Koi Pond Plans ..... any suggestions..?
Been doing some (not a lot) research, and trying to get the plan
together. Wish I had one of those neat programs that would enable
me to draw this more as I have envisioned, but drew this quickie up
in ms paint to give the fam and those involved an idea of what it's
going to be. I hope to have some shelved areas here and there for
some aquatic plants, but just where, etc. will be determined later.
It seems I've read that koi will eat some aquatic plants, so need to
research that further, or open to any suggestions concerning any
part of this project.
together. Wish I had one of those neat programs that would enable
me to draw this more as I have envisioned, but drew this quickie up
in ms paint to give the fam and those involved an idea of what it's
going to be. I hope to have some shelved areas here and there for
some aquatic plants, but just where, etc. will be determined later.
It seems I've read that koi will eat some aquatic plants, so need to
research that further, or open to any suggestions concerning any
part of this project.
0
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My only suggestion is to never put a coi pond near any body of water.
Ben0 -
You could have a small marsh area with peat or other mating plant and other plants mixed in, this could also be used as a water filter by putting the circulation pump so that the water must flow through the marsh,the peat will filter your water and keep the fish away from your plants. 0 -
Thanks for the tips, will keep these in mind. 0 -
If you live in an area that gets cold in the winter, you min depth need to be about 3-4 ft to over winter them. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by AHansen
If you live in an area that gets cold in the winter, you min depth need to be about 3-4 ft to over winter them.
pond will be about 5,000gal, being about 1dt. deep on the shollow end
and 8ft. deep end. I plan on having some stock tank heaters in it, and
leaving the sprinklers running most the time, so hopefully freezing
will not be a problem. There will also be a low 2 strand elec fence
surrounding all critter access points0 -
I have nothing to add, but I'd be very interested to see what comes out of it [:D] 0 -
take me seriously. The biggest "critter access point" is above it. I knew a guy that spent a couple of thousand on koi, only to have them cleaned out by blue herons within a couple of weeks.
Ben0 -
I know that most pond fish slow down on eating at about 54 degrees. Heating the pond might get expensive in the winter. Koi over winter very good. 0 -
I also think you should look into using marsh plants and emergents to run the return water from the filter through. They will use much of the amonia/sulfite/sulfate the koi produce. Herons may well be a problem in your location. If you leave the fountains running you will have to use heaters to avoid super-cooling the water. A pump that circulates the water to the surface for areation without breaking the surface tenion will not super-cool. The heaters probably would not be needed at all then. Also plan on adding some mosquito fish to keep the pond from becoming a mosquito factory. What are you lining the bottome with? Soil? Concrete? Surely not plastic membrane, with a gazebo standing in the middle. How will you keep the gazebo from slowly settling into the sunse uh, pond? There are a number of good books on building outdoor ponds, though in my experience few of them address filtration adequately, After years of running aquatic exhibits I have developed some pretty strong ideas about how best to handle filtration for a variety of aquatic formats. 0 -
Hope ya dont live near a bunch of raccoons, they will raid ya pond.. 0 -
Blue Heron are somewhat common here, but they hang in the creeks
around here. They seem a bit leary, and don't think they'll want to
be coming right around the house.
While sitting here pondering this project I schemed up this elaborate
pump/filtration system, then my three watt light bulb came on.[;)]
An ebay search of "pond filters" provided much.[:)]
I had considered skeets, and will have to research what balance/breeds
I'll need for this size pond.
This is situated on a fairly steep bank, and the pond will only be
maybe 20-25ft long. I will sit the gazebo on concrete pillars on the
deep end, with floor and bridge being level with the porch.
I haven't decided if I'm going to try and just leave it clay bottomed
or rob a bank and try to line it.[;)]
With the pond being no bigger than it is, the gazebo, bridge, and ramp
will take up a goodly portion of the surface area, so there won't be
a lot of room for something to swoop in, per se'.
As said, this is situated on a fairly steep and not wheelchair friendly
front yard, and I'm mainly doing this to expand my outdoor territoty
some. Probably best bang for the buck as far as property value goes too.[:)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Classic095
Hope ya dont live near a bunch of raccoons, they will raid ya pond..
Coon are abundant here, thus the elec. fence.0 -
Spryor here are some of the useful sites I keep book marked for aquatic supplies: http://www.thatpetplace.com/
http://tinyurl.com/2aqhkf
http://www.aquabid.com/
http://www.ahsupply.com/
http://www.azgardens.com/index.php
http://www.genhydro.com/
http://www.lgpc.com/
http://www.aquariumsystems.com/Index.htm
http://www.savko.com/index.asp
http://www.seachem.com/0 -
Thank ya, sir. A lot of usefull input on this thread. Thanks all.
Steve0 -
quote:Originally posted by Classic095
Hope ya dont live near a bunch of raccoons, they will raid ya pond..
+1 make it real deep![:D] coons hate that here.0 -
quote:Originally posted by fishermanben
take me seriously. The biggest "critter access point" is above it. I knew a guy that spent a couple of thousand on koi, only to have them cleaned out by blue herons within a couple of weeks.
Ben
Yep.
The only way my friend could keep his koi alive was to have netting instaled above the pond to keep the blue herons out.0
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