hi everyone,

I just got a new house that happened to come with a koi pond, and I
know nothing. I'd really appreciate a few tips to get me started.

The pond has 4 or 5 fish, and I've not done anything to it for a month
and they all still seem to be fine.

1. do I need to feed my koi fish?
2. the water level has gone down due to the heat. Can I just refill
it with tap water?
3. it's really quite green.. is there a way to solve this and make it
more clear?
4. is there anything else I need to know?

thanks heaps!

- Brendan

Hi Brendan!

Welcome to rec.ponds.
I'm going to ask you some questions and that will help us get you and your pond
up and running.

- Where abouts do you live? general area is fine.

- About how big is the pond, length by width and how deep? Or better yet, did
the former owner say how many gallons it is?

- About how big are the 4 or 5 fish, in inches?

- Does the pond have a fountain or waterfall?

- Does it have any sort of filter? This would be a box or large container
filled with foam pads, brushes, small balls, stuff like that.

- Are there any plants in the pond? If so, what do they look like? In the pond
garden plants are either 1) completely underwater 2) floating on the top of the
water like lily pads 3) growing on the margins of the pond with most of the
plant above the water.

First off I would go to a large pet store that sells fish and buy
- a pond test kit
- some water treatment that treats chlorine and chloramines. - a good quality
koi food.

You can add water to the pond if you add the recommended amount of the
treatment product. Add it as you add the water, run the water in slowly over
the waterfall if you have one. Stay with the pond while you do this, don't
leave the hose running as forgetting the hose in the pond has killed a lot of
fish. Chlorine and chloramines will kill the fish without the water treatment
product.

Read the directions that come with the pond test kit. And then you can report
the results here.

Feed the fish sparingly. Only as much as they can eat in five minutes. Net up
the uneaten food.

Read the algae primer site in my signature. You don't have to do everything
listed right away but it will give you a good idea how algae gets out of
control in a garden pond.

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Hi Brendan!

Welcome to rec.ponds.
I'm going to ask you some questions and that will help us get you and your pond
up and running.

- Where abouts do you live? general area is fine.

- About how big is the pond, length by width and how deep? Or better yet, did
the former owner say how many gallons it is?

- About how big are the 4 or 5 fish, in inches?

- Does the pond have a fountain or waterfall?

- Does it have any sort of filter? This would be a box or large container
filled with foam pads, brushes, small balls, stuff like that.

- Are there any plants in the pond? If so, what do they look like? In the pond
garden plants are either 1) completely underwater 2) floating on the top of the
water like lily pads 3) growing on the margins of the pond with most of the
plant above the water.

First off I would go to a large pet store that sells fish and buy
- a pond test kit
- some water treatment that treats chlorine and chloramines. - a good quality
koi food.

You can add water to the pond if you add the recommended amount of the
treatment product. Add it as you add the water, run the water in slowly over
the waterfall if you have one. Stay with the pond while you do this, don't
leave the hose running as forgetting the hose in the pond has killed a lot of
fish. Chlorine and chloramines will kill the fish without the water treatment
product.

Read the directions that come with the pond test kit. And then you can report
the results here.

Feed the fish sparingly. Only as much as they can eat in five minutes. Net up
the uneaten food.

Read the algae primer site in my signature. You don't have to do everything
listed right away but it will give you a good idea how algae gets out of
control in a garden pond.

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Hi Brendan!

Welcome to rec.ponds.
I'm going to ask you some questions and that will help us
get you and your pond
up and running.

- Where abouts do you live? general area is fine.

- About how big is the pond, length by width and how deep?
Or better yet, did
the former owner say how many gallons it is?

- About how big are the 4 or 5 fish, in inches?

- Does the pond have a fountain or waterfall?

- Does it have any sort of filter? This would be a box or
large container
filled with foam pads, brushes, small balls, stuff like
that.

- Are there any plants in the pond? If so, what do they
look like? In the pond
garden plants are either 1) completely underwater 2)
floating on the top of the
water like lily pads 3) growing on the margins of the pond
with most of the
plant above the water.

