New reader from Canada

[rigsy]

HI:

This is my first post although I have read your forum for a while and find the ideas and information excellent. We live in London, Ontario, Canada and have had our Koi pond for about 7 years. Our pond is about 2,500 usg and we have about 25 - 30 Koi some as large as 18" that winter in it.

We have experimented with numerous suggestions made by more experienced readers and it has been extremely helpful. I am somewhat of a back-yard inventor and love to take junk and make it into somthing that is useful, rarely throw anything out that looks like it could be useful. Believe in natural solutions to cleaning our ponds and environment.

From suggestions made by other readers we have had considerable success with: Here are some of the projects I have been working on.

- gravity flow bio filter using pot scrubbers - the round nylon round ball type as a filter media - very effective media and can be purchased at any discount store.

- Koi Breeding nests - A 3' X 6" industrial floor mop with a 2X4 inside that floats in the pond an collects eggs during breeding. We fould that if left unprotected the eggs are eaten by the other fish. - Simple idea but works well.

- Pond water level float. Similar to a float valve on a large cattle tank or the one in your toilet bowl. - Maintaines an even water level even if leak or loss to evaporation.

- Automatic pond fish feeding system. A timer adds a measured amount of feed into the pond at set times of the day. It enbles you to go away for as long as a week without having someone feed your fish. - This project is still under development - interested if any others have been built. System is similar to a layer chicken feeding system.

Interested to hear other ideas - homemade inovations

Kevin Rigg

 

[Koilady]

Hey Kevin, nice to meet you. I made some new spawning mops the other day with material I had around here. We've been making our own bio-filters for years and they work great. I am also in London, Ontario.

Lorraine

 

[sissy]

Welcome and see you found a neighbor already .I guess you must have a good filter for that many koi

 

[callingcolleen1]

Welcome !! Nice to hear you are an inventive person and that would make you a very creative person as well. Looking forward to hearing about more about all your inventions! "

 

[Becky]

This is a post from 2008 folks!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Ha ha ha!!! I have to laugh at myself when I fall for dead post! Somehow it makes me laugh hard, is that normal? Ha ha ha and it is extra funny when you think about how many of us old age people with squinting eyesight, beating away at cell phone posting on dead post, ha ha ha

 

[sissy]

Wonder why they come on and poof they are gone so fast

 

[steve/gridnot]

I liked your mop idea. Kind of what I used when I first started my Koi hobby. Since my Oasis method of watering instead of irrigation gradually evolved from my first ponds, I noticed some willow roots growing over a rubber liner. Instead of trimming it, I watched it grow and spread its new root fibers into a floating pad. the Koi push into it and breed there. I wander if this could be modified by cutting a hole in the middle to make a place for the fry to hide?

 

[callingcolleen1]

They baby koi can hide in all kinds of small places like roots and shoots. Willow naturally grows around rivers and streams around here. I think a better idea for the babies to hide would be natural plants. I never myself used spawning mops so I myself can't say for sure, but you could give it a try as long as there is no chemicals or cleaners on the mop.