New to backyard ponds and Koi

[Wes32]

Hey guys thanks for anyone's input on this thread and any advice I can get from you guys will be great.

So I am new to backyard ponds and when my wife and I moved into our new place we found out it had a little 250 gallon pond in the back. I have pretty much ignored it being back there until this spring when I decided to get into an aquatic hobby. And what not better than having your own pond!

I will now tell you guys about my setup. The pond is a liner that has been dug into the ground already and is about 3 1/2 ft deep. I DID NOT line the bottom with rock as I have read before that it can cause a dead zone and can be impossible to clean. So I just added a few good sized rocks with a plant, which I am planning on getting more. I bought some drift wood and put those in the bottom as well as some marimo algae balls which are pretty neat.

I put all that supplies on the bottom and then the filling began. I filled the pond about 3/4 the way up and called that good. I then added API chlorine and heavy metal neutralizer. My final step was I added a 2 stone aeration system. I have since then bought a new one that is more powerful that blows more oxygen into the pond. I then waited around a day and a half and then I went to my local aquarium store and got my fish.

Now for this next part, I know I'm am going to get some beef from people about the fish I have selected to put in my pond but that's okay. I bought 5 3-4 inch koi to put in there. So there just little guys right now. But when I put them in they swam around for awhile and then all went to the bottom of the pond. I fed them the first day and I think they ate it once the flakes sank to the bottom. The 2nd day all 5 were hiding under rocks, plants, and the driftwood. I fed them a third time and again the flakes sank to the bottom and it looks like they still haven't touched their food. Today I went and checked on them and their all still hiding. I'm wondering if this is normal for these little guys to be doing this or is there something wrong with them? I should mention that the pond is not in the best place for sunlight. It does get a bit of sun but we have a giant oak tree in our back yard that provides quite a bit of shade. So I wonder if the water is still cold and their in the bottom because it's warmer? Any ideas on that part would be great guys.

My next question and I will make it quick because I have about typed a book here. But my next question is about a pump and a filter. I do have my aeration system in the pond but I'm wondering if that will not be enough? If I do need a filter, does anyone know of a decent cheap one that comes with a pump or any suggestions as I don't really want to spend a ton of money on a pump and filter.

Hey guys again, sorry for the lengthy note but I just wanted to make you guys aware of my situation and hope I can get the best advice I can get! By the way I will attach a picture of my pond so you guys can see what it looks like. Thanks again!! Have a great rest of your morning, afternoon, or evening.

Wes

 

[MoonShadows]

First thing you should do is take the 5 3-4 inch Koi you bought and see if you can return them. At 250 gallons, you don't even have enough water for 1 Koi. Get a couple of goldfish instead. Fish will hide until they feel comfortable in their new surroundings which usually takes a week or two.

 

[pecan]

Hi Wes, Welcome! You have a very nice pond.

To your question on behavior. It is normal for fish to hide and be skittish until they are use to their environment. When I first added fish I think it took about a month for them to come out of hiding but that was a while ago.

Koi get very large very fast and produce a large amount of waste. I have had koi grow 12" in one season. They do grow very very fast. A good rule of thumb is 500 gallons per koi (depending on your filtration) and a minimum size pond of 1000-2000 gallons for koi. But that all varies depending on the amount of filtration you have.

Koi require filtration, without it, they eat, they poop and their poop turns the water toxic and they die if there is no filtration.

Also don't feed if they aren't eating as the food rots in the water and can turn the water toxic.

Comets (goldfish) are better for small ponds as they are not as messy and don't get as big. You also don't need to feed them, they can survive off the muck in the pond. A couple small comets in your pond would be ok, but you would probably still want at least a small filter.

 

[Tula]

Welcome

As a koi keeper, I concur with @MoonShadows advice about returning the koi...but thinking you already know your pond is too small, since you said you'd "get some beef from people about the fish I selected".

