Koi & Goldfish Pond.....

[dlhunicorn]

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I put my fish in two weeks after I had all planted, water filled in and the water had cleared. (I did though put in a tubful of my old pond water .my lab decided to take a swim in it one day and tore the lining >lol: another advantage to having a couple tubs dug in >just in case the linig fails lol.)
putting in water from a healthy pond really works wonders > the first pond I had I never did really get right> I did not use water from a healthy pond to "start" it and it was at its deepest four foot)

Do you use a substrate (porous) "rock" ? This is very important otherwise everything will just rot..
I filled the corner bathtub up with about four inches of it before putting in soil and planting the lilies in it... same with the cement tub (another lily in that...it flowers a bit later than the one pictured.
I put my pump in a shallower space between the two (no loose soil there really) otherwise it would get clogged up. Have you got enough aeration plants in your pond? The floating cabbage and hyacinth not only provides shade (keeping the water from becoming too warm) but also is great at getting out the excess nitrogen (hope i have that right >>>pond experts?) from the fish and stuff. When it is cooler I thin it out and throw it on the compost heap ... (I have to thin out my lily leaves also the entire summer or they slowly rot and mess up the entire pond)
Anyway the lack of a porous substrate is the only thing I can think of that your plants died .

 

[ruth]

Diana - you're pond is simply beautiful. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to have one that looks like yours and to know that your's is self sustaining is absolutely wonderful.

At our home in Covington we dug a huge pond in our backyard (swimming hole size) to hold the thousands of gallons of well water that our three Florida heat pumps discharged daily. The ground was natural white clay and the pond not only held water we had to put in an overflow line and continue to drain water down the hillside and into the creek which we were trying to avoid in the first place. Anyway, we tried stocking it originally with brim, then catfish, wanting to have a fishing pond. Then tried turning it into koi, goldfish pond. No matter what we put in there they would all die. After 4 years finally gave up. Moved before we could ever get it going and finished. Last time I was at that house it looked like a Florida swamp - it is now full of plants and everything overgrown so maybe now it could hold/support fish life. We had put in pumps and fountains and plants but just couldn't get it going. Finally had our well water tested and it tested really high on acidic level - not sure if that was the reason but it was the reason that our 20 year old copper pipes from well to house all started leaking at same time. So that's a long way of saying I know how much work it takes from those of you who have beautiful fish ponds with living fish in them. Still a dream of mine - maybe some day.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Ruth: I think it has to do with the clay... (dealing with the water acidity is simpler than having a difficult substrate (very important not to get acidic and alkaline mixed up... acidic min 7 alkaline 7 plus)....
I had a friend same problem (had a natural bottom) ...I suggested he line it with a pond liner and then everything worked itself out. Why dont you try that? Sounds a wonderful area for a pond... put in some cattails and reeds (great for larger ponds...if your liner gts a tear it wont matter much with the clay substrate you have) to manage the excess nitrogen and such >>>actually I have a reeds in a pot overhanging my pond (cant put it directly in or it would damage my liner) the bottom with lots of holes and is three inches in the water and has three inches of that porous substrate> both together form a kind of "natural" water filter if you will) I looked into the biofilter thingys but decided
1) they were too expensive
2) after reading about the principal of them and seeing my pond was fairly small, I made my own > lol ...the pot with reeds on porous substrate... LOL

I am intrigued though...are you saying the water that goes into it is some kind of "waste" water in some way? If so creating a smaller holding pond (one filled with reeds and cattails with those special porous rocks for ponds as a substrate) could "cure" that water for you I am thinking (let it flow slowly into the "big" pond.... at any rate that is what I would do.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Anyway the lack of a porous substrate is the only thing I can think of that your plants died

No, I haven't had any plants die, just the opposite, I keep my composter full from throwing it out, it grows like mad, the pond is very healthy, fish and plants thrive, just alot of work to keep it that way! My rocks are native to North carolina and I bought a half a ton of them, they sit on the ground around it holding down my liner. Nope, it's all healthy, just alot more work than yours!!

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
oh this water is more than cured... I have had a piece of plywood sitting over the top of the filled pond for months..... when I pulled the plywood back to take the pic there were TONS of mosquitos in the water...

