The pond dig has begun!

[CountryEscape]

My biggest aquarium is 55 gal, and he was in my 30 temporarily waiting for the pond to be ready. I have 2 small gold spotted ones in the large aquarium, but they only get to be 4" or so. I just don't care for aquarium fish to get big, so choose the smaller types. Oh well, I will think of some place for him to go eventually. For not, he's hopefully working on the algae in my pond. Can't even imagine the chore of trying to catch him later on!

 

[fishin4cars]

Your 55 gallon should do fine for him this year if it's about 8" now, after next year, might be too big. Catching them, NOT EASY! Best time to catch them is at night when they are active, Good to know where it's den is too. They usually find a den they claim as their area that is as dark as possible for seclusion during the day. I have two sections of 8" Drain pipe under the bridge, Mine likes to hide under them. put a net at one end and raise the other, 50% of the time he'll run into the net, the rest I have to sit and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait.......

 

[koiguy1969]

my pieco is 18" or so but hes always got 22" or more of a poop string hanging from him...lol but yeah he winters in the basement pond with everybody else!! they definately dont do water under 50*, but he seems to not be bothered at all by 56 - 58*f water temps of the basement pond...he (or she) is 3 years old!

 

[CountryEscape]

LOL, KoiGuy, that's why boyfriend didn't want him in his 55 gal any longer. It was so gross to see that long poop string.
OK, goldies have been added few at a time over the last 3 weekends. Total of 7 "mature" fish (about 3-4" long) and 7 feeders (only found 1 feeder dead in skimmer). Saw 10 of them at the same time tonight, and that was before I added the last 3 from my inside aquarium. PH remains at 8.4; ammonia is 0; nitrite and nitrates are both 0. UV 36 watt light installed and turned on Saturday, running before the fountain. No change that I can tell so far, though. Still have green water, but I figure it will take at least a week to notice any difference. I'll backflush the filter in the next couple of days.
Anyone have an opinion as to when I can add a couple of little koi? Would prefer to buy them small, watch them grow, or would bigger be better in the beginning?
Thanks for all the help along the way from you all, I feel my pond is a success! Still working on it, and now I can truly understand the "work in progress, never done" situation. Will get back to working on the water if/when it quits raining here. Over 6" two weekends ago, and 4" this past weekend, pond is FULL!

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, 3 days in a row, my fantail Oranda has been in the skimmer. She seems perfectly happy to be in there, easier to find food maybe. LOL Guess I'm going to need to put a screen up to keep her out. One day one of the large goldies (5") was also in there with her!
Good news! UV light is starting to show progress. I can see to the first level step, which is about 2' down.
Question: When I backflush my filter, I think I read where others use water flushing from the top (buckets of pond water) to help clean out the filters. I have well water, so is it ok for me to use hose and spray from the top to flush? Or, will that harm the bacteria that I'm trying to build up?

 

[koiguy1969]

with a pond your size a few koi shouldn't hurt a bit...they dont mind the green water...we do!!

 

[fishin4cars]

Well water will be fine to rinse with when it's time, for now though don't do that, just dump the water for now as you don't want to disturb the newly forming bacteria for a while. I wouldn't actually rinse the filter when back flushing this year unless it starts clogging or in the fall at the end of the season.
On Koi, I would recommend if your going to keep lily's and plants. Butterfly Koi don't seen to be as bad on plants as standard fins, The longer fins throw the fish off balance when they try to point head down to dig in the pots. As long as the pots are high enough up that the koi can't face down into the pots they will usually live them alone for the most part. Covering the plants planting media with Lava rock, or med sized river rock bigger than they can pick up with their mouths will greatly reduce them from digging also. Also with a fairly new pond the strongest and hardiest young koi are between 8-12". Anything below 4" is very fragile and can be tricky to get acclimated, 4-8" ar a little hardier but still not the best choice but these are the ones that you can usually buy in pet stores at cheaper prices, 8'-12" will cost twice as much as a 4-8" but by that point the colors are far more stable so you know more about what your going to get. Over 12" starts getting harder to transport and usually by this point they are not going to be cheap any more, so You'll want to pick out prime pond choices if buying one this big at the time of purchase

 

[sissy]

I do that a lot with my well water ,I consider it just topping the pond off also .I also add a little bacteria ,I feel it helps .