First off I would go to a large pet store that sells fish
and buy
- a pond test kit
- some water treatment that treats chlorine and
chloramines. - a good quality
koi food.

You can add water to the pond if you add the recommended
amount of the
treatment product. Add it as you add the water, run the
water in slowly over
the waterfall if you have one. Stay with the pond while
you do this, don't
leave the hose running as forgetting the hose in the pond
has killed a lot of
fish. Chlorine and chloramines will kill the fish without
the water treatment
product.

Read the directions that come with the pond test kit. And
then you can report
the results here.

Feed the fish sparingly. Only as much as they can eat in
five minutes. Net up
the uneaten food.

Read the algae primer site in my signature. You don't have
to do everything
listed right away but it will give you a good idea how
algae gets out of
control in a garden pond.

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Sorry to horn in on your thread Brendan, but I have a new
pond as well, and have similar questions.

I just put up a pond kit that was given to me. It is a
kidney shaped preform with sloped edges, about 8ft at the
longest, 5ft at the widest and 2ft at the deepest. There is
a small waterfall form, a box filter and a 300gph pump. I
live about as far south in Alabama as you can go without
having to swim. The pond is in full sunlight, as I have no
shade trees yet. I surrounded the pond with slate slightly
overhanging the edges. I covered the waterfall with about a
foot of slate making a cavern over the small waterfall form.
The hose sprays from the top of the slate with about half
falling directly into the pond and half going into the
waterfall form. There was a lot of extra hose so I coiled
it under the slate cavern hoping for a cooling effect for
the water, which seemed to work. I set the pond up 3 weeks
ago. There are three lilies and a lotus and some anacharis.
I got two shubunkins about 4 inches long a few days ago.
There were quite a few tadpoles until then LOL. The pond
started turning pretty green about a week ago. The ph runs
about 6.0-6.3. I have well water and do not have to
de-chlorinate.

I have read alot of methods for fixing green water. There
are so many and sometimes they conflict. I don't want to
use chemicals, and was hoping to avoid having to use a UV
filter for such a small pond. The plant filter sounds like
an interesting idea. Does it sound feasible to use my top
waterfall form (it is about 2ftH x 2ftW x 1ftD) and fill it
with something like the anacharis? I assume I'd have to
allow light into the cavern for the anacharis?

I've read that it is good to let the algae cycle through a
bloom and find its own balance. Is this true, and how long
does it take?

TIA for any advice,
Robin

http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami
You can see a few shots of my pond here.

"Robin" wrote in message
news:G8mMc.174112$XM6.135587@attbi_s53...

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Hi Brendan!

Welcome to rec.ponds.
I'm going to ask you some questions and that will help us
get you and your pond
up and running.

- Where abouts do you live? general area is fine.

- About how big is the pond, length by width and how deep?
Or better yet, did
the former owner say how many gallons it is?

- About how big are the 4 or 5 fish, in inches?

- Does the pond have a fountain or waterfall?

- Does it have any sort of filter? This would be a box or
large container
filled with foam pads, brushes, small balls, stuff like
that.

- Are there any plants in the pond? If so, what do they
look like? In the pond
garden plants are either 1) completely underwater 2)
floating on the top of the
water like lily pads 3) growing on the margins of the pond
with most of the
plant above the water.

First off I would go to a large pet store that sells fish
and buy
- a pond test kit
- some water treatment that treats chlorine and
chloramines. - a good quality
koi food.

You can add water to the pond if you add the recommended
amount of the
treatment product. Add it as you add the water, run the
water in slowly over
the waterfall if you have one. Stay with the pond while
you do this, don't
leave the hose running as forgetting the hose in the pond
has killed a lot of
fish. Chlorine and chloramines will kill the fish without
the water treatment
product.

Read the directions that come with the pond test kit. And
then you can report
the results here.

Feed the fish sparingly. Only as much as they can eat in
five minutes. Net up
the uneaten food.

