new to this fourm...howdy everyone

[JamieB]

im sorry jamie, i dont raise long fins. only standard koi. but your still welcome here anytime.come on buy ill treat the koi with a watermelon i got a 30pounder that will jump in your lap and cry for a bite...shes 37 years old...

Your fish is older than me! I love the look of long flowing fins, so I’ll have to find a place to get a good affordable one. I’m not looking for expensive fish, I’m out in the country with lots of critters to keep population in check given a chance, and lord knows, I’ll probably start my new fish out in the qt tank which will be safer than the pond. Then once I get my koi, it will be it’s grow up tank till it’s big enough to be safe from the smaller predators. We have king fisher, heron, raccoon, hawks, etc, with occasional bald eagles.

 

[MIKES KOI]

a couple of tips for Jamie B; ill start with the coons, fierce little critters i raised one when i was young. get the first step off the ledge of the pond OVER 12 inches. so if yo plan on rocks planters etc make the first step deeper. they dont like deep water and they must swim ...in the winter , dont run the pump if they are anywhere close they will hear the water falls and they are attracted to the site. use traps .if you relocate them make sure its at least 3 miles away from any creek thats close.dont want them coming back. you really gotta watch them when the first sign of water getting cold or ice coming. there is only a couple of hawks that specialize in catching fish..you live in the sticks ...[12 ga] does the trick. or stretch a net over os they cant swoop down.. fishers i have NO clue i never saw one. the big killer that is keen is the Heron....dogs will be a huge help,around here i have friends that use the newer camera systems that hook up to the new smart phones. they have a grid you can spread around the areas you . anything hits the grid triggers the alarm is sent to you phone DAY OR NITE 24/7 one buddy has a remote hooked to a big boom box!! the heron comes in he sets it off and it scares it away. he does this from work. i have caught people here coming in my property with nets, going after my fish i have sent 2 to jail .if you live in the sticks here are a couple you gotta watch close... mink, weasels, otters ... otters are killers if they come in they will kill everything and leave it lay..if you have a creek anywhere close you better take extra steps...dogs do a good job. i use a electric fence around my fence top , a STRONG jolt deters most.... but every once in a while i get a cat, huge coon that manages to get over and does not wanna go back over because of the jolt. cats.. i had a neighbor once... had a big tom caught him in a trap[have a heart] i had words with her she seemed to make countless jokes about my fish and her cat,,, after returning it 3 times before, the 4 time i took a electric barber clipper to the critter shaving all the hair off except a puff around the tail and head to make it look like a lion..i see you a cat lover i dont wann offend you no harm to the cat, giant big persian ...and i didnt return him i let him go... i never had another issue with him......hope this helps to save a few fish...mike

 

[sissy]

Here even though it is rural that is cruelty to animals .To shave that cat and admit it can get you jail time .I have worked with the animal shelters here for years and would be really angry to see someone do this .I have had 2 dogs fall in my pond and all I was worried about was finding the owner and getting their pet back to them and I have also fixed 2 cats that now live here with me and it cost me 180 dollars to do it ,but they are great at getting mice and are now loved and fed .The 1 dog was a boys therapy dog. They do not go near my pond because I have stopped that by training them to stay away .Anyone that can be cruel to animal is not a nice person to me .I wish this lady had contacted the animal shelter and reported this incident to them .I hope you do not do this anymore as it is an offense no matter what you may think .No matter her jokes you should have contacted your local animal shelter and they would have handled it properly .

 

[MIKES KOI]

i do apologize the neighbor in question is still a good friend, she even thanked me for getting all the heavy nat. out .ive never heard that before . and was never meant to be cruel in any. way... i could of easly put it down or like you say to shelter that would do the same thats why i returned it to her several times.5 years ago she came back over with the cat,, its fur was matted bad again ,asking for a free shave .. all is good.

 

[GBBUDD]

i took a electric barber clipper to the critter shaving all the hair off except a puff around the tail and head to make it look like a lion..
[/QUOTE]

I knew i liked this guy.
I had a job we were working on years ago had heavy equipment running all over the place and construction activities all around it was no place for a Black lab .... Now i love dogs .. I like them better then most people .... but this pooch was in serious danger of getting hurt . he'd come by at break times and he was a great dog but i asked and even bought a run for the woman who owned him but the dog kept coming by and the third time was one to many i was afraid the labby was going to get hurt. so i walked up to the painter who was on site and i took his roller and put a nice white stripe down his tail. NEVER SAW THE LABBY AGAIN i did miss him but at least he was safe

 

[sissy]

some one may have been feeding him at the sight also ,But you no matter what should not admit any where what you did .I have seen a couple of cases in court here and the judges hand down fines and community service for such acts of cruelty .I understand that parents of animals do not think sometimes but cruelty is cruelty in the eyes of a judge if you are caught .Just like owners can be held responsible for damages their pets do .These stray cats are chipped and if they do bad I get held responsible .I got a visit from animal control that said I was not feeding the cats or providing shelter for them .They were skin and bones .The officer knew better but wanted to let me know .Not sure where the bones are .Maybe they saw my cat I built.I call him sad cat

 

[Lisak1]

most bog owners grow water gardens not koi. most will experience a foul rotten egg smell from such ponds, from the bacteria trying to keep up with a fish load most have a backyard full of mosquitoes

Hmmm...

