New Pond, New Fish. What to Expect?

[Meyer Jordan]

Think of it this way, when a Water Lily is in Winter dormancy there are no surface leaves. It is only when the water temperature rises is new leaf growth initiated. The plant suffers not.

 

[vestaviascott]

I've followed your pond build with enthusiastic interest, it's beautiful ! At some point in the future, you'll need to consider rehoming the koi, 500 gallons isn't large enough for them, at least not six.

Enjoy your beautiful new pond

Thanks, I'm expecting to relocate them back to the local aquatic center where I got them (I have a service trade agreement there) and replenish with smaller ones once they get too big for their home here.

 

[mrsclem]

You should be able to find a test kit at Petco or Petsmart. Get liquid test, not strips. You may need to order online. Normal values are listed but once you get the kit and test please post results and the members here will help. You have a very nice pond, enjoy!

 

[Usman]

aw cute new fishies , i like butterfly too yellow and platinum look very pretty and they will not grow that big nor that quick , good choice .
yes u can trim weak leaves and just leave the middle 3 , it takes some time to settle waterlily .

 

[vestaviascott]

How many gallons would you expect to lose to evaporation in a 9x4x2 pond in the South? Average mid day temps here are between 85-95 degrees F.

I'm losing about an inch of water per day when I fill the pond to the top line where I want it to settle. Check my math, but I believe this amounts to about 3.75 gallons per day (4ft wide x 9 ft long x 2ft deep = 540 gallons / 12 = 45 gallons per foot of depth / 12 = 3.75 gallons in 1 inch of water depth at my pond size)

Is this normal evaporation or do I need to check for leaks?

 

[Lisak1]

Is this normal evaporation or do I need to check for leaks?

I would love to see this question pinned to the top of the forum - I don't think there's a new pond owner who hasn't asked a version of this very same question, myself included. We used to check the pond daily for water level in the rain exchange and keep a careful record of the water level. Made ourselves nuts. We finally learned what amount of water loss was normal for our pond over time.

I would recommend you continue to watch your pond for a while before you worry about a leak. High temps, wind, water splash, plants - all contribute to water loss. But watch for a pattern before you start making yourself crazy.

And for what it's worth - 3 or 4 gallons a day is well within the normal range for evaporation.

 

[Usman]

How many gallons would you expect to lose to evaporation in a 9x4x2 pond in the South? Average mid day temps here are between 85-95 degrees F.

I'm losing about an inch of water per day when I fill the pond to the top line where I want it to settle. Check my math, but I believe this amounts to about 3.75 gallons per day (4ft wide x 9 ft long x 2ft deep = 540 gallons / 12 = 45 gallons per foot of depth / 12 = 3.75 gallons in 1 inch of water depth at my pond size)

Is this normal evaporation or do I need to check for leaks?

yes and no , in some environment and designs it can b normal , 1 inch perday is not that bad but i suspect ur bricks &tiles are encouraging evaporation process , they are taking moisture and diffusing it in the air .... just a guess can be some thing else too u need to check all the borders in a dry week flip them and check if any thing u can find , beside that ur water fall is high too , u can disconnect the flow on top for a day and see if any change , place it below on the pebbles to circulate .
i also see below the 231 ur wood looks damp check it too

 

[Usman]

I would love to see this question pinned to the top of the forum - I don't think there's a new pond owner who hasn't asked a version of this very same question, myself included. We used to check the pond daily for water level in the rain exchange and keep a careful record of the water level. Made ourselves nuts. We finally learned what amount of water loss was normal for our pond over time.

I would recommend you continue to watch your pond for a while before you worry about a leak. High temps, wind, water splash, plants - all contribute to water loss. But watch for a pattern before you start making yourself crazy.

And for what it's worth - 3 or 4 gallons a day is well within the normal range for evaporation.

add the old ponders too , i never had liner leak but after some time i need to become detective why im loosing more then avg water lol some times its wind and dryness or sun , some times its sunk border , some times water fall splashes some times osmosis some times dripping pipes so its on going adventure

 

[vestaviascott]

I have a drain pipe beneath the liner that daylights about 30 feet down the hill. I can look inside the pop up drain opening at the end to see if its dry or not. It stays dry as long as my water level is about an inch below my desired line. Once I fill the pond to that line, after about an hour or so, I can see water start showing up in the popup drain.

My suspicion is that one of my four corner folds has a tip thats about an inch low and establishing the actual fill capacity.

I've already drained the pond once to fix one corner that I knew was low. I didn't want to do more than that in order to do an incremental fix in the event that was the only corner having a problem.

I suppose I'll need to do another drain at some point. For now though, I'm enjoying my new fish!

 

[vestaviascott]

The fish are still pretty shy. All but a couple are finding shelter in the tiny space created by the corner folds. I haven't seen them running for the cover of the lily pads yet, but I suppose they may grow into that once they settle in a bit and I ultimately tape those folds shut.

All but a few seem to scurry for cover whenever I observe them. One of the larger koi and the Shubunkin (the largest fish in the pond) I've not seen run for cover since the first day I introduced them into the pond.

The Shubunkin is always first to the food as well. Apparently he's the alpha for now. The fish are extremely interesting to observe.

 

[addy1]

Nice looking little ones you have! They will get less shy as time passes.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi. Welcome and good luck with your pond. You should only feed them what they can eat in two minutes. Any left over food will contribute to water quality issues. I noticed there are some bubbles on the water. This can be an indicator of excessive organic waste like food and decaying plants. If you keep the water healthy it will help keep your fish healthy.

 

[vestaviascott]

Hi. Welcome and good luck with your pond. You should only feed them what they can eat in two minutes. Any left over food will contribute to water quality issues. I noticed there are some bubbles on the water. This can be an indicator of excessive organic waste like food and decaying plants. If you keep the water healthy it will help keep your fish healthy.

Thanks for your suggestions and feedback. I've noticed that the bubbles are gone today, so I suspect a good sign.

In terms of feeding, I have a jar of the "Koi Vibrance" pellets. I have 7 small 2-3 inch fish (6 koi and 1 Shubunkin Goldfish). The Shubunkin is the largest fish in the pond by about an inch and appears to be the "alpha" along with one of the Koi. They rarely hide and are usually together and first to get to the pellets to eat. Sometimes, these fish get ALL of the pellets. I throw out about 2 pellets per fish per feeding (morning and evening).

 

[vestaviascott]

How many gallons would you expect to lose to evaporation in a 9x4x2 pond in the South? Average mid day temps here are between 85-95 degrees F.

I'm losing about an inch of water per day when I fill the pond to the top line where I want it to settle. Check my math, but I believe this amounts to about 3.75 gallons per day (4ft wide x 9 ft long x 2ft deep = 540 gallons / 12 = 45 gallons per foot of depth / 12 = 3.75 gallons in 1 inch of water depth at my pond size)

Is this normal evaporation or do I need to check for leaks?

My math above is WAY wrong. I divided by 12 one too many times. To simplify things, here's the corrected math:

With a 9 foot long x 4 foot wide pond, 1 inch of water contains 22.4 gallons.

So, yesterday, I lost 1.75 inches in 24 hours, or appx 40 gallons per day lost.

The problem is way more than I originally thought.