Read the algae primer site in my signature. You don't have
to do everything
listed right away but it will give you a good idea how
algae gets out of
control in a garden pond.

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Sorry to horn in on your thread Brendan, but I have a new
pond as well, and have similar questions.

I just put up a pond kit that was given to me. It is a
kidney shaped preform with sloped edges, about 8ft at the
longest, 5ft at the widest and 2ft at the deepest. There is
a small waterfall form, a box filter and a 300gph pump. I
live about as far south in Alabama as you can go without
having to swim. The pond is in full sunlight, as I have no
shade trees yet. I surrounded the pond with slate slightly
overhanging the edges. I covered the waterfall with about a
foot of slate making a cavern over the small waterfall form.
The hose sprays from the top of the slate with about half
falling directly into the pond and half going into the
waterfall form. There was a lot of extra hose so I coiled
it under the slate cavern hoping for a cooling effect for
the water, which seemed to work. I set the pond up 3 weeks
ago. There are three lilies and a lotus and some anacharis.
I got two shubunkins about 4 inches long a few days ago.
There were quite a few tadpoles until then LOL. The pond
started turning pretty green about a week ago. The ph runs
about 6.0-6.3. I have well water and do not have to
de-chlorinate.

I have read alot of methods for fixing green water. There
are so many and sometimes they conflict. I don't want to
use chemicals, and was hoping to avoid having to use a UV
filter for such a small pond. The plant filter sounds like
an interesting idea. Does it sound feasible to use my top
waterfall form (it is about 2ftH x 2ftW x 1ftD) and fill it
with something like the anacharis? I assume I'd have to
allow light into the cavern for the anacharis?

I've read that it is good to let the algae cycle through a
bloom and find its own balance. Is this true, and how long
does it take?

TIA for any advice,
Robin

http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami
You can see a few shots of my pond here.




Short answer: You're right on schedule for a bloom. It could take a couple
months to clear, or less. Your plants will grow and suck up more of the N
that the algae is feeding on and you'll be fine. Enjoy the pond and donut
worry about it.

Hi Robin,

I dropped a LOW PH alert into the beginning of this thread for the water
quality experts to look at as yours looks a little low to me.

Yes, you've got new water algae bloom, algae is a very good at jumping the gun
and it will go away in time, especially if you have plants and some shade.

And yes, your veggie filter would like some light.
Anacharis would be good. So would water hyacinths (but they may be illegal in
your state).
Water celery is a good one too.

One way to put plants in a filter is to get a rigid mesh waterplant basket and
hang it over the edge secured with any kind of wire (we've used hanger wire and
bent it but any kind will do, or plastic string). That keeps the plants all
together and not clogging up the outlet of the container. Water hyacinths you
can just put some fishing line to keep them from blocking.
You do have to keep an eye on veggie filters as they like to grow rapidly and
they'll start the water backing up over the sides if they get to
rambunctious!


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Robin" wrote in message
news:G8mMc.174112$XM6.135587@attbi_s53...

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Hi Brendan!

Welcome to rec.ponds.
I'm going to ask you some questions and that will help us
get you and your pond
up and running.

- Where abouts do you live? general area is fine.

- About how big is the pond, length by width and how deep?
Or better yet, did
the former owner say how many gallons it is?

- About how big are the 4 or 5 fish, in inches?

- Does the pond have a fountain or waterfall?

- Does it have any sort of filter? This would be a box or
large container
filled with foam pads, brushes, small balls, stuff like
that.

- Are there any plants in the pond? If so, what do they
look like? In the pond
garden plants are either 1) completely underwater 2)
floating on the top of the
water like lily pads 3) growing on the margins of the pond
with most of the
plant above the water.

First off I would go to a large pet store that sells fish
and buy
- a pond test kit
- some water treatment that treats chlorine and
chloramines. - a good quality
koi food.

You can add water to the pond if you add the recommended
amount of the
treatment product. Add it as you add the water, run the
water in slowly over
the waterfall if you have one. Stay with the pond while
you do this, don't
leave the hose running as forgetting the hose in the pond
has killed a lot of
fish. Chlorine and chloramines will kill the fish without
the water treatment
product.

