More planning questions

[jenn.]

Oh and my koi are 2 little babies, 5 small (6-9" koi) and 2 medium (14 - 16" koi) But we also have the 3 goldies, 1 shubinkin and 2 RES turtles.

 

[fishin4cars]

14-16" koi aren't small, they are pond mowers! yea they are eating the roots, the 9" one probably is too. small ones under about 8" rarely mess much with plants but love algae.
I have read that same thing about the UV, From my experience, You not going to kill everything, Now as soon as the water clears you may want to turn it off for a bit and see if it stays clear or if it goes back green. I've seen ponds clear in a day! seriously! Once it's clear do try and let the pond take care of itself and save the UV bulbs life. But I can say without hesitation, Running the UV is not going to kill everything.

 

[sissy]

Still seems like a lot of fish for that size pond .Koi produce a lot of waste and I only feed mine 2 times a week right now and they are not starving for sure .Koi are natural beggars for food .You cut back on feeding your water will clear .

 

[DoDad]

There are two types of UV clarification and sterilization.
Most people use clarification, I use sterilization.
clarification kilss the single cell algae or pea soup.
sterilization does the same but also kills bacteria or bad bacteria.
Your good bacteria is attached to about everything in your pond such as liners inside your filters and plumbing. neither one will kill good bacteria.
I don't have city water to my house so part of my filtration is a UV.

 

[jenn.]

Well the pond is 4,300+ gallons and 5.5 deep, everyone we have talked to said we should be able to support quite a few fish, especially with a monster UV, and filter that can handle up to 10,000 gph. I know feeding to often is an issue but I thought that letting uneaten food sit around was more the issue. Bullet (aka piggy fish) makes sure we never have uneaten food

As for the UV, not sure what we have in that regard. I think it's a sterilizer. It is a 80 Watt Emperor Aquatics. Brand new to UVs as our old ponds didn't have them.

 

[sissy]

you must be building the big pond now .do you have any pics

 

[jenn.]

Oh, that is the pond that has the green water! I will have to work on some pics. We haven't put the bullnose on yet (wanted to be sure that was absolutely gonna hold) and the waterfall is working but needs rocks built up still.

 

[taherrmann4]

Jenn you should start a thread of your pond in the showcase section.

 

[DoDad]

Don't forget that the UV bulb should be changed once a year or around 8700 hours of use. I change mine every May.

 

[jenn.]

I will have to wait till it looks a little prettier to showcase anything but here are some pics I took just now. You can see how foggy the water is I am concerned that it didn't improve at all with the UV on. Been on since yesterday morning and still looks the same :lol: I know it's not magic but I am sick of green water!

 

[jenn.]

And that stupid picture is orientated correctly in Photobucket :lol:

 

[addy1]

Patience and time..............

 

[DrDave]

What your pond needs is about a 100 water lettuce. It would clear up in no time at all with these and a good bio filter.

 

[jenn.]

Yeah, was thinking of getting a bunch more of those and hyacinths tomorrow. Damn fish/turtles just love the lettuce as a snack so much I am having a hard time keeping it in stock :.)

 

[jenn.]

And we totally don't have the time or funds for it this summer, but we are considering adding a covering to the pond. Found this site and thought the projects looked awesome!

http://woodsshop.com/decks.htm