Help! - Inherited pond out of control

Gosh, I'm glad I found this newsgroup.

I have been wrestling with a pond for a couple
of years now. (+ a year or so ago I took on
some koi for a friend.)

runonsentence
It is such a struggle to clean the biofilter,
(rocks and pea gravel), super-mucky mucky mucky bottom,
the hoses for the falls clog up or leak weekly,
(the water is pumped by two pumps, I added one last year,
and it splits to the biofilter and then to a set of
hoses, see pictures), http://www.keoughnet.com/pond/,
there is rampant plant growth in and around the pond,
have to add water periodically with dechlorinator.
/runonsentence

I don't know if it's even habitable(sp?) to the fish,
although they seem fairly happy.
There were koi in it right before I inherited it's care.

I want to tear it down and rebuild it possible using
a more user-friendly filtering system and container-plants,
maybe more zen-style.

Any suggestions out there? I searched this group
and found a few posts on rebuilding, temporary holding tanks, etc.

I am just lost and frustrated with it. I want to give the fish
and the pond the love they deserve!

Thanks!

Are those garden hoses connecting things? That's got to be a huge part of
the initial problems. Chuck those and replace your plumbing with more
substantial hose -- larger diameter and beefier kink-free stuff. You should
also use real plumbing connections -- either slip (glued) or screwed
together using teflon tape to get a good seal.

What size pump are you running and where is it located?

It's very hard to tell what's going on with your filter from the pix. Is
that an oversize wash sink? What's inside of it? How is it set up?

Looks like a relatively small pond, so it shouldn't be a major problem to
upgrade a few of the components and achieve something worthwhile.

"lu" wrote in message
om...
Gosh, I'm glad I found this newsgroup.

I have been wrestling with a pond for a couple
of years now. (+ a year or so ago I took on
some koi for a friend.)

runonsentence
It is such a struggle to clean the biofilter,
(rocks and pea gravel), super-mucky mucky mucky bottom,
the hoses for the falls clog up or leak weekly,
(the water is pumped by two pumps, I added one last year,
and it splits to the biofilter and then to a set of
hoses, see pictures), http://www.keoughnet.com/pond/,
there is rampant plant growth in and around the pond,
have to add water periodically with dechlorinator.
/runonsentence

I don't know if it's even habitable(sp?) to the fish,
although they seem fairly happy.
There were koi in it right before I inherited it's care.

I want to tear it down and rebuild it possible using
a more user-friendly filtering system and container-plants,
maybe more zen-style.

Any suggestions out there? I searched this group
and found a few posts on rebuilding, temporary holding tanks, etc.

I am just lost and frustrated with it. I want to give the fish
and the pond the love they deserve!

Thanks!

lu wrote Gosh, I'm glad I found this newsgroup.

We're glad you found us!

Let's start at the beginning ~

How many gallons do you think the pond is?
And if you're not sure what size is it, how
many feet wide from side to side and how
deep? One of our mathmatically inclined posters
can figure out the gallons from those measurements.
I think you might have too many fish in there from one of
the pictures but it is hard to tell. We recommend 1,000 gallons to start with
and 100 for each koi after that. Goldfish should have between 20 to 40 gallons
per fish.

Has it ever been cleaned? As in drained and all the slurry
sludge at the bottom taken out? Doesn't sound like it and there is a way to do
it properly. The sludge makes great fertilizer!
Where do your pumps sit?
On the bottom? Or up on a brick? Pump sizes as in gallons per hour and the
sizes of your hoses and what are them made out of? Are they clear or opaque?

Your plants looks great and plants are important for fish health. Many of us
filter our ponds via plants alone. There are tests available at the petstore to
help keep an eye on the water quality. Watch for expiration dates on test kits.
Post the exact numbers.

Pea gravel and rocks are hard filter media to maintain and need someone with a
fairly strong back to deal with it.
You can do better ;-) Many of us use light weight material such as black vinyl
screening, plastic bio balls, plastic curlers, shredded packing tape. One thing
to be careful of is that the material used hasn't been treated for various
stuff - bad for fish.

