Hello from a frustrated pond owner.

[Fishfinder]

You are 6b per climate zone, same as me.
I don't worry about debris, just herons. So I use a wide weave net high above the
pond surface. Just net out anything that
falls in. Keeps the other critters safe. I don't add any chemicals to our pond.
On my phone a little hard to type back.

Yeah, many years ago, literally days after I bought a large number of koi, a heron came by and had an expensive sushi meal. I don't know how he got them, but he did. We saw him out there. He left us with only 6 and they hid for weeks! I did not think we had any left. I was so very happy to have some left.

As you might be able to see in the photos, there is fishing line strung on bamboo poles around the pond to deter herons. We did that before the new net arrived.

The water is below 53F, so we have stopped feeding the fish. We run the pumps and waterfalls year round have have a heater so that a hole is kept in the ice. Things look a little rough right now. I need to tidy it up when I can.

 

[addy1]

They are great fishers! If given the chance they will wipe put a pond of fish. I used fishing line, the heron dove through it, he was hungry. The net is the only thing that has worked. I have it around 3 feet above the water, draping down on some of the edges the heron can eat from. since I installed it the heron has not come back. It is 5 inch weave net, that way it does not trap any little critters or birds.

 

[Fishfinder]

Five inches? Mine is two and I thought that was too big. Don't you get tons of leaves in the ponds and doesn't your pump get clogged?

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome to the forum fishfinder may I ask why rely on a person to come and do your pond for you especially when you've been let down so often by people who say they are expert but obviously arent .
Why not do things yourself and get down and learn the nitty gritty of pond keeping especially koi get to know your pond get to know what your looking for when it comes to attacks by parasites and disease
I see no fun at all in getting someon to do things for you at all when it comes to fishkeeping , I've yet to come across this sort of thing in the UK and personally I'd be watching them like a hawk if they did this type of service , in saying this however I'm sure there must be good pond cleaning services out there its a question of looking for the right one and asking lots of questions of that service.
It comes down to this if they cant answer your questions quite simply dont employ them.
Come fall you should net your pond to keep out dead leaves make sure your filters are given one last once over before winter and clear out any dead leaves and detritus from the pond .
This will then put you in good stead for the winter months , stop feeding your koi at 10c and dont feed again till the temperature goes up again in the late spring .
Switch off water falls and turn down your airstones for the duration of the winter but remember to on a weekly basis read your water perameters using a devent drop test kit for Ammonia , Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph .
Also make sure you keep a hole open in any ice that may form on your pond by use of one or two heaters and your koi should be fine throughot the winter months .
It would be an idea also to buy a few books on koi so as you know what your doing (feel free to use the list of books from our library to get titles names and ISBN numbers :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/our-fish-koi-health-library-with-reviews-of-each-book.10498/

we hope this helps you some

 

[MitchM]

I would really advocate keeping things simple and doing things yourself.
Over complicating a pond is a sure way for someone ELSE to take your money.

Welcome.

 

[Fishfinder]

Dave 54, thank you for the information. Right now I have no choice to do the work myself since it appears no one I find is trustworthy or competent, except for the guy who is, I guess, occupied with family issues.

It could be fun, looking after my own pond. Fortunately, I think the pond is OK going into the winter. We have stopped feeding the koi but we keep the waterfalls running year round. I was not aware people shut them off. What about oxygen generation? That's why worries me when I see that the GFI has tripped and the pumps have stopped.

We do put a heater in the pond when ice may build up. Thanks for the book suggestions.

 

[Big Lou]

Afternoon Fishfinder.

I feel your pain Fishfinder. Due to my health I cannot get in our 2300 gal pond nor do any heavy lifting but I can do some rudimentary tasks such as scooping out the torrent of leaves beginning to fall. As encouragement to you have a look at what I accomplished this afternoon in only half an hour. I cleared the surface of almost all debris plus scooped about 45% of the bottom. Granted the pond is not completely clean but by next week the surface will again be covered. I do not use a net due to the fine cypress tree needle leaves. Among the three photos is one of my pool leaf net with very long heavy duty extending pole.

Chin up friend!

 

[Fishfinder]

Beautiful pond, Big Lou. Where did you get that net? I can't find a half decent one in garden stores and the one I ordered online arrived ripped. So, it might sound silly, but I took a strainer normally used for food prep right into the pond with me and walked in the pond with the net above my head. Must have looked strange. Hey, whatever works. I'll do whatever I must to keep the pumps working and the fish happy.

 

[Big Lou]

Thanks. Pole and scoop net came from the pool supplies section at Lowes. Pool supply stores will surely have them. Quality is key. The long extension pole is great. I can easily reach the entire pond from two locations. The net quickly empties. Look at our showcase for views of the pond over years - https://www.gardenpondforum.com/showcase/lou-cathys-nature-pond.13/

 

[addy1]

They are around 14 dollars on line. Get one with the scoop edge of plastic, makes it easy to scoop up the leaves. And make sure the net is deep. Some are real shallow.

 

[Fishfinder]

I appreciate all this information. Thanks!

 

[sissy]

If the gfi is tripping it is overloaded and you may need more than 1 breaker for a pond .I use 4 breakers for my pond and all are 20 amps but it was cheap for me since my son was a builder and had an electrical and plumbing license and did it all for me .Sad thing is he moved back to NJ since .You don't want a bad breaker or over heated breaker to cause a fire .If the breaker is loose or feels warm or hot then it needs replaced .Pond heaters can use a lot of electric .It is easier than you think to maintain your pond and once you get started on a routine you will wonder why you paid someone to do it .Plus it can be relaxing

 

[tbendl]

I'm late to the game but welcome Fishfinder! Stick with it, ask a ton of questions and just keep at it, you'll start to feel better the more you understand and hopefully you'll start to enjoy the maintenance on the pond as much as you enjoy relaxing by it. You have a great group of diverse ponders here to give you a ton of information. Just know that there is rarely a right way and a wrong way. Enjoy!

 

[Fishfinder]

^^ Thanks. I went into the pond one more time to remove sunken leaves around the pumps and I managed to shift the very heavy rocks that compose the waterfall. The setup is not conducive for entering the pond - there's fish line strung around the pond and a net over the pond. I think we can do away with the fishing line, since I decided to get a net after the line was put around the pond. It's awkward to get under that fish line and into the pond. I'm afraid I'm not a good planner.

 

[Tula]

Most of us learn through trial and error, so don't be too hard on yourself....and as others have said, there is rarely an absolute right or wrong way to do things.