bought house with koi (1) pond..long, sorry

Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish. To me he
appears to be a large goldfish, not a koi--is there any easy way to
differentiate? He's all orange. The owner that sold me the house said
that he was here 4 years ago when HE bought the house. The pond is chock
full of plants, and lots of green slimy stuff and some small lily pads. It
does have some sort of filter. I realize that I should probably clean it
out a bit, and I'm going to remove floating debris to start, but I'm kind of
thinking, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He's been here for years,
doing well (the former owner rarely fed him--I'm sure he's been chewing on
the plants and bugs) so I don't want to go in and clean out the pond and
shock his system. I would like to introduce a buddy for him though.
My problem is that I feel that I must give this little guy a good
environment, but at the same time I am overwhelmed with all the things that
need to be done to my "fixer-upper" so I don't have tons of time to devote
to this project. Like I said, he's been doing fine so far, but I would
like to make his life a little better. Advice?
Thanks in advance.
Kirsten

I should add that I'm not financially able to sink (no pun intended) a lot
of money into the pond for filters, etc., because of all the work needed on
the house. Would it be better to give the guy away?
Kirsten
"k conover" wrote in message
...
Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish. To me he
appears to be a large goldfish, not a koi--is there any easy way to
differentiate? He's all orange. The owner that sold me the house said
that he was here 4 years ago when HE bought the house. The pond is chock
full of plants, and lots of green slimy stuff and some small lily pads.
It
does have some sort of filter. I realize that I should probably clean it
out a bit, and I'm going to remove floating debris to start, but I'm kind
of
thinking, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He's been here for years,
doing well (the former owner rarely fed him--I'm sure he's been chewing on
the plants and bugs) so I don't want to go in and clean out the pond and
shock his system. I would like to introduce a buddy for him though.
My problem is that I feel that I must give this little guy a good
environment, but at the same time I am overwhelmed with all the things
that
need to be done to my "fixer-upper" so I don't have tons of time to devote
to this project. Like I said, he's been doing fine so far, but I would
like to make his life a little better. Advice?
Thanks in advance.
Kirsten

Hi Kristen,

A koi will have two little whiskers on either side of his mouth. His head will
be more square-ish than rounded.

A single fish with that much stuff in the pond doesn't need feeding, though it
is fun to do once they learn about chow time. Feed very, very sparingly.

Since he has done so well for four years I'd leave the pond alone for now.
You can net out leaves in the fall so as not to add to the load the pond is
carrying. If time is a problem you can suspend a net over the pond when the
leaves fall, nice and tight as you don't want the leaves dipping into the pond
like a tea bag.

The pond and the filter are probably taking care of the fish waste.

I agree a friend might be nice. Find a really good store that sells fish, not
for fancy fish, but for healthy fish. And buy one. Ask them how to introduce
the fish into the pond. The thing to watch is not a too big a jump in
temperture and the involves floating the fish bag for 20 minutes in a shadded
area.

If Atlanta has a severe winter and the pond freezes over for any length of time
you will want to keep a hole open in the ice. I use an air pump and air stone.
You can use the same plug in that the filter works off of now.

You'll probably want to clean the pond next spring.
Hang around until then and you'll probably learn a lot. Then when cleaning time
comes around we'll help you out. Hopefully you'll have more time then and your
new house will be fixed up.

That's all I can think of for now. Others will chime in :-)


k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

"k conover" wrote in message
...
Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish.

Congratulations! You will find ponding to be very rewarding, and can be done
with as little or as much time investment as you want.

I would like to know about how big your fish is, in inches long. If you get
another one, and I suggest waiting until you figure out how you will be
managing the pond, it should be roughly matched in size to the original.

she needs to quarantine the new fish. at least a month. Ingrid

ESPMER (K30a) wrote:

Hi Kristen,

A koi will have two little whiskers on either side of his mouth. His head will
be more square-ish than rounded.

A single fish with that much stuff in the pond doesn't need feeding, though it
is fun to do once they learn about chow time. Feed very, very sparingly.

Since he has done so well for four years I'd leave the pond alone for now.
You can net out leaves in the fall so as not to add to the load the pond is
carrying. If time is a problem you can suspend a net over the pond when the
leaves fall, nice and tight as you don't want the leaves dipping into the pond
like a tea bag.

The pond and the filter are probably taking care of the fish waste.

I agree a friend might be nice. Find a really good store that sells fish, not
for fancy fish, but for healthy fish. And buy one. Ask them how to introduce
the fish into the pond. The thing to watch is not a too big a jump in
temperture and the involves floating the fish bag for 20 minutes in a shadded
area.

