Inherited a Large Koi/Goldfish Pond

[Dhub]

Greetings all,

My Wife and I just closed on our first home, and it has a rather large Koi pond in the back yard. Pond is about 20 ft long x 8 feet wide and currently is about 3.5 ft deep, but has room for more water. lots of plant growth around the edges and even in the water (lilies). there are between 60-70 fish and one turtle.

pond has two sump well water falls at either end.

i am completely new to pond owner ship but i am trying to hit the ground running. i have already had to make repairs to the system because of broken pipes. next step is to replace the UV clarifer because the old one died. (i was just going to get a new bulb but the plastic housing has started to break down.)

Any way, i look forward to learning from everyone.

Thanks,

David

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome Dave. Photos please.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Welcome to the group!

I second the request for pictures

 

[tbendl]

I 3rd.

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome aboard! Sounds like you are off to a good start

 

[Priscilla]

Welcome! 60 to 7o fish! Wow! Must see pictures!

 

[sissy]

welcome .I may be a dummy but what is a sump pump well water fall .Are they using sump pumps because they are not made to run 24/7 .OIr are they using sump pump vaults .I bought my u.v.s off of ebay at topdog seller less than 35 dollars for an 18 watt and it came with an extra bulb and also bought extra bulbs from cll pets 2 for less than 6 dollars ,free shipping also

 

[Dhub]

 

[Dhub]

Ok sorry for the delay, but above are some pictures of our Pond. I also included a picture of one of the pumps, because i climbed in the other day to pull it up and look at it.

I bought a clarifier online that should be arriving today. (Although our water isn't really green it is more of a brown color.) after reading some of the other posts here i am wondering if it might be just floating debri? I think I may try using the some quilting pad to help filter it out a little more.

 

[Dhub]

Oh i think i should also stat the the picture above of the waterfall sump (not sure if that is the right term) was the one on the right side of the pond. when we moved in the owner told us we had to clean it out before we could run it or it would kill the fish, The picture was the before picture, and let me just say for the record it was pretty disgusting. also i am annoyed at the previous owner for not telling us that the water line to it was broken or that the clarifier also didn't work. (Honestly i am more annoyed at myself for not learning more prior to purchase: hindsight....)


We are lucky though because we have a Pond supply store about 20 miles away called Water Garden Gems. We stopped by and talked to the owner and he was super helpful in giving us a quick crash course.

We are currently adding some live enzymes to the water weekly to help deal with the muck issue.

After climbing in last week i am thinking about climbing in again and removing some large rocks i learned are on the bottom of the pond. Does anyone have any thoughts on rocks on the bottom of the pond? some of my preliminary reading suggests that it is bad and encourages foulness.

 

[tbendl]

The muck will need to come out, I bought a net for my pond to net out most of the debris and muck. I'm not familiar with using enzymes to deal with a muck issue but I would assume that even if it kills the muck, it will still end up on the bottom of the pond possibly causing an algae bloom. It has to come out.
You'll find the rock bottom a divided issue, some love it some hate it. I chose not to have any in my pond just for ease of netting, others have found ways to keep the bottom clean with rocks in. Where are you in the US? Your backyard looks similar to mine with the plants and such.
Anyway, welcome to the pond forum.

 

[Dhub]

We are in New Braunfels, Texas which is located between Austin and San Antonio

 

[sissy]

Agree muck will need taken out but you will have to do that slowly .I have all my water lines inside the pond and also use another pump for the clarifier .It needs to have the water running through it slower to be effective .I have a small pump that runs both of mine .

 

[tbendl]

We are in New Braunfels, Texas which is located between Austin and San Antonio

I used to live in Canyon Lake and still have friends in New Braunfels. Welcome!