I think you took my post a wee bit out of context ... for one, I said I would pity the poor soul dumb enough (kiss back good bye) and closed with saying I thought someone could do it for around $0.50 gallon ....
Koi at Petsmart?
- Thread starter Jason
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Actually I hand-dug mine and shopped around for good deals when I could, and I still think I'm at nearly $1 a gallon for my pond. And that was just the first year... I have continued to buy new plants to add, plus of course there is the labor involved in just keeping it up every year... Yeah, ponds are expensive.
HTH
Howard
You can spend an endless amount of money on building a pond. But once you get past the liner there is a lot of variation. I do not think anyone here would scoff at a money saving idea. I pinch pennies all the time because the more I save the more I can do.
Actually I hand dug my 5000 gallon pond here in Illinois and loved every minute of the 2 months it took me (part of that time was taken up by digging and chopping the big oak tree stump in the middle of it) Loved it---but I'm a 4th generation (Ex)-coalminer and digging kinda runs in the veins, LOL. I lost count (on purpose) at $2000.00 on the materials, thats not counting the fish and I already had all the big Boulders to put around mine (thanks to my Grandpa Probst who was a bigger Rock hound than even me)--the smaller muskmellon sized and fist sized rock I gathered out of local creeks. I hand built my skippy filter and drove to Tennessee to save money on my Liner and did every trick I could to save money--bought a cheap waterfall pump the first year knowing it wouldnt last long but hopeing it would last long enuff to stretch till more money came in, plants gave to me the first year (thanks Patti and Mr Haus)--things like that can work to get you into a bigger pond--go cheap where you can--improvise where you cant and staying focused on what you want it to be and in the end it will get you there, money or no money--well not quite, LOL it still takes SOME money but if your creative and dont need it to be a Cadillac the first year it can be done. Remember its not about the race its about what the finish line looks like--my finish line looks pretty good to me 3 years later but I've found that once you get into this hobby there really is no finish line when it comes to your pond--your always changing and tweaking. Another thing to remember is that Filtration cost money to install but if you plan it in phases you can save money by installing some now then more later as your fish load increases, I have my Skippy filter behind the waterfall and some passive in-pond bog areas with plants and this Summer I plan on installing a large bog beside the pond--everything I do is planned to stretch the dollars invested over a number of months or years, since I'm a tighta$$, LOL. As far as your original question all my fish came from petsmart or Walmart except for my albino catfish which came by fishfarm tanktruck to a local farm store. I'm happy with all my fish even the little 25 cent feeder goldfish which have grown into some nice looking 4 and 5 inchers in the last 2 years.The only 2 words of caution I would say is take fishins advise on quarintine(nobody wants to loose 100s or 1000s of dollars in established fish because of 1 sick walmart or petsmart fish) and if you decide to get albino catfish for your pond realize they are aggressive so have a lot of pond so the koi and goldfish have room to stay away from them when their feeling like a bully( its a seasonal thing) and ALWAYS buy them small so they grow up with the goldfish and koi--that way they get pushy with them sometimes but they dont eat them, LOL
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I actually started getting into ponds from my uncle as he has a nice 5,000 gallon Moat Pond with a few koi in it that are around 2ft long, I have a VERY small back yard and is congested with a Raised 14x14' Porch and two raised boardwalks is part of the reason I went with a small pond for now (And Practice) so if the Koi get too big over the year or two, I can simply put them in my Uncles pond until I build my 5,000 Gallon. I have learned a lot from you over the year I have been a member on here, but my most of my learning has come from trial and error and what works best for my environment here in Florida, example: (I was ok with building my pond just short of 2ft since my winters get only 34 Degrees and my summers are very hot 100+ degrees so My pond is under a light canopy of trees and the pond bottom and edges are covered in White Egg Rock so the sun does not bake the water when it does shine on the pond) I understand the concerns Capewind for me having koi and are up to the challenge and have a back up plan if i can't handle them when they get big.
