water under liner

[woodturner with koi]

pond 7 ft 3 ft 3 ft deep, . There was a small leak about 2 years ago, landscaper said they could fix the pond. They put a new liner over the old one.but now when I have to drain and clean the pond, as the water goes down the new liner bubbles up and will basically fold in over near the deep part causing problems r. I take the fish out, but need to figure out how to get water out between the liners

 

[sissy]

they should have taken the old liner out or at least put lots more holes in it so water could not hold between the 2 liners

 

[JamieB]

If you can get between the two liners, puncture the old one for drainage. Additionaly, when doing water changes, use a longer hose to move old water further away. Those two things should reduce your problem.

 

[Mmathis]

@woodturner with koi Glad to see you found the topics!

 

[j.w]

@woodturner with koi
Yep, too bad they didn't poke holes in that old liner for drainage!

 

[woodturner with koi]

thanks everyone, I was able to move the top liner and I did poke some holes in it, will see in the fall when I next drain it to clean it, now to get the plants re-potted, stay safe

 

[j.w]

@woodturner with koi do you have to drain the pond cuz you bring your koi inside during winter? I assume that your pond must freeze pretty hard. We have a member here who has koi outdoors in her ponds all year in Medicine Hat. @callingcolleen1 has a system that works darn good. You might want to check it out: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/my-pond-runs-all-winter-zone-2-3.10570/

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes, I swear Koi are much healthier if they are in ice cold running water all winter long. I keep the ponds flowing all winter but not the spinning balls or spitters or if you have splashing waterfalls I would shut those down. I keep all four connecting ponds flowing together all winter. Good to keep water flowing nicely so fish get fresh oxygen under ice. Check out my threads. Ponds in Canada.

 

[sissy]

yep koi are cold weather fish and love the cold .I just keep my aerator running for what little winter I get here

 

[poconojoe]

You should never drain and clean your pond. By doing that you are upsetting the natural cycle. Your pond then has to go through a period of weeks reproducing beneficial bacteria and that very important bio film that coats the liner.

If you have fish, it's very stressful to net them and transfer them into a temporary holding tank. It can also stress them if all the different waters that you are subjecting them to are not the exact temperature and Ph.

Ponds are not meant to be sterile. If your water is not clear, there are natural ways to fix that.

 

[Mmathis]

@woodturner with koi I don’t think you’ve told us about your pond! We love to hear about the ponds of others, and we especially love to see pictures!

 

[woodturner with koi]

What I have been doing for the 10 or 12 years that I have pond is to drain it and have the fish in a large container in their own water, I did pressure wash the pond and then refill and add some of the stuff the make the water safe, the fish where then place in the pond in the container to let temperatures adjust, during the winter I have a small ring heater that keeps one spot open, I also use a bubblier until things really freeze and then just the heater, I guess I have been lucky so far

 

[woodturner with koi]

@woodturner with koi I don’t think you’ve told us about your pond! We love to hear about the ponds of others, and we especially love to see pictures!

my pond is small 7 ft long 3 1/2 ft wide and a little over 3 ft deep, I am learning a great deal here and will certainly change some of my practices. This site is a very good resource, I do have koi and butterfly koi as well as some gold fish, all are small ones, once they got large I took them to my brother as he has a big pond. I have water lilies and a few others but would love ideas for ones to use here it is zone 6a, so far I have just placed them int he deepest part for winter, but do have room in the house for them if need be. its not easy here in Kingston find pond plants, my have to go to Ottawa when travel is allowed. thanks Ron

 

[poconojoe]

The de-icer is great. It keeps a hole in the ice for the bad gasses to escape.
It sounds like you are doing everything correctly with the exception of the draining and power washing. That's a big no-no as I said in my previous post, especially the power washing. You're killing off all the beneficial bacteria and bio film growing on your liner.

 

[woodturner with koi]

thanks poconojoe does anything need to be done to the pond before winter on in the spring other than maybe a bottom clean up?