It’s been too long since my last pond update—January feels like a lifetime ago! A lot has been happening since then, and I’ve even been thinking about adding on to the pond. Some of the fish have spawned again, and while it's always interesting to see new life, it's also a reminder that space is getting tight. Expansion might be the next step just to keep everything balanced and healthy.
I’ve even had a few little fish show up in the stream—they must’ve been small enough to slip up through the gravel in the bog. If they get too big, I move them into the main pond. I originally started with 7 goldfish and 1 koi, and sadly, I think my Shubunkin didn’t make it. I found a fish carcass on top of the net (which definitely needs some work), and I haven’t seen the Shubunkin since—so I’m guessing it was him.
At this point, I’ve got over 40 fish. Toward the beginning of last year, I noticed some worms living on the leaf basket cover after I removed it. I wasn’t sure if they were harmful, so I just rinsed them off to be safe. Around that same time, I saw at least two fish—including my koi—with what looked like a translucent worm hanging off them. They were still acting fast and hungry, and I tried to catch them, but they were way too quick. One of the worms actually fell off on its own. I ended up adding some sea salt to the pond, and that seemed to help. I haven’t seen any worms this year, so fingers crossed it worked.
I think one of my horsetail plants might have died—it’s not green, and by now it definitely should be. I’m wondering if it’s due to the water level fluctuations. I usually have to top off the pond every five or six days when it drops about 3 to 4 inches. Some evaporation is normal, of course, but I recently discovered the overflow drain pipe behind my skimmer is damp, so it may just need tightening. That might be contributing to the water loss too.
My autofill has been off since last fall because the float valve keeps running and won’t shut off. Lesson learned—I should’ve spent a little more on a better-quality one. Still dealing with a fair amount of algae too. I’ve added some new plants, but I know I need more, and honestly, another bog would be a big help.
Also—about the net.
My pond net has been giving me some trouble lately. It tends to sag down into the pond or over the waterfall, and it’s causing more problems than it solves sometimes. I’ve been trying to think of solutions, like maybe building a curved pipe frame to support it… or going full dream-mode and building a greenhouse around the whole pond (not happening, says my dad—and probably my wallet too).
My mom wants me to ditch the net altogether. She says if leaves or apples fall into the pond, just scoop them out. We did trim the tree back on the waterfall side, which helps a bit, but the wind around here can get wild, and that stuff still finds a way in. Before I had the net, I had to clean the skimmer more often than I liked.
Even with all that, I’ve only cleaned out the skimmer and leaf basket twice in the past six months. The pond’s been running really efficiently—no water changes besides refilling every week or so. But that frequent refilling isn’t ideal. It messes with the ecosystem, since I’m adding chlorinated city water all the time. I throw in some beneficial bacteria now and then, but I know it’s not the same as letting things stay balanced naturally.
That’s actually what got me thinking more seriously about expanding. Right now I’m tossing around the idea of seaming another liner to the existing pond and adding a second, shallower pond—around 6 feet by 10 feet and about 3.5 feet deep, with 6 inches of gravel like the main pond (which is almost 4.5 feet deep, 4 feet above the gravel). I’d have a new stream and bog feeding in from the opposite side of the apple tree. I was also thinking about putting the new pump in my barn but now that doesn't sound great because the barn is a mess and hard to get into. My other pump is behind the house in the pump shed.
Of course, this all depends on cost. I’ve already told myself that if I go through with it, I’m absolutely renting a small tractor—no way I’m digging through that rocky dirt again by hand.
The plumbing plan in my head right now includes rerouting one of my return jets to help push water from the new pond area toward the skimmer, and then adding a new pipe from the new pump back into that old return jet in the main pond.
Thanks for reading—looking forward to your thoughts!
Short video of my fish
I’ve even had a few little fish show up in the stream—they must’ve been small enough to slip up through the gravel in the bog. If they get too big, I move them into the main pond. I originally started with 7 goldfish and 1 koi, and sadly, I think my Shubunkin didn’t make it. I found a fish carcass on top of the net (which definitely needs some work), and I haven’t seen the Shubunkin since—so I’m guessing it was him.
At this point, I’ve got over 40 fish. Toward the beginning of last year, I noticed some worms living on the leaf basket cover after I removed it. I wasn’t sure if they were harmful, so I just rinsed them off to be safe. Around that same time, I saw at least two fish—including my koi—with what looked like a translucent worm hanging off them. They were still acting fast and hungry, and I tried to catch them, but they were way too quick. One of the worms actually fell off on its own. I ended up adding some sea salt to the pond, and that seemed to help. I haven’t seen any worms this year, so fingers crossed it worked.
I think one of my horsetail plants might have died—it’s not green, and by now it definitely should be. I’m wondering if it’s due to the water level fluctuations. I usually have to top off the pond every five or six days when it drops about 3 to 4 inches. Some evaporation is normal, of course, but I recently discovered the overflow drain pipe behind my skimmer is damp, so it may just need tightening. That might be contributing to the water loss too.
My autofill has been off since last fall because the float valve keeps running and won’t shut off. Lesson learned—I should’ve spent a little more on a better-quality one. Still dealing with a fair amount of algae too. I’ve added some new plants, but I know I need more, and honestly, another bog would be a big help.
Also—about the net.
My pond net has been giving me some trouble lately. It tends to sag down into the pond or over the waterfall, and it’s causing more problems than it solves sometimes. I’ve been trying to think of solutions, like maybe building a curved pipe frame to support it… or going full dream-mode and building a greenhouse around the whole pond (not happening, says my dad—and probably my wallet too).
My mom wants me to ditch the net altogether. She says if leaves or apples fall into the pond, just scoop them out. We did trim the tree back on the waterfall side, which helps a bit, but the wind around here can get wild, and that stuff still finds a way in. Before I had the net, I had to clean the skimmer more often than I liked.
Even with all that, I’ve only cleaned out the skimmer and leaf basket twice in the past six months. The pond’s been running really efficiently—no water changes besides refilling every week or so. But that frequent refilling isn’t ideal. It messes with the ecosystem, since I’m adding chlorinated city water all the time. I throw in some beneficial bacteria now and then, but I know it’s not the same as letting things stay balanced naturally.
That’s actually what got me thinking more seriously about expanding. Right now I’m tossing around the idea of seaming another liner to the existing pond and adding a second, shallower pond—around 6 feet by 10 feet and about 3.5 feet deep, with 6 inches of gravel like the main pond (which is almost 4.5 feet deep, 4 feet above the gravel). I’d have a new stream and bog feeding in from the opposite side of the apple tree. I was also thinking about putting the new pump in my barn but now that doesn't sound great because the barn is a mess and hard to get into. My other pump is behind the house in the pump shed.
Of course, this all depends on cost. I’ve already told myself that if I go through with it, I’m absolutely renting a small tractor—no way I’m digging through that rocky dirt again by hand.
The plumbing plan in my head right now includes rerouting one of my return jets to help push water from the new pond area toward the skimmer, and then adding a new pipe from the new pump back into that old return jet in the main pond.
Thanks for reading—looking forward to your thoughts!
Short video of my fish
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