- Joined
- Jul 27, 2020
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Hi,
When we bought our house there was already a pond. If there hadn't been one I really don't think we would have put one in since we have a reef tank and to many other things to keep up with. The pond is about 750+ gallons.
I have always kept it somewhat kind of sterile looking except for when I didn't. At one point it had gotten a bit green (ok, really green) and the new pool guy decided to take care of it for us. Our regular pool service decided to go completely commercial so we went with the one he recommended. The new idiot (I normally don't call people names, but...) decided to dump a jug of chlorine in and put a chlorine tablet on the waterfall. He was hired to only take care of the pool, but I guess he thought he was helping us out. By the time Mike saw him walking back to the pool it was to late. I had 8 koi that I raised from about 2" - 3" to over 8". I still get mad to this day. My poor fishes may they rest in peace. I just hope they died fast and didn't suffer to much, but I doubt it.
After that we just left it empty. Now I want to get it going again so I joined this forum. We were going to wait till fall/winter to make some changes because of all the rain we have, but I want to at least get it going for now. It needs to be repainted, a few hairline cracks patched (not sure if they leak), probably a new filter and possibly redo the plumbing. After reading on here I'm now considering putting a small bog on it. Most likely a preformed one if I can find one I like. I also need to find a small fountain/shower head. We had a nice one, but the wind was always blowing to much water out. Mike put the pvc thing there until I order something that doesn't shoot water up so high
Originally the pond was shallow. Where you see the shelf that was the depth of it. There was also a big bottle brush tree at the end. There was a big root that was growing along the side and was lifting it up. Although it was a beautiful tree I always hated it. Every other day I had to scoop all of the leaves out or the water would be very brown.
One time Mike had to go to California for his 2 weeks reserve training so I decided to do something about the tree. Had it cut down and I started digging the big root out. Since the pond was crooked and needed to be leveled I decided it was time to do something about the depth. What else could I do, but take an axe to it. I chopped out a lot of what I wanted and left the rest. Mike came home and realized he was in for some work. He finished cutting the bottom out with a saw and leveled the pond. He then had to make the bottom and the sides and repaint it. He then built a gazebo at one end since I had taken away all of the shade.
Before there was chatahootchy gravel around the pond with it's matching bridge. Bridge is still there, but I dug out all of the pebbles. What a pain since there wasn't any weed block down and we then put shells all around it. Later we took out some of the shells (thank goodness for weed block) and replaced it with blue glass. There is one section of shells left which I think we will also change to the glass. At the end under the gazebo is where I think we will put a small bog. I'm also thinking of covering the cement edge with some sort of rock, but I'm not sure which kind. I might just put some plants around there to help hide it.
Last week I put a few koi in and a neighbor gave me some plants. Since the picture was taken they have now started to grow upright. I have a few small water lilies that I bought at Lowe's not to long ago. They have been in little plastic tubs growing so I need to pot them up and put them in. This time I want to have more plants than before. I have also read about what people say about koi and pond size. I also had originally planned to put goldfish in, but haven't bought any yet. I need to set up a quarantine tank, since they always have something on them from the pet store and will need to be medicated.
Any suggestions on what else I can do?
When we bought our house there was already a pond. If there hadn't been one I really don't think we would have put one in since we have a reef tank and to many other things to keep up with. The pond is about 750+ gallons.
I have always kept it somewhat kind of sterile looking except for when I didn't. At one point it had gotten a bit green (ok, really green) and the new pool guy decided to take care of it for us. Our regular pool service decided to go completely commercial so we went with the one he recommended. The new idiot (I normally don't call people names, but...) decided to dump a jug of chlorine in and put a chlorine tablet on the waterfall. He was hired to only take care of the pool, but I guess he thought he was helping us out. By the time Mike saw him walking back to the pool it was to late. I had 8 koi that I raised from about 2" - 3" to over 8". I still get mad to this day. My poor fishes may they rest in peace. I just hope they died fast and didn't suffer to much, but I doubt it.
After that we just left it empty. Now I want to get it going again so I joined this forum. We were going to wait till fall/winter to make some changes because of all the rain we have, but I want to at least get it going for now. It needs to be repainted, a few hairline cracks patched (not sure if they leak), probably a new filter and possibly redo the plumbing. After reading on here I'm now considering putting a small bog on it. Most likely a preformed one if I can find one I like. I also need to find a small fountain/shower head. We had a nice one, but the wind was always blowing to much water out. Mike put the pvc thing there until I order something that doesn't shoot water up so high
Originally the pond was shallow. Where you see the shelf that was the depth of it. There was also a big bottle brush tree at the end. There was a big root that was growing along the side and was lifting it up. Although it was a beautiful tree I always hated it. Every other day I had to scoop all of the leaves out or the water would be very brown.
One time Mike had to go to California for his 2 weeks reserve training so I decided to do something about the tree. Had it cut down and I started digging the big root out. Since the pond was crooked and needed to be leveled I decided it was time to do something about the depth. What else could I do, but take an axe to it. I chopped out a lot of what I wanted and left the rest. Mike came home and realized he was in for some work. He finished cutting the bottom out with a saw and leveled the pond. He then had to make the bottom and the sides and repaint it. He then built a gazebo at one end since I had taken away all of the shade.
Before there was chatahootchy gravel around the pond with it's matching bridge. Bridge is still there, but I dug out all of the pebbles. What a pain since there wasn't any weed block down and we then put shells all around it. Later we took out some of the shells (thank goodness for weed block) and replaced it with blue glass. There is one section of shells left which I think we will also change to the glass. At the end under the gazebo is where I think we will put a small bog. I'm also thinking of covering the cement edge with some sort of rock, but I'm not sure which kind. I might just put some plants around there to help hide it.
Last week I put a few koi in and a neighbor gave me some plants. Since the picture was taken they have now started to grow upright. I have a few small water lilies that I bought at Lowe's not to long ago. They have been in little plastic tubs growing so I need to pot them up and put them in. This time I want to have more plants than before. I have also read about what people say about koi and pond size. I also had originally planned to put goldfish in, but haven't bought any yet. I need to set up a quarantine tank, since they always have something on them from the pet store and will need to be medicated.
Any suggestions on what else I can do?
