My fiancee and I recently bought a house that came with a pond. We
emptied it out last Saturday (picked up leaves) and refilled it.
(approximately 460 gallons). We hooked up the fountain and it is quite
pretty. Currently we only turn it on when we are home.

We'd like to know if we should keep it running for longer, to help
prevent algae growth? We're also going to pick up our koi (courtesy of
old owners) from their "boarding school" soon. Do they like the
running water?

What plants would be good for the pond? (From what I've read so far I
can't have water lilies because they don't like running water?)

Thanks for all your help!

Is there any way you could politely decline the koi and have them adopted to
new homes?
Current koi advice is at least 1,000 gallons in the pond and an additional 100
gallons per fish.
460 gallons is too little an amount and you are going to have green water
problems and health problems as they grow. Did the pond come with a filter?

There are some really pretty varieties of goldfish to have in the pond. I would
add 10, a few at a time. Then expect them to breed and make more fish which
would bring you up to about 20, the amount 460 gallons can handle (then give
away the babies or build a new pond ;-)

If you are going to have fish in the pond the fountain must run 24 hours a day.
As ornamental pond keepers we really are running a very large aquarium and not
a mother nature type pond. Fish need the additional oxygen especially during
the night time hours. The more fish the more critical the need.

Water movement avoids stagnation, discourages mosquitoes, adds oxygen and is
soothing to the soul ;-)

Water lilies don't like churning water. But can handle gentle fountains.

You are doing all the right things, researching and asking information.
Welcome to rec.ponds!!



k30a

There are 4 koi's to be picked up and they have survived in the pond
last year, so I figured the pond's water is sufficient? I don't plan
on adding any more fish. The pond did come with a filter.

How do you think water hyacinths will take to our pond? Was thinking
of adding hornwort's as well. Would duck weed be a good idea to add?

Nouixfree wrote
There are 4 koi's to be picked up and they have survived in the pond
last year, so I figured the pond's water is sufficient?

It is fine now but it can quickly get toxic in an overcrowded pond. Growing
(18" to 20+") koi will overwhelm your pond. Your 460 gallons is not enough for
your koi to thrive and can quickly go bad when the growth of the koi overwhelms
the capacity of the filter and the pond to deal with them. Green water, sick
fish and headaches abound when this happens.
Why take the risk and heartache? It takes an expert to maintain an overstocked
pond. It takes a real expert to maintain koi in an overstocked pond.

I don't plan
on adding any more fish.

That's good. But remember koi will breed and make baby koi. They will also eat
most of the eggs but there always are a few survivors in most ponds.
Goldfish will breed, eat eggs and still produce babies.
Culling the pond is one of the more unhappy chores of pond keeping. Some people
avoid this by building more and more and more ponds for all the babies. Some
sell them to pet stores as (gulp) feeder goldfish. Other dispose of them
humanely as possible. And then still others have hit herons, hit raccoons, hit
kingfishers, hit snakes and hit bullfrogs take care of that for them.

The pond did come with a filter.

That's good! Makes the whole fish keeping business much easier. If you didn't
get instructions on how to maintain the filter, give us a description and we'll
try and help.

How do you think water hyacinths will take to our pond?

Water hyacinths really take to the pond. They reproduce at prodigious rates.
Some fish will nibble the roots and use them as spawning areas. Beat up water
hyacinths can be removed to a tub to recover.
They like a nice dose of Miracle Grow.

Was thinking
of adding hornwort's as well. Would duck weed be a good idea to add?

Hornwort is a great choice as it is an underwater plant and helps with O2. Also
good places for pond critters to hide (aquatic insects, baby fish, tadpoles).

Duckweed, depending on your pond residents will either be eaten or rapidly
reproduce.






k30a