I will throw in a coupple 50 cent gold fish then go and get the KOI.. as for the pump, I pulled it out of the water and set it on the side when I pulled off the board it moved it and rather than let it sink I just pulled it out.. the pond is as deep as the pump. The water spout just sits above the water line.

 

[Wildsky]

Such lovely ponds.......... I really would LOVE one, I just worry about the kids running around outside - and falling IN.
One of these days I'll have some ducks and a pond will be a must have!

 

[ruth]

Hi Diana - thanks for the info. Originally (when we bought the house) the water from our a/c units came from well and went through units and was discharged down creekbank into creek causing lots of erosion. We wanted a fishing pond so we rented equipment and dug a huge one. Kind of funny with all the guys fighting over a turn like it was a big tonka toy so the hole kept getting deeper and wider. Then we diverted the pipes so it would run into and fill pond. Initially probably stocked it way too early with brim because it had not had time to sit and had no plants other than some we bought and put in. For a couple of years we kept restocking only to have everything die - even tried catfish that were supposed to live in anything. We kept thinking it was well water so we thought the water wasn't the problem. After Katrina uprooted some of our septic system we discovered that all water from the house, incluidng the a/c discharge was going into septic system first and then down hillside so we had all pipes diverted so only house waste water went into septic tank and a/c discharge water went into pond. Thought that was probably the reason things were dying, all those chemicals, and thought we had "fixed" the problem. By this time, lots of plants growing but still can't get any kind of fish to stay alive. Finally pipes in slab, from well to a/c units, start breaking/leaking and we find out that the well water was 5.1 PH (acidic) and that was causing copper pipes to erode after 20 years. So now not sure if acidic water or what the problem is. We did dig a long trench that was lined with stone that was supposed to look like a natural stream and filter the water before it got to the pond which by this time looks like the Florida Everglades, complete with water moccasins and turtles and frogs but still can't get fish to live in it - maybe because of the snakes, turtles, frogs???

In any event we did move but still own the home and must fix the pond, among many other things, before we put the house on the market. It would add a lot to the value and appeal of the property if the pond had fish, any kind of fish.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Ruth, have you tried getting a county extension agent out or local county fishery agent to check out the pond to see why fish don't live in there? They can send tests off and take samples of the water/soil as well. I know copper is toxic in large amounts to fish if lots got in there from the eroded pipes, etc.

I know when we had our big pond put in they came out and checked everything out and then told us when to stock it and how to fertilize and feed and such. They usually don't charge to do this service, but do charge of course for stocking the fish from the fisheries.

HTH

 

[Scrambled Egg]

That sounds like a great idea, those folks are usually really nice and have tons of advice on most things farming, lol!

 

[Rosalind]

Dumb question:

Someday, after I get some more of the house/landscaping projects done (OK, it could be in 2020, when we all drive hover-cars...), I fully intend to put a koi pond in the backyard. The spot I have picked out is well-shaded by various sorts of trees, and I want to plant azaleas and shade-tolerant sort of Japanese garden-y things around it. There are some large, heh, "decorative" boulders there already, which could be incorporated into a waterfall sort of a thing.

There are gonna be lots and lots of leaves falling into the pond. When I say it's well-shaded, I mean it: beech, maple, shagbark hickory, spruce, some pawpaws. The pond shall be deep enough for the fishies to overwinter reasonably well. Should I take some action to keep leaves out of the water too, like putting some sort of netting over the top in autumn and regularly cleaning the netting off? Or will the leaves rot down and make more dirt for the waterlilies and such?

ETA: The pond project keeps growing, the longer I live here, so this pond will eventually be a Complete Ecological Catchwater And Fish Farm Bio-System at the rate it's going. It started out as, "oooh, a pond would be nice!" and graduated to the current plan, which is to catch rainwater off the barn in a large cistern, stock the cistern with tilapia, catfish and freshwater shrimp, then run an irrigation ditch full of reeds and Vaccinium spp. (cranberries, wetland plants etc.) to feed the koi pond, and have a recirculation pump aerate the lot with a naturalistic rock waterfall using our Pile O' Rubble. With appropriate statues of undressed water-nymphs distributed in an artistic manner. One co-worker, whose undergrad degree was in agriculture, swears to me that this is not only possible but quite feasible, but what do you guys think?