My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Wow--your fish are huge! And so many of them. I am just learning about fish and only have 3 shebunkins which I think have gotten big (about 7" long) compared to what they started out as ( less than 1" ) when I bought them 2.5 years ago. Now I look at your fish, which I assume are koi, and am amazed. I see that you live in Chicago which I know gets really cold in the winter. Do you need to do anything special to help them survive the winter months? I'm in Vancouver which stays pretty mild so I haven't needed to do anything different for the fish. I'm guessing they hibernate.

Thanks and welcome to GPF! There are 10 Koi and the rest are goldfish. The pond is about 3000 gallons including my bog. The Koi were all in the range of 4-6 inches when I bought them but now some are in the 18-22” range. The center of my pond is 42 inches. I keep some water moving all winter. Usually I just keep my waterfall going but I have an air pump too. Last winter I turned off my bog pump for the winter because we were gone and I wanted fewer pumps to worry about. I recommend to stay with goldfish as long as possible before thinking about getting Koi because it’s so much work with larger fish and so many things can go wrong!

 

[CometKeith]

Which bead filter do you have and which beads do you use and would you use those beads again or change to another type?

I have a aquadyne 4000 with a blower motor. Overall I’m pretty happy but there are a lot of similar models that all do the same thing. It takes about 15-20 minutes for me to backwash it and I do that once or twice a week. It would probably take less time if I had a hose on the discharge pipe instead of me physically carrying the water buckets as I fill them up but it’s good exercise for me to carry them. They say you should go at least double your size pond. So if it’s 5000 gallons go with a 10,000 model but I actually think you should go triple. I guess it really depends on how often you want to backwash it. I have a blower motor to break up the beads so they don’t stick together. I think that an important feature. If I had to do it over again I would have gotten 2 inch pipes to and from the filter instead of 1.5 inch. I think the larger pipes are a lot better. I got a new external pump that has 2 inch pipes so I had to reduce them. I think the bio material works well and I never really have an issue with it cycling in the spring. I think for the size it’s pretty effective but it’s definitely not the cheapest alternative.

 

[j.w]

I have a aquadyne 4000 with a blower motor. Overall I’m pretty happy but there are a lot of similar models that all do the same thing. It takes about 15-20 minutes for me to backwash it and I do that once or twice a week. It would probably take less time if I had a hose on the discharge pipe instead of me physically carrying the water buckets as I fill them up but it’s good exercise for me to carry them. They say you should go at least double your size pond. So if it’s 5000 gallons go with a 10,000 model but I actually think you should go triple. I guess it really depends on how often you want to backwash it. I have a blower motor to break up the beads so they don’t stick together. I think that an important feature. If I had to do it over again I would have gotten 2 inch pipes to and from the filter instead of 1.5 inch. I think the larger pipes are a lot better. I got a new external pump that has 2 inch pipes so I had to reduce them. I think the bio material works well and I never really have an issue with it cycling in the spring. I think for the size it’s pretty effective but it’s definitely not the cheapest alternative.

You are such a good caretaker of your beautiful fish! Pond looks so nice and clear and you keep everything so clean w/that filter of yours. Shows what one can do w/more fish then recommended if you do it the right way

 

[CometKeith]

Here a few pics I took last month. So here is a question. One of my large goldfish is quite old. (15 years or more?) It’s developing some pretty bad skin ulcers that look like large bubbles or warts on its skin. It seems to be swimming okay but looks pretty disgusting. I’m guessing this is from old age as the other fish are doing fine. It would be pretty easy to catch as the fish are moving slow and the water is very clear right now. Do I put it out of its misery and will this help protect the other fish from ”disease”? I usually let nature take its course, but I have seen this fish get worse the last few months and can’t imagine it will make it to spring.

 

[j.w]

Here a few pics I took last month. So here is a question. One of my large goldfish is quite old. (15 years or more?) It’s developing some pretty bad skin ulcers that look like large bubbles or warts on its skin. It seems to be swimming okay but looks pretty disgusting. I’m guessing this is from old age as the other fish are doing fine. It would be pretty easy to catch as the fish are moving slow and the water is very clear right now. Do I put it out of its misery and will this help protect the other fish from ”disease”? I usually let nature take its course, but I have seen this fish get worse the last few months and can’t imagine it will make it to spring.View attachment 161475View attachment 161474

I myself let them be and if it makes it, it makes it, if not than it went naturally. I think goldfish can get koi pox too but not positive.

 

[GBBUDD]

I'm of the other school, if there's no treatment that i have found to help , its not worth the risk . And if you see a clear downfall to its movements , you know your pond better than anyone.

 

[Tula]

Keith, Do you think it could be Koi pox....I think it's more noticeable in colder temperatures.

 

[CometKeith]

I myself let them be and if it makes it, it makes it, if not than it went naturally. I think goldfish can get koi pox too but not positive.

Hey JW that’s what I usually do. It seems to be swimming fine and is busy hunting for things to nibble on like the other fish. I would hate to cut things short for him!

 

[CometKeith]

I'm of the other school, if there's no treatment that i have found to help , it’s not worth the risk . And if you see a clear downfall to its movements , you know your pond better than anyone.

Thanks for the advice. It’s not supposed to get below freezing for another week or so. I’ll try to keep any eye on him. I definitely wouldn’t treat it as the fish might even be close to 20 years old. It was quite large when I got him and one of my ”original” goldfish.

 

[CometKeith]

Keith, Do you think it could be Koi pox....I think it's more noticeable in colder temperatures.

So I’m guessing it’s just old age. He has had blotchy skin for a while. All my other fish are fine with no sign of disease the last few years so I’m guessing his old age is catching up with him. Better him than me!

 

[CometKeith]

Everything is well. All the fish went through the winter okay. I gave away one of my Koi and a few goldfish recently to Ryan @ChiDIY who lives pretty close to me. I‘m trying to keep my bioload down and the fish are working out well in his newish pond. I’m going to CA for a few weeks so I hoping the pond will be okay. I have all my pumps running including my bead filter, bog pump, and waterfall!

 

[j.w]

Everything is well. All the fish went through the winter okay. I gave away one of my Koi and a few goldfish recently to Ryan @ChiDIY who lives pretty close to me. I‘m trying to keep my bioload down and the fish are working out well in his newish pond. I’m going to CA for a few weeks so I hoping the pond will be okay. I have all my pumps running including my bead filter, bog pump, and waterfall!View attachment 162363View attachment 162365View attachment 162364

Looking good and enjoy your trip! Nice of you to share your fish

 

[Tula]

Koi have really grown ! Glad to hear they all came through the winter well.

How neat to have a fellow GPF member near by and to share some fish for his pond.