New To Koi Ponds Last Year

[divedaddy03]

Just stopping by to say hello from South Carolina.
I put in my first Koi Pond last year and I'm here to socialize and look for advice.
Oh, and I just build a DIY pond vacuum too. See here:

Cheers, Wayne

 

[sissy]

welcome and we love it when we see what you have .I was surprised on video to hear your pond is only 25 inches deep .I had to go deeper just to keep the water cooler in the summer and went over 4 feet deep

 

[DrCase]

Welcome to the Forum !!
I like your little project

 

[j.w]

divedaddy03
Cool project!

 

[Fishylove]

Welcome ! :wave: can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome!

 

[addy1]

to our group!

I like your vacuum.

 

[divedaddy03]

Thank you all for the welcome and the kind words!
I'm sure that I will find much of what I'm looking for....HERE.

Sissy, I moved my already operating pond (less the koi) from another location to my place (found it on CraigsList).

I was able to get all of the water features they have, the liner, plants, etc...just put in the fish.

Since it was already built and shaped a certain way, I really couldn't change that...they have had it successfully for several years at this depth and the water temp last summer never went over 87* F.

Is this typical? It sits in the sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon.

Wayne

 

[sissy]

I try to keep the pond temps down to 80 and highest 85 .I shade it with shade sails because my pond is in sun almost all day ,sun means heat and the hotter the water is the less oxygen there is and the less oxygen the more water quality problems you may have .Thats why I have 2 filters and add an aerator .It can get really hot here and sun if allowed would just cause me more problems .I made the shade sail up my self ,Only thing is I wish i did not have to take it down in high winds ,Being up on a hill side the winds can get pretty strong but does make it nice to have the breeze on a really hot day .

 

[addy1]

My pond is full sun all day, never gets above 85. I think the constant flow of water over the bog, the water fall back into the pond all helps cool the water.
We get miserable hot here, starting to have way to many days over 90 and yucky humidity.

 

[divedaddy03]

Yeah, my pond never went over 83% last summer but I'm thinking that I need to try to keep it a little lower than that this year...what are some ideas for cooling?

Also, here is an update on my pond (below).

Some of you were asking what kind of filter that I was using so I recorded a video of the setup that I'm working with (below)

I'm also making progress on my Air Lift Koi Pond Vacuum, here's an update on this as well (below).

I hope that this is helpful.

Cheers,

Wayne, SC

 

[sissy]

BIO BALLS LOL and under your water fall you could stretch a net across and weight the net down and put your quilt batting on top of the stretched out netting .Remember to help it work soak the quilt batting in peroxide and water .Gosh what a score on all that stuff .I have been looking at auction zip and now back to watching your other 2 video's

 

[sissy]

I am amazed you have such a small pump and hate to say but those pressurized filters are not the greatest at cleaning .I have 2 in my basement with built in uv's .I just built my own much cheaper and works better .These I got clearanced out for 20 dollars a piece .You don't have any fish .I would be scared to use that as with my luck I would suck up baby fish and hurt them .Your discharge you could run into a tote with filter media or lava rock and put a tank adapter on the tote and allow the water to go back into the pond slowly .You would just need a bigger tote .Quilt batting may pick up lots of stuff but may clog fast for that .But if you just put lava rock in there soaked in peroxide and water it may do a lot to get the fine stuff out .You could even use the tote as a filter .
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this one is my tote and the other is a plantainer

 

[divedaddy03]

Sissy,

I know, I do have a small pump but that's what I could find for the right price.
I DO have fish in there, I bought several last summer and there are about 6 left...I think they ended up getting sucked up.
I'm planning on getting more this spring and getting larger ones this time around.
As far as filtering, I'm thinking that I want to put in a skimmer and I may just make one myself...then pump the water from the skimmer into a biological (planter like you have) filter that sets decoratively on the side of the pond and spills back into...
This would solve a couple of issues, I could turn the water more often (because it needs another 8 gph flow), skimmer would help with debris, and biological filter would help with the green algae and particles in the water.

Quick question, can you explain the reason why you would put plants in the top of your filter canisters?

Thanks,

Wayne, SC

I am amazed you have such a small pump and hate to say but those pressurized filters are not the greatest at cleaning .I have 2 in my basement with built in uv's .I just built my own much cheaper and works better .These I got clearanced out for 20 dollars a piece .You don't have any fish .I would be scared to use that as with my luck I would suck up baby fish and hurt them .Your discharge you could run into a tote with filter media or lava rock and put a tank adapter on the tote and allow the water to go back into the pond slowly .You would just need a bigger tote .Quilt batting may pick up lots of stuff but may clog fast for that .But if you just put lava rock in there soaked in peroxide and water it may do a lot to get the fine stuff out .You could even use the tote as a filter .

 

[divedaddy03]

Hey ya'll!

I was able to get some video of the DIY Air Lift Pond Vacuum in action this weekend.

I build a DIY Universal Camera Mount this weekend (See Video Below) and now will be able to produce much higher quality video as a result.

Here is the Air Lift Pond Vacuum in action (See Video Below).

All the best,

Wayne, SC

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