We have fish experts here, filter experts, someone to help with each of your
questions. I'm posting general questions for you to start with. Others will
post more specific questions for you to answer and then we can help put
together a solution for you. (It probably won't be me - I'm best at answering
predator and wildlife questions and I have a green water solution primer, but
hopefully I've got you started on getting some good info for our experts ;-)


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

get a large water trough like a rubbermaid and put the fish in there with a simple
doityourself gravity filter. fill it with pond water.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/...AVITY%20FILTER
be sure to put bird netting over the top to keep the fish in. use any filter
material in the gravity filter and keep the trough in the shade if possible.
build a formal pond with wood stud walls and a wood deck, construct a veggie filter
along one side.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2000/p2000.htm
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2003/8-2003B.htm
this is the simplist way to have healthy happy koi AND nice plants with the least
amount of work.
this is another formal type pond with decking.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/hopepond/page1/pp1.htm
Ingrid

(lu) wrote:
I want to tear it down and rebuild it possible using
a more user-friendly filtering system and container-plants,
maybe more zen-style.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Thanks for the quick responses!

Um, pond is approx 10' long, 6 or 7' wide,
1' shelf and up to my upper thighs when
standing in it, 3.5' deep.

I don't even know how many fish are in it.
Possibly 25-30.

Has not been cleaned, at least by me. Two years plus.
Layer of leaves and muck at bottom.

One pump is 1900gph, (other is close, I think )opaque black, sit on
bottom, "y"ing into same hose.
The hoses are 1.5", I think.
This goes to that long white pipe that splits to the "wash basin"
that is the biofilter(rocks) and the garden hoses that make
waterfalls.
I am only using one of the garden hoses as most leak or have to be
cleaned too often.

The biofilter has a layer of rocks at bottom and pea gravel over that.
Often the pea gravel gets past the rocks and clogs opening. Pain
ensues.
And very hard to keep clean. Probably 'cuz there are too many fish.?.

I would like this all to be replaced by a more manageable solution.

Thanks everyone. Great ng. I have cruised a lot of pond sites from
here
and they are wonderful.

Lu


EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote in message ...
lu wrote Gosh, I'm glad I found this newsgroup.

We're glad you found us!

Let's start at the beginning ~

How many gallons do you think the pond is?
And if you're not sure what size is it, how
many feet wide from side to side and how
deep? One of our mathmatically inclined posters
can figure out the gallons from those measurements.
I think you might have too many fish in there from one of
the pictures but it is hard to tell. We recommend 1,000 gallons to start with
and 100 for each koi after that. Goldfish should have between 20 to 40 gallons
per fish.

Has it ever been cleaned? As in drained and all the slurry
sludge at the bottom taken out? Doesn't sound like it and there is a way to do
it properly. The sludge makes great fertilizer!
Where do your pumps sit?
On the bottom? Or up on a brick? Pump sizes as in gallons per hour and the
sizes of your hoses and what are them made out of? Are they clear or opaque?

Your plants looks great and plants are important for fish health. Many of us
filter our ponds via plants alone. There are tests available at the petstore to
help keep an eye on the water quality. Watch for expiration dates on test kits.
Post the exact numbers.

Pea gravel and rocks are hard filter media to maintain and need someone with a
fairly strong back to deal with it.
You can do better ;-) Many of us use light weight material such as black vinyl
screening, plastic bio balls, plastic curlers, shredded packing tape. One thing
to be careful of is that the material used hasn't been treated for various
stuff - bad for fish.

We have fish experts here, filter experts, someone to help with each of your
questions. I'm posting general questions for you to start with. Others will
post more specific questions for you to answer and then we can help put
together a solution for you. (It probably won't be me - I'm best at answering
predator and wildlife questions and I have a green water solution primer, but
hopefully I've got you started on getting some good info for our experts ;-)


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

With the leaves and other muck on the bottom, I would recommend that you use
some Potassium Permanganate in the pond during cleaning to neutrallize the
hydrogen sulfide gas that is probably trapped in the muck. Put in the PP
and stir the bottom to release the gas. Hydrogen sulfide is highly toxic to
the fish. It gives off a rotten egg smell.

