Help with Garden Koi pond!

[Lynnette murray]

HI all! My name is Lynnette Murray and I am from Marietta, GA. One of the reasons I bought my house about 5 yrs ago was because of the beautiful back yard oasis it has. We have about a 3000 gallon garden koi pond with a 20 ft rock waterfall that the previous owner installed. My husband was always in charge of the maintenance surrounding the koi pond. This year due to a divorce I have been forced to learn how to clean and maintain the pond myself. Which I don't mind except that I have a lot to learn. In the 5 yrs that we have lived here we have never had to test the ph level of water. The fish have always been healthy and happy. We only have 2 big koi and one big goldfish. Once opening up the pond after this winter my pump is having a hard time keeping up. It makes a weird noise until I clean out the skimmer basket which I have been doing daily. I have the Patriot Koi Pond Pump KP8000 - 8000 GPH Koi Pond & Waterfall Pump with Matala green filter pad in front of pump. I also I have a bag of bio balls on top of the water fall. After about 2-3 weeks of daily cleaning I decided to pay someone to pump the water out and give it a good cleanup which they are currently doing right now. I am hoping this doesn't mess with the ph level of water much and that I can start to continue to maintain on my own. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[JRS]

Welcome Lynette!

What does this "good cleanup" entail? The established biological processes in the pond as well as water parameters as you mentioned can change after an overly thorough cleaning; which may not always be needed. For example, cleaning the short algae growing on the liner. If you have a lot of debris clogging the pump, it is good to get that out of there.

 

[j.w]

@Lynnette murray

 

[Lynnette murray]

Welcome Lynette!

What does this "good cleanup" entail? The established biological processes in the pond as well as water parameters as you mentioned can change after an overly thorough cleaning; which may not always be needed. For example, cleaning the short algae growing on the liner. If you have a lot of debris clogging the pump, it is good to get that out of there.

 

[Lynnette murray]

Thank you for your reply. So I had the pond drained and power washed all the rocks and heavy debris from the bottom of pond. Also all filters were cleaned out. Our pond vacuum stopped working two years ago so the debris and much was out of control. I added De-chlorinator but am a little concerned that I messed with the natural bacteria. I have bog filtration on both sides of pond as well as bio balls on top of water fall and Matala media filter in front of the skimmer basket. Should I buy some kind of pl bacteria to add to filter?

 

[brokensword]

Thank you for your reply. So I had the pond drained and power washed all the rocks and heavy debris from the bottom of pond. Also all filters wereOur pond vacuum stopped working two years ago so the debris and much was out of control. I added De-chlorinator but am a little concerned that I messed with the natural bacteria. I have bog filtration on both sides of pond as well as bio balls on top of water fall and Matala media filter in front of the skimmer basket. Should I buy some kind of pl bacteria to add to filter?

the powerwash didn't do you any favors; you'll be entering NPS (new pond syndrome) and that means parameters have to be re-established. Also means you'll probably get free-floating algae for a bit, too. In the future, don't do the powerwashing. A simple netting of any debris on the bottom would have sufficed. Your bog filtration will certainly help you get back to normal quicker, though. Don't feed your fish much for a bit, add some plants (floaters like water hyacinth and water lettuce), and wait. The fish might eat at these, so you might need to protect them with a floating net until your pond is re-established. You WANT that green algae on the sides and submerged structures. The fish nibble at it when they're not being fed by humans. It also helps keep the free floating algae at bay, too.

As long as your bog was filled and not touched by the cleaning, you should already have all the bacteria you need. And in time, Nature will provide that too.

 

[Lynnette murray]

Good to know for the future! So no need to add anything other than de-chlorinated? Thanks for your help.

 

[poconojoe]

I wish you would have come here first, before sanitizing your pond.
Ponds are not meant to be hospital clean.

Besides all the beneficial bacteria, many microorganisms live in there and they are also beneficial to the pond's ecosystem.

Keep power washers away from your pond.
You killed off all the beneficial bacteria and microorganisms by doing that.
Never empty and scrub your pond.
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but we get this all the time.
It's not your fault. You weren't knowledgeable and did what you thought was best.
Try perusing through this forum to get a better education so you can properly manage your pond.

 

[poconojoe]

Good to know for the future! So no need to add anything other than de-chlorinated? Thanks for your help.

Only dechlorinator, no other chemicals please. Especially stay away from algecides, no matter what they say about being fish safe. Too many horror stories about that stuff.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

Good advice up there^^^ Best to get a pool net and just scoop out what you can.

 

[Lynnette murray]

Now I know...I too wish I would have asked before having it cleaned. I was just having so many problems with my filters keeping up. I was literally cleaning out all filters every day for a couple weeks. So they at least did add some of the original water back in to the pond. And they mostly power washed the rocks on water fall and in front of filter. They did not power wash all of the pond. They left about half the pond where all water lilies are untouched. Praying I didn’t screw things up too badly.

 

[poconojoe]

Now I know...I too wish I would have asked before having it cleaned. I was just having so many problems with my filters keeping up. I was literally cleaning out all filters every day for a couple weeks. So they at least did add some of the original water back in to the pond. And they mostly power washed the rocks on water fall and in front of filter. They did not power wash all of the pond. They left about half the pond where all water lilies are untouched. Praying I didn’t screw things up too badly.

Oh, that's good!
Half the water is good. A lot of the beneficial stuff is still there and it should all recoup quickly.
And not power washing the whole pond. That's good too.

Let's talk about your fitration.
Not sure what you have from your description. Sounds like just a bio falls type setup. If so, I think you need more filtration. Koi produce a lot of waste. Plus, they keep growing, compounding the problem.
Can you give more details or pictures of your filter?

Your pump seems quite adequate, so I think you're good there.

We'll get you up to par...don't worry.

Note that things like this take time, so patience is important.

 

[brokensword]

Oh, that's good!
Half the water is good. A lot of the beneficial stuff is still there and it should all recoup quickly.
And not power washing the whole pond. That's good too.

Let's talk about your fitration.
Not sure what you have from your description. Sounds like just a bio falls type setup. If so, I think you need more filtration. Koi produce a lot of waste. Plus, they keep growing, compounding the problem.
Can you give more details or pictures of your filter?

Your pump seems quite adequate, so I think you're good there.

We'll get you up to par...don't worry.

Note that things like this take time, so patience is important.

she states she has bog filtratiion, both sides; shouldn't even need to bother with the Matala, imo.

 

[brokensword]

Now I know...I too wish I would have asked before having it cleaned. I was just having so many problems with my filters keeping up. I was literally cleaning out all filters every day for a couple weeks. So they at least did add some of the original water back in to the pond. And they mostly power washed the rocks on water fall and in front of filter. They did not power wash all of the pond. They left about half the pond where all water lilies are untouched. Praying I didn’t screw things up too badly.

what size and design are your bog filters? They should be enough such that you don't need the Matala. Perhaps you just needed the fall cleanup (manually, with a net)? Most here with bogs don't use any other filter.

 

[poconojoe]

she states she has bog filtratiion, both sides; shouldn't even need to bother with the Matala, imo.

Oh, sorry, I must have missed that!
Filtration should be good then!