indoor pond update

[Jon Pike]

So I had my big fat koi in a tank with insufficient filtration. After
learning how to -correctly- read my ammonia tests, I found that tank had
severely high levels. I got clued into the problem when sores started
appearing on his belly.

So I resurrected an old tank that had some problems with it. We tried to
repair the bottom by using plexi instead of glass, and found that
silicone doesn't hold to it very well. The solution was to use vapour-
barrier and wood bracers. This tank provided over 80g of tank space, as
well as a 10g sump filtration system. With a reasonably close eye on
ammonia levels and water changes as needed, my koi recovered completely
in this tank.
Shown here:
http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/temptank.jpg
That vapour barrier is actually really strong stuff. That much water
wasn't enough weight to push down the corners all the way to sit square.

But I wanted him to have a better environment, so I got me a Simple-Set
inflatable pool. it's 9' diameter and holds ~700g.
So far I haven't heard any better, cheaper, -legal- ways of getting 700g
worth of tank space. It cost me about 75$.
Unfortunately, the edge on that pool is only about 4-6", so I had to put
an ugly addition on to keep him from jumping out. A little bit of
stiff'ish pvc tubing (not pipe) and more vapour barrier has solved that
problem.
Shown here:
http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/pond.jpg

The thing even came with a filter-pump! Though, no, I'm not relying on
that solely for filtration. It is, however, the strongest pump I own
(well, save for the sump-pump, but that's only used for big water
changes), and it came with the kit. No extra cost for a 300gph pump.

It's not the prettiest thing in the world to look at either, but the
height of the vapour-barrier is well below eye-level so viewing the
actual fish is still easy. So is feeding. And I left a hole in it so I
could do water changes easily as well.

Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The temp
of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's used to,
but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.
http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/climatizing.jpg
Yes, those -are- balloons on the side of the container... I had no way of
securing two sides to a stable position so that it didn't dump before the
temperatures matched.
I guess you can also see the huge mess of hornwart in there too. That
stuff is fantastic.

Anyway, just posting this because some people expressed interest in the
"indoor swimming pool as a pond" idea.

--
http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet

[Stephen]

Thanks for the update Jon. Its been quite interesting seeing your progress.
Good luck!

Stephen

"Jon Pike" > wrote in message
. 159...
> So I had my big fat koi in a tank with insufficient filtration. After
> learning how to -correctly- read my ammonia tests, I found that tank had
> severely high levels. I got clued into the problem when sores started
> appearing on his belly.
>
> So I resurrected an old tank that had some problems with it. We tried to
> repair the bottom by using plexi instead of glass, and found that
> silicone doesn't hold to it very well. The solution was to use vapour-
> barrier and wood bracers. This tank provided over 80g of tank space, as
> well as a 10g sump filtration system. With a reasonably close eye on
> ammonia levels and water changes as needed, my koi recovered completely
> in this tank.
> Shown here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/temptank.jpg
> That vapour barrier is actually really strong stuff. That much water
> wasn't enough weight to push down the corners all the way to sit square.
>
> But I wanted him to have a better environment, so I got me a Simple-Set
> inflatable pool. it's 9' diameter and holds ~700g.
> So far I haven't heard any better, cheaper, -legal- ways of getting 700g
> worth of tank space. It cost me about 75$.
> Unfortunately, the edge on that pool is only about 4-6", so I had to put
> an ugly addition on to keep him from jumping out. A little bit of
> stiff'ish pvc tubing (not pipe) and more vapour barrier has solved that
> problem.
> Shown here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/pond.jpg
>
> The thing even came with a filter-pump! Though, no, I'm not relying on
> that solely for filtration. It is, however, the strongest pump I own
> (well, save for the sump-pump, but that's only used for big water
> changes), and it came with the kit. No extra cost for a 300gph pump.
>
> It's not the prettiest thing in the world to look at either, but the
> height of the vapour-barrier is well below eye-level so viewing the
> actual fish is still easy. So is feeding. And I left a hole in it so I
> could do water changes easily as well.
>
> Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The temp
> of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's used to,
> but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/climatizing.jpg
> Yes, those -are- balloons on the side of the container... I had no way of
> securing two sides to a stable position so that it didn't dump before the
> temperatures matched.
> I guess you can also see the huge mess of hornwart in there too. That
> stuff is fantastic.
>
> Anyway, just posting this because some people expressed interest in the
> "indoor swimming pool as a pond" idea.
>
> --
> http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet

[Donald K]

Jon Pike wrote:

> Anyway, just posting this because some people expressed interest in
> the "indoor swimming pool as a pond" idea.

