New to ponds, couple of questions....

[soxfan]

Hi everyone! We have researched ponds and are plugging along getting ours going. It's about 900-1000 gallons, 3 feet deep at the larger end and we plan to have plants and some shubunkin goldfish. I spent an hour on the phone with thepondguy. He was able to tell me exactly what to order. Our underlayment, liner, skimmer and pump are in, along with the hosing. Just waiting on the 20" waterfall that is on backorder.

When my husband started the pump after it was filled, the waterfall plumbing (we are waiting on box) was really strong. Will running that through the waterfall kind of calm it down, spread it, whatever. I am just concerned our pump might be too strong?

We have a pondbuilder clear water submersible pump 4200 GPH and the waterfall is thepondguy clear spring pro waterfall filter with a 20" spillway.

My other question is I have filled the pond with our town water, it obviously has clorine. Do I need to treat this water or just let the chlorine evaporate? I am not planning on adding plants for a couple of weeks.

Finally, once the plants are added and we are up and running, about how long should I wait to introduce fish? Thank you for any help you can give. Here is a pic of our pond so far!

 

[Angel]

welcome

Coming along nicely. As for the city water and chlorine you can buy a dechlorinator to get ride of it as for it "evaporating " others with more knowledge will chime in as I am on well water but i believe it will in time as for how long no clue.

General rule of thumb is to turn over or 1.5-2 times an hour for pumps for a 1k gallon pond with you would need at least 1.5k-2k gallons pers hour your pump may be "overkill" but after you get the falls and filters in place and more rocks your pump volume output may slow down to more of what you are looking for.

 

[EricV]

For chlorine, you should find out if your city uses chlorine or chloramine. Many places are not using chloramine which is more stable. Chlorine will dissipate after a day or so, chloramine will not. Probably the easiest/safest is just to buy a bottle of dechlor and use the right dose. That's a small expense. No need to get anything fancy like stress coat, just get tap water conditioner.

I'd wait a few days to introduce fish after everything is running. When I did it, I waited longer because I kept the fish in 35 gallon pre-formed ponds where I could make sure they were doing OK before adding them. And add fish slowly, you won't have a bio filter established.

 

[soxfan]

Ok, just got off phone with thepondguy. So my run to my waterfall is almost 20 feet, that's why we went with the pump we did. There is also a ball valve that will be installed before the UV filter (40W) to take the flow down to about 3000 so the UV will work. He told me about quarter of a turn. Does this sound ok? I FEEL like the pump is too strong, but he assured me with the ball valve, uv filter and going through the waterfall that it would be ok.

 

[soxfan]

For chlorine, you should find out if your city uses chlorine or chloramine. Many places are not using chloramine which is more stable. Chlorine will dissipate after a day or so, chloramine will not. Probably the easiest/safest is just to buy a bottle of dechlor and use the right dose. That's a small expense. No need to get anything fancy like stress coat, just get tap water conditioner.

I'd wait a few days to introduce fish after everything is running. When I did it, I waited longer because I kept the fish in 35 gallon pre-formed ponds where I could make sure they were doing OK before adding them. And add fish slowly, you won't have a bio filter established.

Ok, I will just get the dechlor! So I will add plants next week, and fish the week after. I know there is some gel we put on the skimmer filter pad to get the good bacteria going....

 

[EricV]

Most of us here will tell you to forget about adding bacteria. If you haven't bought it, I wouldn't.

 

[soxfan]

Most of us here will tell you to forget about adding bacteria. If you haven't bought it, I wouldn't.

Oh ok, good to know! So we should be up and running Saturday with the UV, pump, waterfall, etc. When could I add plants? Dechlor will have been done by then too. If it makes a difference, I am in Mass.

 

[sissy]

welcome and you can get a splitter to divert water to other parts of the pond .It has a valve to adjust for water flow .I don't add the stuff to the pond either ,it is mostly a wast of money .Also remember fish will have babies so do not get to many

 

[soxfan]

welcome and you can get a splitter to divert water to other parts of the pond .It has a valve to adjust for water flow .I don't add the stuff to the pond either ,it is mostly a wast of money .Also remember fish will have babies so do not get to many

Thank you for all the information! I feel stupid asking all these questions. LOL! Was only planning on getting 4 goldfish to start. I can have up to 30 in the pond I was told. Or 4-6 koi. I'd rather do the goldfish....

 

[sissy]

Koi get large mine are way over 2 feet long and got them back in 2005 .They also had 30 babies again last year that I had to give away

 

[sissy]

I like fat fantails and wish I had only got them

 

[soxfan]

I like fat fantails and wish I had only got them

Me too! And the ones with the bubble eyes....

 

[EricV]

Four goldfish to start sounds like a great plan. That's basically what I did and added a few more every week or two (after quarantine) until I hit about 25. Honestly I wish I'd gone slower with the fish and been a bit more selective about what I got. Rather than just taking the best four looking fish the shop had when I visited.

You can add plants Saturday or Sunday too. Will the water have been sitting a little while and given a chance to warm up.

Where are you located? I'm guessing Chicago or Boston given your name.

 

[j.w]

@soxfan
I'd wait to add fish when the weather is warmer too. Maybe it is there already but it's been a crazy year for weather up and down everywhere. I love the Shubunkin goldfish w/all their pretty colors. The pure white goldfish are nice also and show up very well in the pond. You've got a nice looking pond and area for putting it in right there next to your patio!

 

[soxfan]

Four goldfish to start sounds like a great plan. That's basically what I did and added a few more every week or two (after quarantine) until I hit about 25. Honestly I wish I'd gone slower with the fish and been a bit more selective about what I got. Rather than just taking the best four looking fish the shop had when I visited.

You can add plants Saturday or Sunday too. Will the water have been sitting a little while and given a chance to warm up.

Where are you located? I'm guessing Chicago or Boston given your name.

I'm in southern Mass. Gonna be 80 degrees here this week!