The size of the pond is marginal for koi, so if you want to start over, then
try to catch the fish, after cleaning most of the muck off the bottom. You
may need to pump the pond nearly dry to catch some of the fish. Put them in
some form of temporary container with a working filter. You could move the
sink filter to the edge of one of the Wally World inflatable swimming pools.
Then dig and install the liner.

For the number of fish that you say you have, and you didn't give a
breakdown of koi vs. goldfish, you should be looking at a much larger
filter. The rock filters work, but they are nasty to clean, require a
strong back and usually don't get cleaned as often as they should.

Divide the outflow from the pumps so that each will do its thing. If they
are connected with a "Y" then they are fighting each other. If both are the
size that you say they are, then they should be able to handle a pond at
least 4 times as big as your pond. It is a good idea to have the pumps
mounted up off the bottom so that if the plumbing breaks, the pond will not
be drained completely. The fish swim better than they walk.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"lu" wrote in message
om...
Thanks for the quick responses!

Um, pond is approx 10' long, 6 or 7' wide,
1' shelf and up to my upper thighs when
standing in it, 3.5' deep.

I don't even know how many fish are in it.
Possibly 25-30.

Has not been cleaned, at least by me. Two years plus.
Layer of leaves and muck at bottom.

One pump is 1900gph, (other is close, I think )opaque black, sit on
bottom, "y"ing into same hose.
The hoses are 1.5", I think.
This goes to that long white pipe that splits to the "wash basin"
that is the biofilter(rocks) and the garden hoses that make
waterfalls.
I am only using one of the garden hoses as most leak or have to be
cleaned too often.

The biofilter has a layer of rocks at bottom and pea gravel over that.
Often the pea gravel gets past the rocks and clogs opening. Pain
ensues.
And very hard to keep clean. Probably 'cuz there are too many fish.?.

I would like this all to be replaced by a more manageable solution.

Thanks everyone. Great ng. I have cruised a lot of pond sites from
here
and they are wonderful.

Lu


EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote in message
...
lu wrote Gosh, I'm glad I found this newsgroup.

We're glad you found us!

Let's start at the beginning ~

How many gallons do you think the pond is?
And if you're not sure what size is it, how
many feet wide from side to side and how
deep? One of our mathmatically inclined posters
can figure out the gallons from those measurements.
I think you might have too many fish in there from one of
the pictures but it is hard to tell. We recommend 1,000 gallons to start
with
and 100 for each koi after that. Goldfish should have between 20 to 40
gallons
per fish.

Has it ever been cleaned? As in drained and all the slurry
sludge at the bottom taken out? Doesn't sound like it and there is a way
to do
it properly. The sludge makes great fertilizer!
Where do your pumps sit?
On the bottom? Or up on a brick? Pump sizes as in gallons per hour and
the
sizes of your hoses and what are them made out of? Are they clear or
opaque?

Your plants looks great and plants are important for fish health. Many
of us
filter our ponds via plants alone. There are tests available at the
petstore to
help keep an eye on the water quality. Watch for expiration dates on
test kits.
Post the exact numbers.

Pea gravel and rocks are hard filter media to maintain and need someone
with a
fairly strong back to deal with it.
You can do better ;-) Many of us use light weight material such as
black vinyl
screening, plastic bio balls, plastic curlers, shredded packing tape.
One thing
to be careful of is that the material used hasn't been treated for
various
stuff - bad for fish.

We have fish experts here, filter experts, someone to help with each of
your
questions. I'm posting general questions for you to start with. Others
will
post more specific questions for you to answer and then we can help put
together a solution for you. (It probably won't be me - I'm best at
answering
predator and wildlife questions and I have a green water solution
primer, but
hopefully I've got you started on getting some good info for our experts
;-)


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

start by draining the pond, when the water is nearly gone and the fish are almost
flopping then catch the fish easily and move them out.
then clean the pond.
Ingrid

The size of the pond is marginal for koi, so if you want to start over, then
try to catch the fish, after cleaning most of the muck off the bottom. You
may need to pump the pond nearly dry to catch some of the fish.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.