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks KoiGuy and Fishin. Good points and ideas, just like you always do.
Sissy, I've also added bacteria to my pond, trying to help it and boost the good stuff. I will not rinse from the top, though, as recommended unless the filter gets clogged up.
I'm just getting excited to start seeing farther than the top 6".
Today was priming my 2 big barns, and tomorrow I will be painting them. After that project is done, no more projects this summer ... I can focus entirely on the pond.... and of course all the things that have been let go while I was working on the pond.

 

[fishin4cars]

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/more-planning-questions-t5576.html#post78819
Be sure and read through this post I made here, Your pond and this pond are in about the same stages, Talk to each other and compare notes. I challenge who's will clear the fastest. My bet, the one with the most plants, and the least changes in fish load at this point. LOL:lol:

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks for steering me to Jenn's posts. I read most of them. Yep, she and I are having the same problems. I, however, didn't put any fish in for 3 weeks I think. The pea soup came before the fish, but as everyone says, the fish don't mind the green water, we humans do. I'll be watching her posts to see if her HUGE UV light does the trick for her. I got only a 36 watt, and from what I had read, it is twice the size needed for my size pond, so maybe I'm missing something here....

 

[fishin4cars]

You UV isn't twice the size it should be. my understanding is 1 watt per 100 gallons. So your a little on the light side. honestly I think it will be just fine. I doubt you'll need it long. It's nice to have when you get a algae bloom and can get things under control quickly but always keep in mind if you need to use The UV there is a underlying problem with nutrients. In your case it's a new pond. next spring it will be because of winter build up and starting the filter up again. But once clear it should stay clear if not then the first thing you want to check for is build up of waste and debris on the bottom of the pond. Second cause is from high nitrates which is the final breakdown of waste.

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, Fishin, I've been watching my parameters, and so far so good, so it's just "new" and not enough good bacteria in there. My plants were doing poorly (floating ones anyhow) so took them out and put them in a bucket with some miracle gro in the water, on suggestion of Addy. If they perk up, they will go right back into the pond. I do have other plants in the plant bog, they are all doing well. I know I should and WANT to get more floating plants, but I'm afraid maybe I don't have enough nutrients in the water .... not enough poop! Your thought? Would more plants help stabilize my pond, or will they turn yellow like the few I bought about a month ago?

 

[fishin4cars]

More plants will not hurt, If the algae is growing the plants compete for those same nutrients. yellowing is not uncommon. It can be water shock, heat, nutrient levels, even fish nibbling the roots can cause yellowing of leaves. Also Iron in the water can too. I would add a few back but not all and see how they do. also marginal plants that the roots can take off in the pond do well too. La. iris, Taro, Thalia, Papyrus,pickeral rush, spiral rush, etc. are all good choices to plant along the edges, Most will grow fine bare rooted just stuck in between the rocks. your bog plants once they start kicking in will also use these nutrients up and it will clear. right now it's just going though that new pond cycle. I know it can be flustrating but it will clear and it will look good soon. We'll keep telling you that until you tell us it has. LOL I've been there too, most of us have with new pond start ups.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, I had a VERY successful koi buying "trip" today! Thanks again to Randy for raising some pretty koi! Here are some of the pics. I'll call the big black one "Shamu", as he is black with a white belly, and has red coming in on his head.
View attachment 6111
Is the light orange one an Orengi?
View attachment 6113
I think the red and white has black patches under it's skin, so will likely be a Sanke, which I love! The last pic is an Asagi, really pretty marked!. I'm not positive on my identifications, so please correct me if I'm wrong, how else will I learn!
All the koi were just beautiful, and it was my first buying trip. I'm set for this year now. Three of the koi were larger, about 7-8" and the other 4 were small, 3-4". After the 3 hour trip home, with 2 battery operated aerators, they made the trip just fine, and were acclimated to my pond water and set free. Now, the wait to see them again! Water is still pretty murky, and although I'm not worried about the fish, I sure would like to SEE them. LOL But I have been patient so far, so this is just another "wait and see" situation.