GREAT write-up!

Thanks!

-Donald
--
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem,
see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Vicki PS]

"Jon Pike" > wrote in message
. 159...
> Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The temp
> of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's used to,
> but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.

Thanks for the update: very interesting and inventive solution!

Re. heating -- a woman on the Australia Betta Forum has had success using a
waterbed heater as an under-tank heater for a divided betta tank. Might be
worth a go with your indoor koi pond, if you know someone with a st*ffed
waterbed!

Vicki PS

[Tom L. La Bron]

Jon,

Hope you have one of those water detectors positioned on the floor just in
case you setup starts leaking for some reason.

Tom L.L.
------------------------------------------------------
"Jon Pike" > wrote in message
. 159...
> So I had my big fat koi in a tank with insufficient filtration. After
> learning how to -correctly- read my ammonia tests, I found that tank had
> severely high levels. I got clued into the problem when sores started
> appearing on his belly.
>
> So I resurrected an old tank that had some problems with it. We tried to
> repair the bottom by using plexi instead of glass, and found that
> silicone doesn't hold to it very well. The solution was to use vapour-
> barrier and wood bracers. This tank provided over 80g of tank space, as
> well as a 10g sump filtration system. With a reasonably close eye on
> ammonia levels and water changes as needed, my koi recovered completely
> in this tank.
> Shown here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/temptank.jpg
> That vapour barrier is actually really strong stuff. That much water
> wasn't enough weight to push down the corners all the way to sit square.
>
> But I wanted him to have a better environment, so I got me a Simple-Set
> inflatable pool. it's 9' diameter and holds ~700g.
> So far I haven't heard any better, cheaper, -legal- ways of getting 700g
> worth of tank space. It cost me about 75$.
> Unfortunately, the edge on that pool is only about 4-6", so I had to put
> an ugly addition on to keep him from jumping out. A little bit of
> stiff'ish pvc tubing (not pipe) and more vapour barrier has solved that
> problem.
> Shown here:
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/pond.jpg
>
> The thing even came with a filter-pump! Though, no, I'm not relying on
> that solely for filtration. It is, however, the strongest pump I own
> (well, save for the sump-pump, but that's only used for big water
> changes), and it came with the kit. No extra cost for a 300gph pump.
>
> It's not the prettiest thing in the world to look at either, but the
> height of the vapour-barrier is well below eye-level so viewing the
> actual fish is still easy. So is feeding. And I left a hole in it so I
> could do water changes easily as well.
>
> Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The temp
> of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's used to,
> but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.
> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/climatizing.jpg
> Yes, those -are- balloons on the side of the container... I had no way of
> securing two sides to a stable position so that it didn't dump before the
> temperatures matched.
> I guess you can also see the huge mess of hornwart in there too. That
> stuff is fantastic.
>
> Anyway, just posting this because some people expressed interest in the
> "indoor swimming pool as a pond" idea.
>
> --
> http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet

[Gordon Parks]

This is an innovative solution to the problem, but I have one concern. Does
the new "pond" have any chemical treatments to prevent algae and mildew from
growing on it? These can be toxic to fish as well.


