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[jsbfmiller]

Im in the middle of setting up my new koi pond I dug it out by my self with a shovel. Its 20 ft long x 12 ft wide. The deepest section is 4 ft deep. The rest is 3 ft deep. I have ledges about 1 ft deep for plants. I have a 3600 gph pump and a large bio filter rated for ponds up to 7600 gallons and a 36 watt uv light. I will have a large water fall. I am using 2 16 in weirs to make the spillway for the falls. I will be using large flag stone for the falls. Not sure what rock ill be using for the rest of the pond yet, still looking. Im getting a pergola put in next to my pond. Its 10x12 and im putting in 2 post on the other side of the pond so my wisteria can grow overthe pond. For shade. If I can get my pictures to work I will post some. Im in moore oklahoma

 

[fishin4cars]

welcome aboard, Sounds like a very nice pond in the making. By your measurements it appears your pond will be in the 6000 gallon range, give or take. The pump choice is a little small, Most will recommend a turn over rate in a pond at 1-1.5 times per hour. So the pump or pumps should have a combined flow rate of about 6000-9000gph. Keep in mind just because the pump says 3600gph does not mean you will pump that much water head pressure needs to be taken into consideration along with pipe restrictions and length of pipe that the water has to flow through from the pump to the water fall, all of these can and do reduce flow rates so in all actuality your probably going to need more in the 10,000 gph range to obtain that flow rate in your pond. Also you don't mention use of a skimmer, in a pond this size I highly recommend using 1 if not two skimmers, This tremendously cuts down on overall maintenance, requiring only cleaning out the skimmer basket of leaves and larger debris that get in the pond and allows the filter to work better at breaking down fish waste. Not maintenance free, there is no such thing but 5-10 minutes a day versus cleaning a nasty filter more often than you should and that can cause the pond to not balance correctly.

 

[jsbfmiller]

I will be getting a skimmer system going just not sure what to get yet. And i will look into buying another pump along with the 3600 gph, I was looking at another one that is 5500 gph but I will keep looking. I also thought about making a a bio filter to work with my other one I bought. I have a 120 gallon plastic trough from tractor supply. Its fish safe. I wanted to fill it with water hyacinths. bio balls and some other filter media.

 

[fishin4cars]

Be sure and check out the DYI section, lot of great ideas there and some simple builds that are very effective and cost far less to build than anything across the counter.
two good companies that make skimmers I like, Atlantic and Savio, Savio has really nice pre-filters, they do a bang up job at removing larger waste, they cost more but they are tough! and they work like a dream, don't consider the compact, you will need the full size one as the compact is olny good for about 2700gph flow rate max. the atlantic goes by the # you'll be wanting to look at about a 6000 series or slightly larger, larger is better, The larger it is the less noise they produce from the pump and the more effective they clean.

 

[blessedfamily]

Welcome your pond sounds really nice..can't wait to see it.

 

[okiee]

Im in Moore Oklahoma as well! Welcome!

 

[jsbfmiller]

fishin4cars I think I will run a diy bio filter instead of the store bought one. I can use alot more filter media and other things that would work better in the long run. And I cant put water hyacinth in a store bought bio filter. Im going to use the 125 gallon tub from tractor supply. Thank you for the info. And ty blessedfamily and okiee

 

[sissy]

hi jsb and thats some setup hope you share as your doing it all .It would be fun to watch the progress.You should double check the wisteria ,love them I have one .But they are rather messy when it comes to shedding flowers and leaves .I 'm not sure how safe they are for fish either .Maybe someone knows here and can answer that .

 

[j.w]

jsbfmiller

 

[jsbfmiller]

sissy I didnt think about the blooms falling into the water. Im sure my skimmer would take care of them. But I might just go with plain ivy it would look good too. I'll just put the wisteria on my pergola. And if I could get my pictures to load I would share the pics of everything coming togethar. But I take them with my iphone then email them to my computer to be saved. But when I load them on here it says file cant be found. So I dont know what to do

 

[sissy]

I know someone else had that problem also and his 13 year old son figured it out LOL.I know my wisteria is messy and I just cut it back because it is over a bridge I built .They really get out of control fast sorry about the 4x4 leaned it there to take it some where else forgot it was there

 

[jsbfmiller]

it looks good. I wish I could put a bridge over mine. But it would have to be over 12 ft long

 

[sissy]

you can easly build one that big I built one that was just about 20 feet .It was 20 ft. but we had to cut the ends off for it to fit next to the paths it was running into .You just need to double up the side beams and build it with 3 sets of beams under it for extra stability gosh I used 4 and my son can ride his quad over it .He shouldn't but he does .We built it over a creek so him and his wife could cross over to get to her moms house .We used 2x12's

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the group! do you have herons there? the plant shelves will make a great place for them to stand and eat your fishies.

By rock for the rest of the pond, you are talking of around the edges. Bottom rock just makes a mess of your water.

Nice depth to keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Like sissy says, watch what plant you have go over your pond, ones that drop a lot of stuff will be a night mare to you down the road.

 

[jsbfmiller]

I don't have any herons here. I'm glad. I do have my neighbors cats but my dogs do a good job at keeping them away. And yea the rocks I need are the ones to go around the top of the liner. I have some to put around the levels in the water but those are river skippers and river pancakes.