Northern Virginia Backyard Koi Pond

[addy1]

very nice plants

 

[Rabungalow]

hello all, I’ve been MIA for a while busy with work and another little kiddo on the way in early spring. Hope everyone is doing well on the forum. The pond has been on autopilot and the fish have been doing well. I’ve decided I’m going to do a rebuild of the bog in spring when I’m on paternity leave. I’m thinking there might an issue with the drainage plumbing at the bottom due to bubbles I’m seeing as well as some excess hair algae. I think going to swap it out for 2inch PVC pipes with slits as I’ve seen most members do here on the bog thread, but I’m open to suggestions. I will show photos of what it looks pre replacement and post replacement as I’m very curious to see what happened under there and I think it could be helpful for others to see my mistake.

 

[sissy]

I live in VA close to NC border . I just used lava rock filled stock tanks . My dad used them when we built or farm pond whae I was a kid . We had a 7 acre city farm in NJ that was grandfathered in when my parents bought iit . I moved from NJ here in 2004 when I retired . Cheaper to live than NJ .You can buy more here in land . Some houses here sell for 30 to 80 thousand with 3 acres and up . Hair algae your fish will eat if you don't feed them . They are like lazy children , you have to force them to clean their own room . Koi clay also helps hair algae it binds on it and kills it and koi clay is good for fish health also . I buy medical grade on ebay . It is cheaper than paying for a name brand . It is also good for your skin . It is called metamorelite not sure how to spell it

 

[GBBUDD]

Contrary to many peoples belief's today yes humans learn more from mistakes and history then we do from triumphs, Its just the way it is you can erase it or get a redue it happened learn from the errors and definitely share it to help others my hat off too you. as far as air bubbling up it could bee an issue but more than likely no its not. one of the worst things we can do is to not give our systems time to find the natural balance.

 

[sissy]

I got this at the eden flea market bought the case of 12 for 5 dollars . WIN WIN

 

[sissy]

I found lights in my pond caused issues and then hubby had eye surgery and lights in the pond bothere him shining up so took them out and put down light that shine down into the pond . I found we could see fish better also . Going to the flea market because the lady I bought this from says she has 2 or 3 more cases of it . I bought eco tank refills from her for our printer for a dollar for all 4 bottles , bought all the kits she had , which were 6 of them flea markets are great

 

[GBBUDD]

@sissy looks like the koi get another year yeahhhhhhh

 

[sissy]

I only have Bert left and he may be going to another koi owner that has a big pond . The butterflies the guy doesn't want . I will just keep the pond with nothing but plants in it until I can get dirt to fill it in . The clay will help keep the water clear

 

[Tula]

I only have Bert left and he may be going to another koi owner that has a big pond . The butterflies the guy doesn't want . I will just keep the pond with nothing but plants in it until I can get dirt to fill it in . The clay will help keep the water clear

@sissy , I found a good home for my four koi in Sept. 2022. The summer of 2023 I ran the pond without fish and enjoyed the water plants and lilies. We made the decision to fill it in this past Autumn....so I felt we ended on a high note, with good homes for our koi and a summer of beautiful water gardening

 

[Rabungalow]

After additional consideration for the bog rebuild, I have opted against the PVC pipe. I am just going to bite the bullet and buy the aquascape snorkel/centipede/aquablocks in the spring. It's now just a matter of what place will be the cheapest price/delivery. So far underwaterwharehouse.com seems to have the best price. Obviously I don't want to ever have to rebuild this again so I figure this additional cost is worth it.

 

[sissy]

the older I get the harder everything gets . The pond the 3 + acres , the house . The cost . So know what you mean tula . I am 70 years old and it is alot of work for 1 person to do . Rabungalow never say you will not have to rebuild again . I said that and this was my 5th rebuild of the pond and hopefully final ( keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with your rebuild ). Fish have babies , koi get bigger and things happen . I remember our earthquake here and the tornado and small hurrican we had , But at least we faired better than some parts of Virginia that got hit worse by those things .Even the epic ice storm left us without power for 10 days

 

[Mgessert]

It is hard Sissy. Over the past twenty years I’ve downsized from a 50 acre farm, to a three acre property, to a one acre lot in the country, and now a small house with a tiny yard in town. I have no regrets and still enjoy puttering around outside. Without all the upkeep, there is more time and energy to enjoy it.

 

[sissy]

I grew up on a 7 acre city farm in NJ that my mom and dad ran . Retired to Va in 2004 and took care of hubbies mom and dad when they had cancer and sad to say they passed . My mom and dad died when I was 30 a pregnant with my second son . I love VA the weather is the best and taxes are getting better since Youngkin became Governor of VA . He gave seniors relief on ttaxes and now trying to get rid of the yearly car tax . He got rid of grocery tax also . I just got a refund on last years taxes because I was 70 and for some reason it was overlooked . Car insurance went down also . No accidents and travel milage went way down .

 

[Rabungalow]

I started prepping for the bog rebuild this upcoming Spring. I met an awesome retired marine that lives up in the mountains near me. He allowed me to handpick his property for $50 a truckload and told me I’m welcome back whenever. I got some really nice pieces and got to meet a fellow koi keeper ( guy had his own pond on top of the mountain). Overall it was an awesome experience.

I also got some video last night of my resident owl doing what he does best. I don’t think he got anything this time though.

Owl landing

Owl hunting

 

[GBBUDD]

I started prepping for the bog rebuild this upcoming Spring. I met an awesome retired marine that lives up in the mountains near me. He allowed me to handpick his property for $50 a truckload and told me I’m welcome back whenever. I got some really nice pieces and got to meet a fellow koi keeper ( guy had his own pond on top of the mountain). Overall it was an awesome experience.
View attachment 161788

I also got some video last night of my resident owl doing what he does best. I don’t think he got anything this time though.

Owl landing

Owl hunting

It's amazing how much light their eyes reflect