Read the directions that come with the pond test kit. And
then you can report
the results here.

Feed the fish sparingly. Only as much as they can eat in
five minutes. Net up
the uneaten food.

Read the algae primer site in my signature. You don't have
to do everything
listed right away but it will give you a good idea how
algae gets out of
control in a garden pond.

kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Sorry to horn in on your thread Brendan, but I have a new
pond as well, and have similar questions.

I just put up a pond kit that was given to me. It is a
kidney shaped preform with sloped edges, about 8ft at the
longest, 5ft at the widest and 2ft at the deepest. There is
a small waterfall form, a box filter and a 300gph pump. I
live about as far south in Alabama as you can go without
having to swim. The pond is in full sunlight, as I have no
shade trees yet. I surrounded the pond with slate slightly
overhanging the edges. I covered the waterfall with about a
foot of slate making a cavern over the small waterfall form.
The hose sprays from the top of the slate with about half
falling directly into the pond and half going into the
waterfall form. There was a lot of extra hose so I coiled
it under the slate cavern hoping for a cooling effect for
the water, which seemed to work. I set the pond up 3 weeks
ago. There are three lilies and a lotus and some anacharis.
I got two shubunkins about 4 inches long a few days ago.
There were quite a few tadpoles until then LOL. The pond
started turning pretty green about a week ago. The ph runs
about 6.0-6.3. I have well water and do not have to
de-chlorinate.

I have read alot of methods for fixing green water. There
are so many and sometimes they conflict. I don't want to
use chemicals, and was hoping to avoid having to use a UV
filter for such a small pond. The plant filter sounds like
an interesting idea. Does it sound feasible to use my top
waterfall form (it is about 2ftH x 2ftW x 1ftD) and fill it
with something like the anacharis? I assume I'd have to
allow light into the cavern for the anacharis?

I've read that it is good to let the algae cycle through a
bloom and find its own balance. Is this true, and how long
does it take?

TIA for any advice,
Robin

http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami
You can see a few shots of my pond here.




Short answer: You're right on schedule for a bloom. It could take a couple
months to clear, or less. Your plants will grow and suck up more of the N
that the algae is feeding on and you'll be fine. Enjoy the pond and donut
worry about it.

Robin, I looked at your pics, and I would suggest you put in more plants. I
have found the more plants you have, the less problems you have with alage and
green water. Since you just started your pond it will go through cycles. As
for how long it will take, each pond is different so the time varies. When its
doing this, you have to keep telling yourself that green is a pretty color.
LOL
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Robin, I looked at your pics, and I would suggest you put in more plants. I
have found the more plants you have, the less problems you have with alage and
green water. Since you just started your pond it will go through cycles. As
for how long it will take, each pond is different so the time varies. When its
doing this, you have to keep telling yourself that green is a pretty color.
LOL
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Robin,

Many wells send up low pH water, but as soon as it has had a chance to gas
off the excess carbon dioxide, the pH will pop up, sometimes quite high. If
yours is staying that low, I would get a KH Carbonate hardness test kit and
check the carbonates and bicarbonates. These are the pH stabilizers that
keep the pH from jumping all over the place, being very low in the morning
and high in the afternoon. These swings are hard on the fish, causing
stress that can lead to disease. You could also experience a pH crash where
the pH drops so low that it burns the fish and causes a fish kill. Look at
the stability of the pH morning and afternoon.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Robin" wrote in message
news:G8mMc.174112$XM6.135587@attbi_s53...
There were quite a few tadpoles until then LOL. The pond
started turning pretty green about a week ago. The ph runs
about 6.0-6.3. I have well water and do not have to
de-chlorinate.

TIA for any advice,
Robin

http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami
You can see a few shots of my pond here.

"Robin" wrote in message
news:G8mMc.174112$XM6.135587@attbi_s53...

Sorry to horn in on your thread Brendan, but I have a new
pond as well, and have similar questions.