In your picture it looks like your aerator is in a plastic bag. While you want to keep it sheltered from water, you do need air and I'm thinking this current set up will cause it to over heat. You can stick it under a flower pot, or put it in a small tub, etc.

You absolutely need filtration and a pump, especially if you have koi, as they are less forgiving of poor water quality then gold fish and produce a lot of waste. Fish produce ammonia when they respirate. You can google about the nitrogen cycle to learn about managing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate......high levels of ammonia will burn their gills and cause permanent damage.

 

[pecan]

You could also go without a filter and fish, add some plants and have a beautiful little water garden. Or add some plants and a few mosquittofish which are extremely small and no maintenance, quite invasive really. But in a small water garden would be good to eat any mosquitto larva that is laid.

Picture from a google search showing what you can do with a small pond and plants.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If this pond is only 250 gallons and the deepest section is 3.5 feet, the water surface area must be quite small.
You do not mention a filtration mechanical or bio. Both are needed.
And yes you are going to hear "beefing" from me also. This size (capacity) pond is not suited to a fish that grows as large as Koi. These fish are obviously already stressed and this will increase as these fish grow, weakening them and making them vulnerable to myriad disease and parasite issues.
Try to return these Koi and replace them with Goldfish that are more suited to small environments.

 

[addy1]

Concur with all above, way to small for koi

 

[sissy]

welcome and sad that stores do not tell you how big koi can get .I never knew but also knew that I was going to do a bigger pond but never knew they were going to get over 2 feet long .

 

[Wes32]

Welcome

As a koi keeper, I concur with @MoonShadows advice about returning the koi...but thinking you already know your pond is too small, since you said you'd "get some beef from people about the fish I selected".

In your picture it looks like your aerator is in a plastic bag. While you want to keep it sheltered from water, you do need air and I'm thinking this current set up will cause it to over heat. You can stick it under a flower pot, or put it in a small tub, etc.

You absolutely need filtration and a pump, especially if you have koi, as they are less forgiving of poor water quality then gold fish and produce a lot of waste. Fish produce ammonia when they respirate. You can google about the nitrogen cycle to learn about managing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate......high levels of ammonia will burn their gills and cause permanent damage.

Great. Thank you for your help. I will take that into consideration.

 

[Wes32]

If this pond is only 250 gallons and the deepest section is 3.5 feet, the water surface area must be quite small.
You do not mention a filtration mechanical or bio. Both are needed.
And yes you are going to hear "beefing" from me also. This size (capacity) pond is not suited to a fish that grows as large as Koi. These fish are obviously already stressed and this will increase as these fish grow, weakening them and making them vulnerable to myriad disease and parasite issues.
Try to return these Koi and replace them with Goldfish that are more suited to small environments.

Jordan,

Thanks for the response. I will take that into consideration. Thanks.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Wes32 !

A few things about your post are confusing. Your pond is 3.5 feet deep, but only 250 gallons? That would be like 3 feet wide and 3 feet long - does that sound right? I'm also curious why you would only fill it 3/4 of the way. If it's a liner pond, didn't that leave a lot of exposed liner?

 

[Wes32]

Lisa,

There is a picture of the pond below the thread. And I would say it's a good 4 feet long by 3 feet wide. Also I filled it all the way up now. Thanks.

 

[sissy]

I did read that preforms list the gallons buy 6 inch's down .I guess they figure on most of them that is the full volume .I read the paper on the one i bought at the flea market and it says the same thing .

 

[bagsmom]

And don't shelves affect the total volume? Just reading the last couple of posts, so I don't know if that is taken into consideration. My pond is just about 9 x 12. 3 1/2 feet at the very deepest point, but it's sloped. There's a plant shelf all the way around - very wide at one end, and two shelves for water lilies. So I know the total water volume is a lot less than the math would indicate. (Assuming I could do the math -- ha ha!)

 

[sissy]

Most of them come with plant shelves .Water volume will be less after plants are added .I think that may be why they say the water should be 6 inch's below the lip ,after you add plants water will rise