"Stephen" > wrote in message
news:%Mpyd.3569$k25.1361@attbi_s53...
> Thanks for the update Jon. Its been quite interesting seeing your
> progress.
> Good luck!
>
> Stephen
>
> "Jon Pike" > wrote in message
> . 159...
>> So I had my big fat koi in a tank with insufficient filtration. After
>> learning how to -correctly- read my ammonia tests, I found that tank had
>> severely high levels. I got clued into the problem when sores started
>> appearing on his belly.
>>
>> So I resurrected an old tank that had some problems with it. We tried to
>> repair the bottom by using plexi instead of glass, and found that
>> silicone doesn't hold to it very well. The solution was to use vapour-
>> barrier and wood bracers. This tank provided over 80g of tank space, as
>> well as a 10g sump filtration system. With a reasonably close eye on
>> ammonia levels and water changes as needed, my koi recovered completely
>> in this tank.
>> Shown here:
>> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/temptank.jpg
>> That vapour barrier is actually really strong stuff. That much water
>> wasn't enough weight to push down the corners all the way to sit square.
>>
>> But I wanted him to have a better environment, so I got me a Simple-Set
>> inflatable pool. it's 9' diameter and holds ~700g.
>> So far I haven't heard any better, cheaper, -legal- ways of getting 700g
>> worth of tank space. It cost me about 75$.
>> Unfortunately, the edge on that pool is only about 4-6", so I had to put
>> an ugly addition on to keep him from jumping out. A little bit of
>> stiff'ish pvc tubing (not pipe) and more vapour barrier has solved that
>> problem.
>> Shown here:
>> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/pond.jpg
>>
>> The thing even came with a filter-pump! Though, no, I'm not relying on
>> that solely for filtration. It is, however, the strongest pump I own
>> (well, save for the sump-pump, but that's only used for big water
>> changes), and it came with the kit. No extra cost for a 300gph pump.
>>
>> It's not the prettiest thing in the world to look at either, but the
>> height of the vapour-barrier is well below eye-level so viewing the
>> actual fish is still easy. So is feeding. And I left a hole in it so I
>> could do water changes easily as well.
>>
>> Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The temp
>> of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's used to,
>> but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.
>> http://members.shaw.ca/anonomoose/pond/climatizing.jpg
>> Yes, those -are- balloons on the side of the container... I had no way of
>> securing two sides to a stable position so that it didn't dump before the
>> temperatures matched.
>> I guess you can also see the huge mess of hornwart in there too. That
>> stuff is fantastic.
>>
>> Anyway, just posting this because some people expressed interest in the
>> "indoor swimming pool as a pond" idea.
>>
>> --
>> http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet
>
>

[Jon Pike]

"Vicki PS" > wrote in
:

>
> "Jon Pike" > wrote in message
> . 159...
>> Finally, here's a pic of my poor traumatized fish climatizing. The
>> temp of the water is about 15'c, or 60'f. It's a bit colder than he's
>> used to, but everything I've read says he'll be fine in it.
>
> Thanks for the update: very interesting and inventive solution!
>
> Re. heating -- a woman on the Australia Betta Forum has had success
> using a waterbed heater as an under-tank heater for a divided betta
> tank. Might be worth a go with your indoor koi pond, if you know
> someone with a st*ffed waterbed!

Probably not a good idea... the bottom of the pool is just flexible
plastic. Sitting anything under it is -strongly- warned against by the
manufacturers, as well as people who have had problems from doing similar
such things online.

I appreciate the suggestion though, I'll probably just do slightly warmer
water changes whenever I do them.

--
http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet

[Jon Pike]

"Tom L. La Bron" > wrote in
:

> Jon,
>
> Hope you have one of those water detectors positioned on the floor
> just in case you setup starts leaking for some reason.

It's concrete, so the colour-change would be notice.
Unless of course, there were a catastrophic failure, but then I'd be kind
of screwed anyway. I wouldn't be able to rescue my fish because there are
no tanks around of proper temperature, and the water damage would be. well.
excessive.


--
http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet

[Jon Pike]

"Gordon Parks" > wrote in
news:KiJyd.623434$D%.11201@attbi_s51:

> This is an innovative solution to the problem, but I have one concern.
> Does the new "pond" have any chemical treatments to prevent algae and
> mildew from growing on it? These can be toxic to fish as well.

There's no mention of it in any of the included materials, and they do say
that people need to go to pool stores to buy their own cleaning chemicals,
so I doubt it.

--
http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=moosespet