Alabama Koi Pond Progress

Just showing some of my progress with my pond.

 

Still got alot of smoothing to do before I install the liner, and gonna layer the bottom with sand, and sides with carpet or thick plastic, for added root protection. Also gonna have to raise one of the edges, so the water level is level. Also in the third picture with the rock and gray flower pot, planning on using it as a waterfall, like pouring into the water, might move it to the center of the pond, to distribute aeration better.

 

lookin good....get er done!! keep us posted

 

looks good...how deep is the shallow end

 

wow! Did you dig all that with just those 2 shovels? impressive...

 

It's around 18 inches in the shallow, and about 3 feet in the deep end. Yes, it was all dug by hand. By the way it's finished, just finished it yesterday, I'll post pics as soon as daylight hits in a few hours. I used sand for the bottom, and some plastic around the edges, and yes DD, I plan to put quite a few plants in the shallow area.

Also, that guy in one of the pics is not me, and he looks sort of special, he's not, im not sure why it came out that way, lol.

 

Here it is, sorry i didn't have many pics of the progress, but honestly most of this was done in one day, yesterday. A little more edging, ran out of bricks, little more stone for the waterfall, alot of plants, fish, and should look alright.
I think i did alright for little to no experience, and this being my first pond.
The real test though i guess will be keeping it thriving with plants and fish.

 

alright ... well done!! you do realize you'll never be done with it anyways. so enjoy the work and the pond. and once again, WELL DONE

 

Also, that's about the 4th rebuild on the waterfall. I have the flow and pressure about right. But the water is going other places other than down the main rocks. This time around I placed an extra piece of liner under it, so it's not losing water, but it's not all coming from the one rock. I'll work on it more later. Not using any type of waterfall foam or anything.

Also, I plan to connect the pool gravel with the gravel around the pond, then on the other outer edges of the pond, put a border of mulch then large stones, or landscaping stones. Leave an area, for plants and whatnot.

 

Looks good. Good job. I know how you feel about the waterfall. I do not know how many changes I have made to mine so far and that is only in the past week. Everytime I go out to the pond I see a change I want to make. Some work some don't and I change it back.

 

LOL, is that a red neck joke? I was wondering how long it would be until someone took in the recognition of me living in alabama.

 

Introduced 2 15cent goldfish last night, and they made it through the night, PH has been at a steady 7.5 for the past couple days, is that an ok PH for koi? all the other tests won't really work due to no fish living in it till now.

 

that ph is fine for koi... throw in a old nylon stocking full of crushed oyster shells and it should lock your ph there. put it in a well circulateing area so the water flows thru and around it.

 

What about in my waterfall? under all those rocks is a preform liner, i use for the waterfall, think that spot would be good?

 

as long as there is a good flow of water thru the crushed oyster shells ...fine
i have them in my filter, my ph has not fluctuated from 7.4 in 10 months.

 

Nice, i'll definately look into doing that. I have some questions about when i should introduce koi to my pond. i'm just not too sure when to do it.

So far, PH is good, is there anything else i should test? 2 small goldfish isn't going to give any ammonia reading i wouldn't think after a day. PL gel is coming in a few days, have food already, plants are gonna be introduced tomorrow evening. water has set still for 3-4 days and running pump for 3-4 days, so should i worry to dechlorinate? i went ahead and did a small treatment of dechlor, because it removes some other stuff too, and i didnt see it causes harm to throw it in. 2 small goldfish are pretty lively in it, made it through the night. they are shy, and hiding under rocks, but they are eating and swimming around when we're not out there.

Any more info needed to determine good time to order koi?

Also i know you use pl gel, or know alot about it koiguy, i only got an 8 ounce bottle, can you give me some type of details on applying it? im sure it has instructions on it, but i'd like to get some info from someone personally who has used it.

 

if its been a week dont worry about dechlorinating and if your gelling your filter, put in a few fish the same day. the bacteria will need to eat too! the pl gel is fantastic. it will colonize and build its numbers rather quickly. i can only say, i had 15 4" / 5" koi in my pond in about as many days. and it was only 450 gals at that time. when they went in the basement pond last fall (500 gals) i had 35 to 40... still do and they are all happy healthy,and social. not that im recomending overstocking your pond. they are mostly 10" and up now. and i promised a friend some for his pond if he gets it done. i'll take it down to 20 or 25.