My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

@CometKeith what kind of filtration are you using? I'm currently out east visiting my daughter but once home I want to add additional filtration. I've noticed more DOC's in the pond this Spring. I'm amazed that one of my older koi is still growing!

Hi Tula. I just have a Laguna pressurized filter with an in pond pump. Really nothing special. I was going to upgrade to a bead filter with an attached blower along with an external pump this spring and I chickened out after I got hit with some extra bills when I was about to buy it. I was looking to spend $1500-$2000 for everything. i'll still probably get it over the summer but I decided to get a pond vacuum now instead and see how that helps. When one our carpenter dropped his phone in our pond a few weeks ago I saw there where several inches of muck on the bottom as I tried to scoop it out. I used to use a net to pick up the muck at my old pond that was smaller but I need a vacuum to get it now. My water clarity is not that great now so I'm hoping that will help.

Happy for you Keith, me sticking with shubunkins/ goldfish. And my simple garden pond filtered with plants only!
Koi are pretty but toooooooooooooo much work for me.

Hmmm..... things are different with the extra Koi in the pond. When I used to drop a handful of pellets they would last about a minute before they were all eaten... Now they are gone in about 10-15 seconds!

I gazed longingly into the koi tanks before we bought a few new shubunkins last week. We're a goldfish pond for now... with one big ole koi drifting around, being the pond boss!

Lisa. I'm glad you are enjoying the goldfish. I'm sorry what happened to your Koi over the winter. I was incredibly lucky with my pond considering how cold it got.

 

[Tula]

I'm trying to figure out how I could make a simple filter from a planter, using a pump I already have. I think it would look pretty on the edge of the pond with plants on the top of it and water flowing from the bottom through media and out again. How in the world would I clean the darn thing with the pretty plants......back to the drawing board!

 

[Lisak1]

Thanks Keith. It was a rough winter and a humbling experience for sure.

 

[Gemma]

Hi Keith, I hope your new koi are doing good!
I'm curious to see if the Sanke keeps the red over the next few years, and if the doitsu Gin Matsuba looks something like mine
PS your pond looks awesome!

 

[CometKeith]

I'm trying to figure out how I could make a simple filter from a planter, using a pump I already have. I think it would look pretty on the edge of the pond with plants on the top of it and water flowing from the bottom through media and out again. How in the world would I clean the darn thing with the pretty plants......back to the drawing board!

Hi Tula. I have 3 total water pumps and one airstone running all the time. My smallest pump has a hose running to it that gets smashed down by some rocks so that it causes several sprays in the air and makes a lot of bubbling water by it's base. It makes the prettiest little water fountain and makes a nice bubbling noise. I would think you could do something similar and make the water go in a planter base. The water would have to be slowed down a lot for it to be properly filtered by the planter.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Keith, I hope your new koi are doing good!
I'm curious to see if the Sanke keeps the red over the next few years, and if the doitsu Gin Matsuba looks something like mine
PS your pond looks awesome!

Thanks Gemma. The new Sanke really didn't have any red... more orange, black, and white. I would have liked red but didn't get any that way. Thank you. Our sedges are almost 4 ft high now. My wife kinda flipped out over the weekend how big they got, but i told her people would kill to get water plants that big! We did buy some shrubs to go behind the pond and are planning that out now. Also I got some plant baskets over the weekend and plan to replant some of my floating island of plants hopefully this coming weekend. I have some old plastic milk crates and I'm going to strap the baskets to them so they raise up the plants from the bottom.

 

[Lisak1]

I am always amazed at how much bigger plants in my pond get versus the exact same things planted in the ground. Every time I see this picture of my waterfall from last year (yes, there's water under all those plants!) I can hardly believe it. This started out as four tiny impatiens plants. Those same plants in the ground weren't even 1/4 the size. My irises go nuts, hostas are out of control... the biggest challenge is keeping things from taking over! That's watercress flowing down the middle of the falls. I took this picture right before I harvested pounds and pounds of watercress - which we would pay dearly for in the grocery store! And that impatiens at the very top - grew from a seed. From the previous year. Crazy!

 

[addy1]

My plants are beyond out of control!

 

[CometKeith]

Here is a little update. Sorry I haven't been on for a while. My pear tree next to the pond was very wobbly and I was worried we would lose it. About a week later we had a big storm and the tree fell down. Well there is more sun and space in the yard now so not a total loss. We planted some shrubs and plants behind the pond. I got in the pond and divided my lilies and replanted them using egg crates to raise them from the bottom. I got rid of some of the lower sedges that were free floating in the middle with the lilies and pulled out some plants that looked like weeds. Also I planted a few impatiens in the rocks to see how they would do and re mulched with this nice pine mulch I bought. I also moved my pump and bio-filter and even though it was stopped for less than an hour it looks like my pond needs to recycle because it is pretty green. I also ordered a new bead filter and external pump. All the fish are doing good including my 5 new baby Koi, but it's a little hard to see them with the green water. The only thing I didn't buy was a uv light and am wondering if I should get that because it will be harder to do that after I connect all the pvc pipe for the pump and filter.

 

[Tula]

Sorry you lost your pear tree, but your new plantings sound nice. I have a UV light and use it on occasion. I'm interested to hear more about your new filter and pump

 

[j.w]

Ah I know how much you loved your pear tree and sorry it is lost. Happy to hear your fish are all doing well. My water is green also but I have too many fish. Not going to get a Uv tho. I'll just have to part w/some of the orange fish.

 

[Abe]

Very clear water! My brand new pond will likely need a UV light, but going to try oyster shells under the waterfall first, and see if that will help clear up the green water. Hoping to add goldies next weekend, but only if I'll be able to see them when I put them in!

Could you please elaborate more about the oyster shells? and where do you get them?

 

[j.w]

@Abe I haven't seen @CountryEscape on here for a long time but you can buy oyster shells ground up at feed stores. They feed them to chickens to make their shells harder or something.

 

[Lisak1]

@CometKeith - have you had green water in this pond in the past? I'm not a fan of UV filtration - I know it works, but to me it works like an aspirin works to lower a fever. You're addressing the symptom, but the cause is still there. Once the "medication" wears off, the problem still remains. And I do wonder what else is getting UVd in the process.

We're seeing algae this year that we've never seen before and seeing some string algae in places we don't generally get it - I wonder if it's a combination of our hard winter plus the fact our pump was off for three months. The pond is working to regain some balance.

 

[cas]

Do you think maybe you removed too many plants from the pond when you were cleaning up? Every time I think a plant has got overgrown and I divide it to remove some of it, I end up with an algae bloom. I don't think I put enough of the plants back in.