Thanks for all of the replies and advice. I can see already
that this is going to be one of those addictive hobbies. I
have a liner that I didn't use in construction so I'm
already contemplating ways to go bigger, LOL.

I'm liking the veggie filter ideas I have seen, so I've
decided to move my waterfall form up a foot or so and make a
filter out of it. I will coil up my excess hose in the
bottom, because I do think that cools my water a few
degrees. I was thinking about clamping the end of the hose
and putting some medium sized holes in the length of it to
make it "percolate" up through the filter. The water goes
through a mechanical filter first, so plugging up shouldn't
be a big problem if I make the holes a littler larger?
I'll put a wire mesh over the hose coil and bend it up on
one end to cover the spillway. I'll put a layer of gravel
over that and my plants on top of that. I'll run the
spillway down over some rocks into the pond. Does this
sound like a working design?

Thanks for the PH warning, what are the best ways to
increase and level the PH. Also we have alot of summer rain
here. 16 inches in June. How does this affect the water
and ph levels?

I've had my shubunkin almost a week (2 of them about 4
inches) I haven't fed them. There were a bunch of tadpoles
in the pond when I put the fish in, and they have eaten
them. I live less than a mile from a bay and have seen alot
of wildlife migrate to my pond, even small brown crabs. I'm
sure with all of the toads I see and hear around the pond,
eggs are being laid on a regular basis. I have also seen
them eating off of the plants. Will my fish be able to get
enough to eat from the life in the pond, or do I need to use
fish food as well?

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami

"Robin" wrote in message
news:G8mMc.174112$XM6.135587@attbi_s53...

Sorry to horn in on your thread Brendan, but I have a new
pond as well, and have similar questions.



Thanks for all of the replies and advice. I can see already
that this is going to be one of those addictive hobbies. I
have a liner that I didn't use in construction so I'm
already contemplating ways to go bigger, LOL.

I'm liking the veggie filter ideas I have seen, so I've
decided to move my waterfall form up a foot or so and make a
filter out of it. I will coil up my excess hose in the
bottom, because I do think that cools my water a few
degrees. I was thinking about clamping the end of the hose
and putting some medium sized holes in the length of it to
make it "percolate" up through the filter. The water goes
through a mechanical filter first, so plugging up shouldn't
be a big problem if I make the holes a littler larger?
I'll put a wire mesh over the hose coil and bend it up on
one end to cover the spillway. I'll put a layer of gravel
over that and my plants on top of that. I'll run the
spillway down over some rocks into the pond. Does this
sound like a working design?

Thanks for the PH warning, what are the best ways to
increase and level the PH. Also we have alot of summer rain
here. 16 inches in June. How does this affect the water
and ph levels?

I've had my shubunkin almost a week (2 of them about 4
inches) I haven't fed them. There were a bunch of tadpoles
in the pond when I put the fish in, and they have eaten
them. I live less than a mile from a bay and have seen alot
of wildlife migrate to my pond, even small brown crabs. I'm
sure with all of the toads I see and hear around the pond,
eggs are being laid on a regular basis. I have also seen
them eating off of the plants. Will my fish be able to get
enough to eat from the life in the pond, or do I need to use
fish food as well?

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami

I can see already
that this is going to be one of those addictive hobbies.

Robin, When I read this, I really had to laugh because, yes, ponding is a very
addictive hobby. And no matter what your pond looks like, once its in, there
will always be something that you see that you just have to work in somewhere.
LOL
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

I can see already
that this is going to be one of those addictive hobbies.

Robin, When I read this, I really had to laugh because, yes, ponding is a very
addictive hobby. And no matter what your pond looks like, once its in, there
will always be something that you see that you just have to work in somewhere.
LOL
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

I can see already
that this is going to be one of those addictive hobbies.

Robin, When I read this, I really had to laugh because, yes, ponding is a very
addictive hobby. And no matter what your pond looks like, once its in, there
will always be something that you see that you just have to work in somewhere.
LOL
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html