HARO
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Jason; not meaning to be smart-ass about this, but you might as well go ahead and clean those bio-balls! You do NOT have a bio-filter in that 2.5-gallon combo;, but merely a particle filter.Jason said:
Your bio-balls are probably covered in sludge, and only a few beneficial bacteria have managed to avoid suffocation. Your bio-filtration consists of the pond liner and any relatively clean surface in the pond. Bacteria need fresh, oxygenated water to survive, and no combo-filter I have ever seen can provide them with that environment!
John
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I
Yeah I get what you mean, I thought the same thing when I opened it and only saw 15 bio balls lol, but actually the water goes through the large debri pad then fine debri pad then bio balls the back up through a 13w UV light to the pond and when i cleaned the filter and dumped the bio balls on my net there were no sludge on them but there was some kind of build up on the sides of every little "Spike" on the balls themselves, I have not rinse them since I connected the Filter, either way it works just fine for my pond and Waaayyyyy better the the Foam prefilter I had did :helm2:HARO said:
Neo
Nick
I'm guessing You are talking about something like this:HARO said:
My current "bio" filter that I am seriously reconsidering at the moment.
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Close but UV unit is Built In like thisNeo said:I'm guessing You are talking about something like this:biofilter.jpg
My current "bio" filter that I am seriously reconsidering at the moment.
mariobrothersleeve
squirrel
Please dont buy those pressured canister filters. Just get a stand alone uv sterlizer. Emperior uv is awesome btw. It seems those filters just dump back with and dont offer alot besides loss of money. Thats my 2 cents
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Well it was $50 on E-bay and has great user reviews for small ponds, Every week when I clean the pads, they are HEAVY and filled with black muck (Guess the Mech Filtration works) and my pond has very high flow of 4 times over an hour and NO ALGAE at all either. So yes, I doubt the bio balls work since there is not enough and water flow is too high, but the UV and Mechanical filtration work just fine! I had a 250gallon pond when I first joined here, and after the 2nd month of it up and running with 5, 2'' goldfish, there was algae growing from the falls and muck build up covering the rocks and I had a small foam prefilter that did collect, just not enough lol, so this is a big step up and IS what works for me just like you all have what works best for your pond in your region. When I build my 5,000 Gallon pond, My filtration will most likely be 55 gallon drums for Mech, Bio, and settlement then to a monstrous UV back to the pond, but for right now, I am happy, thanks for the helpmariobrothersleeve said:
Interesting ... only a 450 gallon pond, you clean the filter WEEKLY, and its heavy with muck? My actual concern is that you have so much muck with frequent cleanings??? I am not a huge fan of the canister filters, but do have a few laying around (removed for others), and even one running with a HUGE load, and it isnt very dirty at all with MONTHLY cleanings (if not closer to two months between cleanings) ... water is spotless/crystal clear to the bottom, tests dead on, etc... I know your pond isnt that old, so wondering why so much?
Mmathis
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CW, I think Jason recently added a few koi to the mixcapewind said:
, if that would make a difference? My thoughts, too. Check out his other post re 30% water changes.
I know I and a number of my friends could dig a 5000 gallon pond in a day without much trouble unless the soil was awful. My friends and I can shovel about around 4 cubic yards of mulch an hour all day every day. That's a huge roofing dumpster full in 5 hours. Sure dirt is heavier but I feel sorry for the person who can't do it.....
Sorry, couldnt resist.
My pond has cost me about 50 cents a gallon IF, and thats a big IF, I count only the things I currently use for my pond, and do not count all the stupid junk I wasted money on, like canister filters and do it yourself stuff I ended up not liking from Lowes or Home Depot. That's why I sometimes tell people to do it right the first time.
Actually it cost ME way less than that becuase I got the liner and pump as gifts.
Sorry, couldnt resist.
My pond has cost me about 50 cents a gallon IF, and thats a big IF, I count only the things I currently use for my pond, and do not count all the stupid junk I wasted money on, like canister filters and do it yourself stuff I ended up not liking from Lowes or Home Depot. That's why I sometimes tell people to do it right the first time.
Actually it cost ME way less than that becuase I got the liner and pump as gifts.
HTH
Howard
The more you do DIY the better you get at it. That is true for most people others don;t have the knack and should not attempt it.