Hello, all,
I will start by apologizing for all of the wrong terminology I will use, dumb questions I will ask, and prideful statements I will make.
We purchased a home with an "in need of work" above ground pond, appx 35' long, 5' wide, and 4' deep. My husband began cleaning and patching, until last spring it was ready to go. Water is sucked into pipe in ground along bottom of pond, to a pump, where it burbles up through a large filtration area with many feet of gravel,. and then over a little dam back in as clean water.
On the other end, a Dayton jet pump pulls water out, up several feet, across a hill via 2" pipe, and down a rock wall with three levels of waterfall.
Last year the filtration side began growing the green webby algae, and I read that as long as you do not allow it to take over you are good. The main pond had none, and the bottom was covered with all types of hiding places I had build for them, to escape the eyes of all types of countryside birds and beasts.
We began with two 4" koi, then a week later, 4 more, etc., until at one point in the late spring there were close to 50 koi and shubunkin. The water is from our well, which is a little hard and alkaline, but consistently the ph stays around 6.5, and there has never been a trace of nitrites, nitrates, or ammonia. The frogs wanted to leave 10 billion babies in the pond last year, and we said, NO. The pond froze at one point the first winter (2013) but everyone is fine. I rarely lose a fish, and when I do, it is just random.
As summer ended in 2013, the algae was creeping into the main pond, but the water was fine. Then my husband passed away suddenly, and I sort of told all of the animals, you need to survive the winter, then we can talk. All fall and winter, I would go to the pond, and barely see an orange flash, which is not easy for 50 fish, but I soon realized they were nestled in the algae.
In spring, my 4" koi had grown a bit, closer to 16", the 2-3" shubunks were not 7-8" and my ponds was full of babies..
The filtration end has tons of wildlife growing, including many 5-6 different varieties of nymphs, bees, while the main pond includes these plus worms, skaters, etc. Happy pond.
My concerns are many, mostly that I do nothing to the water, add no ANYTHING, and now I have some lumpy fish. Also, since I am going only by instinct, who knows if I am the worst pond owner ever.
I will start by apologizing for all of the wrong terminology I will use, dumb questions I will ask, and prideful statements I will make.
We purchased a home with an "in need of work" above ground pond, appx 35' long, 5' wide, and 4' deep. My husband began cleaning and patching, until last spring it was ready to go. Water is sucked into pipe in ground along bottom of pond, to a pump, where it burbles up through a large filtration area with many feet of gravel,. and then over a little dam back in as clean water.
On the other end, a Dayton jet pump pulls water out, up several feet, across a hill via 2" pipe, and down a rock wall with three levels of waterfall.
Last year the filtration side began growing the green webby algae, and I read that as long as you do not allow it to take over you are good. The main pond had none, and the bottom was covered with all types of hiding places I had build for them, to escape the eyes of all types of countryside birds and beasts.
We began with two 4" koi, then a week later, 4 more, etc., until at one point in the late spring there were close to 50 koi and shubunkin. The water is from our well, which is a little hard and alkaline, but consistently the ph stays around 6.5, and there has never been a trace of nitrites, nitrates, or ammonia. The frogs wanted to leave 10 billion babies in the pond last year, and we said, NO. The pond froze at one point the first winter (2013) but everyone is fine. I rarely lose a fish, and when I do, it is just random.
As summer ended in 2013, the algae was creeping into the main pond, but the water was fine. Then my husband passed away suddenly, and I sort of told all of the animals, you need to survive the winter, then we can talk. All fall and winter, I would go to the pond, and barely see an orange flash, which is not easy for 50 fish, but I soon realized they were nestled in the algae.
In spring, my 4" koi had grown a bit, closer to 16", the 2-3" shubunks were not 7-8" and my ponds was full of babies..
The filtration end has tons of wildlife growing, including many 5-6 different varieties of nymphs, bees, while the main pond includes these plus worms, skaters, etc. Happy pond.
My concerns are many, mostly that I do nothing to the water, add no ANYTHING, and now I have some lumpy fish. Also, since I am going only by instinct, who knows if I am the worst pond owner ever.
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