If Atlanta has a severe winter and the pond freezes over for any length of time
you will want to keep a hole open in the ice. I use an air pump and air stone.
You can use the same plug in that the filter works off of now.

You'll probably want to clean the pond next spring.
Hang around until then and you'll probably learn a lot. Then when cleaning time
comes around we'll help you out. Hopefully you'll have more time then and your
new house will be fixed up.

That's all I can think of for now. Others will chime in :-)


k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Ingrid wrote she needs to quarantine the new fish. at least a month.

I know that is optimum but this is a gal with a fixer up house and lots of work
to do. She knows hardly anything about her pond and has a lot to learn. I doubt
she can spend the time and money to set up a quarantine tank.To me quarantining
a new fish is Ponder 202
and this is basic ponding we're after.
I bet most of us have never quarantined a new fish and never lost a fish
(raising hand).
That is why I stressed a good pet store, not a feeder fish from PetsMart.

Anyway Kristen, if it would break your heart to lose the existing fish, don't
add another, even though I'm betting it would be just fine. There is water
gardening and then there is fish keeping, which don't always get along ;-)



k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

Yet another voice, Kirsten! Don't add another fish
until you figure out what you want to do with the zillion
babies that will show up! I would definitely leave well
enough alone. Just enjoy the pond for now...

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"jammer" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 11:28:07 -0400, "k conover"
wrote:

Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish. To me he
appears to be a large goldfish, not a koi--is there any easy way to
differentiate? He's all orange. The owner that sold me the house said
that he was here 4 years ago when HE bought the house. The pond is
chock
full of plants, and lots of green slimy stuff and some small lily pads.
It
does have some sort of filter. I realize that I should probably clean it
out a bit, and I'm going to remove floating debris to start, but I'm kind
of
thinking, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He's been here for years,
doing well (the former owner rarely fed him--I'm sure he's been chewing
on
the plants and bugs) so I don't want to go in and clean out the pond and
shock his system. I would like to introduce a buddy for him though.
My problem is that I feel that I must give this little guy a good
environment, but at the same time I am overwhelmed with all the things
that
need to be done to my "fixer-upper" so I don't have tons of time to
devote
to this project. Like I said, he's been doing fine so far, but I would
like to make his life a little better. Advice?
Thanks in advance.
Kirsten

Clean the filter, do a partial water change and let it be, then! if
you have a shop vac, maybe clean some of the much out of the bottom.

Yes, Nedra is right on that account. If your fish is female and you buy another
female fish, someone is going to change sex and they will breed and attempt to
take over the world ;-)
(So far the scientific community hasn't figured this out, but we ponders KNOW
this happens!)

k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

Kirsten,

The way I see it, you'll have plenty to keep you occupied with the house you
bought without having to worry about the fish and pond at the same time!

Here's my suggestion: Until next spring, don't worry about doing much to
the pond except for removing the floating debris and cleaning the filter.
From the sound of it, the fish (whatever it is) is a pretty tough cookie!

As for a buddy for your fish, you can be the best buddy it ever had! At
least for the time being. Adding more fish is likely to add more
complication to your life, and I'm guessing you don't really need that right
now.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC

"k conover" wrote in message
...
Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish. To me he
appears to be a large goldfish, not a koi--is there any easy way to
differentiate? He's all orange. The owner that sold me the house said
that he was here 4 years ago when HE bought the house. The pond is chock
full of plants, and lots of green slimy stuff and some small lily pads.
It
does have some sort of filter. I realize that I should probably clean it
out a bit, and I'm going to remove floating debris to start, but I'm kind
of
thinking, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." He's been here for years,
doing well (the former owner rarely fed him--I'm sure he's been chewing on
the plants and bugs) so I don't want to go in and clean out the pond and
shock his system. I would like to introduce a buddy for him though.
My problem is that I feel that I must give this little guy a good
environment, but at the same time I am overwhelmed with all the things
that
need to be done to my "fixer-upper" so I don't have tons of time to devote
to this project. Like I said, he's been doing fine so far, but I would
like to make his life a little better. Advice?
Thanks in advance.
Kirsten

Bern, he looks to be no more than 4" across--I don't see any whiskers, but I
may net him for a second to get a better look at him...could a goldfish have
lived in this pond for 4 years plus?
Kirsten
"Bern Muller" wrote in message
...

"k conover" wrote in message
...
Hi, I recently bought a 1923 bungalow in Atlanta, and I inherited a
small
pond (about 4 feet across, maybe 2-3 feet deep) with one fish.

Congratulations! You will find ponding to be very rewarding, and can be
done
with as little or as much time investment as you want.

I would like to know about how big your fish is, in inches long. If you
get
another one, and I suggest waiting until you figure out how you will be
managing the pond, it should be roughly matched in size to the original.