My goldfish pond

[cas]

Your backyard is looking great @CometKeith . I love your new patio. I can't believe you are going to have to redo your pond so soon. There are things I would change about my pond, but after 14 years I've learned to live with it the way it is. I don't have the ambition or energy that you do!

Sorry about your koi. I've always bought my koi small (mostly because of the expense). Sometimes I had luck and sometimes I didn't. In 2005 I bought three koi - two died in a month and the other one died six months later. One of the goldfish that I bought at the same time is still alive. In 2006 I tried three more koi - one I still have, one lived over 8 years and the other lived 3 years. Then in 2009 I tried three more small koi - one died after two months, and the other two I still have. I guess why I am telling you all this is because under the same circumstances, some koi made it and some didn't. I hope you have better luck if you try koi again.

 

[Tula]

Well, I hate to say this....but I agree with your wife LOL

 

[addy1]

Have fun!

 

[MitchM]

You know best with the liner and what's on it.
I would just remove anything that's "not algae"

 

[herzausstahl]

That looks pretty awesome!! Going ro be nice when you get pond moved. You maybe can "expand" the pond a little bigger and deeper too while your at it.
As far as wintering koi all I can tell you for sure is that get them young and let them grow a summer season before wintering and then make sure they always have plenty of oxygen, as winter ice and snow can choke them out fast. I find the best way is to have a pump moving water around as they are more reliable than an air pump making bubbles in water, as air pumps tend to condensate freeze shut after about -25 below.

That big freeze we had 4-5 years ago where it never got above zero for weeks my entire pond was covered in snow/ice with a pump moving water underneath as Colleen says. All 5 koi did fine and they were all 8-10" big. I only ran into issues when the "winter pump" died in fall & I didn't replace it with same size. Even overpopulated all the fish handled that extremely cold winter just fine. If your gonna move it I agree now is the time. I also agree with giving them a full summer to acclimate & starting them out smaller. I think they'll be in better shape to handle your winter then. Make all your changes now so you don't have to do it a 3rd time. And possibly most important of all, wait to add them till construction is done so you don't have to worry as much about debris in the pond affecting there health. Everything is coming together real nicely tho!

 

[addy1]

Just do it "right" this time, i.e. per wife's instructions!

 

[Lisak1]

Just do it "right" this time, i.e. per wife's instructions!

haha! Happy wife, happy life!

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have the opposite problem... Happy hubby makes for a less cranky wife .

 

[Tula]

I think the pond will look great with plantings behind it Of my 4 koi, 3 were purchased small. I purchased the chagoi when she was 11 inches......and it took her awhile to become completely acclimated to the pond.

 

[CometKeith]

Well this was the week we decided to do the work on the pond. There were two days of clear weather forecast for Friday and Saturday so it made sense to do the project now. My wife wanted a larger walking path at the back of the pond and also room to do some plantings including grasses and climbing vines. I decided that I didn't need to move the fish out and we would drain the water from most of it and pick up the liner where we were digging. It actually worked out pretty well. I pumped out about 2000 gallons. There is an old clay drain pipe that goes about 12 inches up and cuts across the bottom of the pond. We were able to put most the fish on the other side of the pipe so there was enough water for them when we lifted the liner. It was a little tricky because we needed to bring the back side of the pond in about 18-24 inches. We only had loose dirt and sand to fill it in. We ended up putting in a piece of plywood as a retaining wall to hold the dirt in. We used some stakes to hold it up and a few heavy pieces of limestone I had to hold the bottom of the board in place. Also at the same time I removed all the plant shelves and steps from the left side of the pond. So even though we filled dirt in on the back side and made the dimensions smaller the pond is deeper with at least 42-48 inches deep and holds more water. I think with the dirt we removed the pond gained a least 500 gallons. Anyway at the end of the first day we left the board in place and refilled the pond about 75%. A lot of the dirt behind the pord went down and the board was leaning towards the pond. The second day we cut a 4 inch rim all the way around the pond so we could put rocks in the water to hide the liner. We cut the board down below the water line and had to be carefull not to cut the liner with the sawzaw we were using. We placed the rocks around and added limestone pavers all the way around and finished filling the pond. There is still a lot of work to do including leveling the back a little more and maybe raising the back pavers, fitting them together better. Also I need to mulch and plant maybe some small plants in the bigger spaces between the rocks in the water. We are planning on building a waterfall on the left side and that will be the next big project. I'm going to relax today and enjoy my Father's day! Here are some pics. Comments welcomed!

 

[Lisak1]

My only comment is WOW! It looks great! And I love the creative work process!

 

[addy1]

Great job!

 

[Donna Saverino MI]

I'm hoping to get a hummer to take a shower in my new spitter. I have it spraying on a plant so the bird can sit and have a nice shower.

 

[Donna Saverino MI]

Forgot to say very nice pond

 

[Lisak1]

I should add one more comment - your wife was right. Moving the pond away from the wall was a good idea on several fronts - the additional space to walk and plant, but it also gives the impression of a bigger pond.