My introduction

[Bebe]

I have an 18.5' x8.5 foot 6mil black plastic koi pond. It has a bio filter.
I have had it about 10 years now and the butterfly Koi that live there are
at least 2.5 to 3 feet long. I love the pond it was the best gift I have ever gotten.

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard, I would love to see pics as I'm sure other will enjoy too. I've never seen a plastic koi pond that large!

 

[Bebe]

I will try to get some new pictures in the coming weeks..

The pond was dug with a shovel and is 4.5 in the deep end to about 2.5 in the shallow end.
There is a deck that over hangs one end and a gazebo that covers most of the pond. We had
birds fishing the Koi and killing them so the pond got covered.


Since the pond is in the shade of a tree and has the covering we do not have algae problems
or plastic deterioration. I got the plans for the bio filter from a site called "Froggy" and it has
been trouble free also.

We now know you can use the pond to set up an Aquaponics system and this helps with filtration.
Hoping to expand that in the future.

I am very happy with my fish kids.

.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Welcome :wave:

Would love to see pictures of your pond and your fish

 

[sissy]

welcome and amazed that 6 mil has lasted this long and would love to see the filter you built .Guessing predators are bad there .All idea's help others when rethinking there filter design .Anything that works is good for us .

 

[JohnHuff]

Welcome to the group and looking forward to seeing your pics.

 

[Bebe]

Hi all,
I am including the link to the filter I built for my pond. Once in a blue moon
like years I do dump it and clean it. I haven't though since I added worms
to the Aquaponic part we added later. The worms go into the media and
eat the sludge. The sludge build up was the only reason to clean the filter
ever.
http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

This filter is every thing it is said to be. I have had every kind they make
before this and this one can't be beat. I got all the stuff together sat on my deck and made
it in 1 day. I don't know how he thought of it but I am glad he did and that I found it surfing about on the web.

Our aquaponic part that is not in the Skippy ( I had remembered it Froggy-I guess because of the little Frog).
is made from a smaller Rubbermaid watering trough, filled with clay media and has a bell valve to
make it fill and empty on it's own. We keep tomatoes or greens growing in it year round.
The plants use the fish waste for food and it cleans the water.

I will do pictures when the leaves and blooms stop falling from the tree over the pond and I can clean the
net over the pond now.

Bebe

 

[Bebe]

I want to add I do not know the person who invented the bio filters on the Skippy web site.

I am not promoting any sales of anything for any one. It just happens to be the best one I ever used
and I think everyone would be happier with one.

Just wanted to make that clear up front. I was going crazy with the ultraviolet one I had at the time,
changing the filter pads, going out of wack etc.I sat down and started surfing and here it was.

So now I am passing it on to whoever is interested.

 

[sissy]

I use lava rock in my filters and I have koi .I use plants in my filters also it helps shade and gets rid of nutrients before water goes back in the pond .Lots of people have built skippy's here of all kinds .I use bags of crushed oyster shells and bags of activated charcoal in my filters also .All I do all summer is to trim the plant roots coming out of the bottom of the pots for the summer
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[Mmathis]

Welcome, and yes, please share some pics!

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum! :wave:

 

[mtpond]

Welcome Bebe!