 

[mrsclem]

Guess I'm an exception to that! Had a bog on my koi pond for many years with no bad smell. Only problem I have is plants not doing well if I sell off some of my koi!

 

[MIKES KOI]

Guess I'm an exception to that! Had a bog on my koi pond for many years with no bad smell. Only problem I have is plants not doing well if I sell off some of my koi!

ill try to help on the plants, the PH try keeping it around 7 if possible, and salt you gotta watch the salt if added to a pond it stays must be removed by hand.. hope this helps

 

[GBBUDD]

I'll speak up Lisa. Mike from what i have seen with a lot of these bog projects is less adequate in my eyes. HOWEVER.....when it is done right and with good custodial practices it not only works, but everything thrives. I do not have long term history of my own but after the lengthy research that i did do showed that not only can it work but it can work far better then MAN made technology. The only thing people who have successful bogs and bogs have usually is a pump that runs 24/7 maybe an air stone. In the green scene it's a home run compared to the traditional koi filters power consumption is off the scale. Mother nature has restored areas in relatively short spans of time the most nasty of chemicals we have dumped. All too many times are solution is to encapsulate the area . Mother nature doesn't have that choice and she has all the plants and bacteria to do the job. All i can say is go to you tube and watch "the most beautiful back yards " or any host of videos by aquascapes and others as they show ponds that are 20 years old and look amazing. with huge koi. Now yes i understand if i want pristine koi without a scratch on them or had never lost a scale due to rubbing against a boulder. i would look at the rubber as the finish product or a fiberglass or concrete pool . That to me does not fit my taste or idea of beauty "in my back yard" I do love the picture window raised ponds where the fish look back at you through polished water. but again not in my back yard. People told me you can have a waterfall in an open tank.. i proved that wrong ... people said you can't have birds above a fish tank they will pollute the water and they will drown ... proved that wrong ... they said you can't bread birds above a open top fish tank ... proved that wrong " all to well had way to many babies" I look at it this way you give nature a chance she is very resourceful " Nature will find a way" I know addy and lisa both can show that not only do bogs work they are amazing beautiful without the use of 1,000.00 in mechanical filters. As far as mosquitoes are concerned if you have a stagnant pond no movement no fish the odds are yes it will help to fed the fire. How ever this i can speak for my water is constantly flowing and the mosquitoes may show them selves for a short period of time but the dragon flies take care of that. mosquito larvae i do not see much of the black flies is another story but between the birds and the dragon fly larva they don't stand a chance. Old school bog filtration did not work the best but talk to any biologist wo over see's waste treatment plants and they will probably change or at least open your eyes to Natural filtration

 

[MIKES KOI]

i have nothing against those and if i have implied this im sorry. i do agree with you 100% if done right with good custodial practice = good pond set up. yours was one of the best i have seen here. im not bashing, if you think so im sorry .in today's world i see a lot of lazy people... trying to keep fish and have super clear water..with no work involved . you know as well as me that you gotta test the water. at some time its gotta be cleaned. to have good water quality. do you agree? most NEW bog pond builders will fail. like you said not adequate. or the pipes fail due to winter..i think it gives a false impression that it will FOREVER clean itself..i have mechanical home made bio, on 2 ponds no issue. cost were very low..under 100.00 they work fine but again they gotta be cleaned at some time. they will not work forever. i do have some rocks...you will find out when you get a big female egg bound full of some 2000000 eggs shes gonna get chased shes gonna rub shes gonna get beat up . i got one each year that i gotta put in my quarantine tank and get her healed. because she is so rough. even when i put her in a pond with nothing but liner she beats herself up. once again i have nothing against bio filters.. its just not my choice ..i hope this clears this up. mike

 

[addy1]

To each their own as far as ponds and filters. What works for me, might not work for someone else.
My bog has been running since 2010 with no intervention from me except yanking excessive plant growth. I don't have koi, do have have around 200ish shubunkins ,very soft count, around 11-12000 gallons of water being taken care of by the bog. Ten ponds from largish to small.
Water tests always perfect, when I decide to test. Zero other filtration. Even my hot tub pond is filtered by a container bog. The bog and or water never stink.

 

[mrsclem]

Mike, my plants yellowed because I was running filters in addition to my bog and had moved all koi but 3 out. Shut down extra filters and reintroduced koi and back into balance. I've been raising and selling koi for 20+ years. Haven't tested water in years, let my fish tell me when something is off. Don't remember last bag of salt I purchased.

 

[MIKES KOI]

thats seems to be the problem i have seen with the bog filters. they cant handle a fish load, they get out of balance. you run 355 gal barrel as well as a 300 gal bog... if im reading that right. whats the reason behind that? i have a 45000 now with 180+ koi filtered only with a 30 gal barrel. the water is perfect. i test each week so not to add stress. to each his on on filters. i just like more fish ..i dont loose any... mike

 

[Tula]

I think of my pond as a "combo"....it has some filtration elements I've learned from koi keeping and a newly installed bog that I'm excited to play with this Spring. I love water plants ...but so do my koi !! I'm excited to see the plants grow in the new bog and am hopeful the bog adds some natural bio filtration , as well as looking beautiful.