna 3000. it holds 8.2 gallons and has an internal 24W UV light. Also I got the Laguna 2000 pump. Supposedly this set up is good for a 1500 gallon pond in full sun or 3000 in full shade. I'll probably be somewhere in between that with 2000-2500 gallons so hopefully this will work out well. Also my new pond will have the same number of fish in a larger pond so I don't really see how I can go wrong with this significant upgrade over what I have now. I set it up in my "old" pond so the media will start to accumulate bb. The water is gushing out so hard I didn't even put a hose on the outflow and am letting it go in the middle of my pond. My old pond had slightly hazy water.

View attachment 94076

After less than one day of running it the water is crystal clean. I wonder how long I need to run it for the beneficial bacteria to grow on my new filter media before I move it to my new pond? I was thinking of running it a week but can let it go a little longer if necessary.

If both filters are in use, the ammonia generated by the fish is now divided between the two (2) filters. You will get a seeding population of bacteria in the new filter which should shorten the cycling time of the new pond. I would run it until you are ready to start transferring fish. The bacteria will need a constant Ammonia supply to survive.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Meyer. Do you think 7 or 10 days will be enough to get the bb going in the new filter? I know bb can take 4-6 weeks to build up starting in the spring for a pond, but have no idea how long it takes a new filter with new media in an existing pond that already has a solid bb population. Realistically I will probably only have 4-5 days after digging the new pond before I transfer my fish. Is there anything else you can think of doing to prep it? I was thinking of putting in maybe 3-4 small fish with no filter to get it started.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Thanks Meyer. Do you think 7 or 10 days will be enough to get the bb going in the new filter? I know bb can take 4-6 weeks to build up starting in the spring for a pond, but have no idea how long it takes a new filter with new media in an existing pond that already has a solid bb population. Realistically I will probably only have 4-5 days after digging the new pond before I transfer my fish. Is there anything else you can think of doing to prep it? I was thinking of putting in maybe 3-4 small fish with no filter to get it started.

Remember with this new filtr you have to establish a completely new biofilm. How long this will take will depend on the existing conditions in the pond, (Temperature, levels of available Ammonia, pH, O2, etc.).
My advice would be to leave this filter functioning in the old pond until you transfer any fish. Even if you are only going to in initially transfer only 3-4 small fish, this is when I would install the filter in the new pond. You will still likely get some Ammonia build-up when you transfer the rest of the fish as the biofilter will need to 'catch up' to the new Ammonia levels.
Nitrifying bacterial growth and population is directly related to the amount of Ammonia available.

 

[CometKeith]

Thank for the advice. Maybe once I get it built I'll divide my fish population by the number of days I have before I need to move. So 5 days and 50 fish would be 10 fish every day? This way the ammonia can build up a little every day instead of a big shock with almost all at once. Also it will be way easier to catch the fish this way and move them and not try to do it all at once. I'm sure I'll leave some babies behind because I see one or two new ones almost every day.

 

[CometKeith]

I started a new thread for the pond construction. The pond got dug in 1 day. The crew that did it did a great job and it came out much cheaper than expected.

I told them we need to start a pond building business! I'm placing the liner tomorrow and filling it up with water weather permitting. Here is the final hole.
Besides rehabbing the main residential building I put a lot of effort into the garage in the last week to get it ready for storage. We cleared out everything stored in it, pressure washed the brick walls of the garage, primed and painted the inside,completed tuckpointing it, ran all new electric including 9 recessed lighting and all new switches, wiring, and outlets, installed two new garage doors each 7.5 ft high, a new 7 ft entry door, poured a new 8 x12 section of concrete for the floor where it was in bad condition, and tomorrow will be drywalling the ceiling and finishing the rubber roof. Today the roofers were scraping off the old tar and gravel and 4 old layers of roof and dust and scraps were falling through cracks in the roof decking onto the electrician and garage door guys working inside, and also they were throwing old roofing next to where the guys were digging the pond. I don't think anyone was too happy but no one complained because they knew we were in a time crunch.

 

[CometKeith]

Here are a few pictures from the other day. So far all the fish are doing well. I think I left about a dozen fish in my old pond but it seems like all the fish are doing well that I transplanted. Now the fish have a ton of room to swim. I think the new pond is around 2500 gallons give or take. It's going to take a while to make it look like a real pond with rocks,plants, and landscaping, but at least now my fish have a place to live until I finish construction on the new place. I have been thinking about maybe buying a few fish. I haven't bought any in a few years because I didn't want to overcrowd my pond, but that's not an issue now.

 

[j.w]

How neat for you to maybe getting some new ones! You have in mind a particular kind you might like to find?

 

[CometKeith]

Hi jw. I think some of my comets have interesting colors. The only thing I would improve is getting some with longer tails. I wouldn't mind a few shubunkins with interesting colors. This is one group I saw. The price seems reasonable for what they are.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAMILY-OF-6...sh=item1a1a251cce:g:tK4AAOSw9NdXveFD#shpCntId

This would be the comet group that I liked. They are both from the same place.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAMILY-OF-6...260290?hash=item1a1ab5a002:g:FKEAAOSw65FXt1bZ

I'm leaning more towards the shubunkins. My oldest comet is 7 years old. I'd hate to mess with his ego by getting a bunch of similar fish!

 

[tbendl]

It is looking awesome Keith!

 

[addy1]

Nice looking fish in that group. I would ask for a picture of the six they are sending. Make sure you get what you want, color and fins.

My shubbies have long fins, just love to watch them swim by

 

[Riftlake]

What's that tree like plant you have in the pond?

 

[j.w]

@CometKeith Nice looking fish, the shubbies and the beauties of oj/white w/the long flowing tails.

 

[CountryEscape]

Just a thought, Keith, but if you want to put new fish in, why not find a reputable fish dealer close, and let them know what you are looking for! They would be far cheaper, and then you CAN pick out the ones you really like. I have a VERY small pet store in Effingham. When I was in the market for tri colored fantails, I let them know to call me if they got some nice ones in. Wow, I got some beauties! And, my comets were hand picked from their feeder tanks, and also from the more expensive larger fish tanks. Just a thought! Those fish in the pictures are gorgeous, though, no doubt! For myself, I like to watch the little ones grow, and since goldfish don't seem to be territorial at all, they should be fine with your larger fish, too.
Your pond is awesome! What a huge difference, huh? Bet your fish are doing flip flops with excitement! Now that your "babies" have been moved, you can concentrate on the house, and get back to the pond later. Congrats!

 

[addy1]

I hand picked my shubbies from the fish hatchery. It was fun to get the colors, finnage etc I wanted.