Newbie from Scottsdale AZ

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Hello world lol Ok so I have 2 yr house with beautiful swimming pool & hot tub in the back yard. Next to my pool/spa is an existing water feature. It's "L" shaped above ground 16" deep and total volume is 250 gallons. It has a built-in waterfall and filtration system already that runs every night. So now I want to convert this into a koi pond / lilly water feature. I have been using chrol tablets (same as pool) to prevent algae, I have removed it & will add de-chrlor chemicals to remove any chlorine. The questions I have are these:

1) Is 16" deep enough for koi fish (or smaller versions of them)? It's L shape but total length is 15 feet x 2 feet x 16 inches deep
2) I live in Arizona and summer water temp can get up to 90 degrees. It doesnt help that the water feature also faces the South. I will be using several air stones, fountain and a lot of water movement to get oxygen into tank and try to bring temp down. As well as sun shades & lilly pads. What else can I do to lower the temperature of the pond?
3) Any other tips & pointers I should know? I currently have 350 gallon saltwater aquarium so I know a bit about water chemistry etc but Im definitely not a pro.

Thanks everyone
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome to you! No, that's nowhere near big/deep enough for koi -- not even for one fish [koi]. A few goldfish would do OK. Shubunkins are very nice. Hmmmm, with that depth, though, I would be concerned with the summer temps, as the water could easily overheat. Good water circulation and shade would help to keep the water cool, and it sounds like you've already thought about that. I was going to suggest shade sails and water lilies, (y).

Do you have any pictures you could post?
 

MoonShadows

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t3cae98_Welcome_Poolforum.gif


@Mmathis gave good advice. What material was used to construct this water feature? Having it above ground is going to exacerbate the summer water temp problems. Posting some pics will probably get you better and more accurate advice.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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Welcome to our group!
I lived in phoenix/Glendale for years, had ponds there for years. My first ones were shallow and small and were a failure, too hot!
The last pond I did there was 5.5 feet deep around 14000 gallons, with a huge water fall, it managed to stay in the 85F range during the summer.

Your water feature was built to be a water feature not a koi fish pond. You might be able to have some fan tail type gold fish, they stay small and don't breed as fast as gold fish.

A lot of plant coverage will help keep the water cooler, but facing south and being above ground are some issues you will need to fight.
 

sissy

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welcome and fat fantails would be better but you need to change the water completely after adding pool chemicals.First you will need to check the temperature of the water if it gets for sun it may be too hot for any fish to survive
 

Mmathis

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@sissy If I'm remembering, fantails don't breed as prolifically as regular GF...... Is that true, in your experience? If so, the fantails might be good for this pond due to the small size.
 

sissy

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Mine have never had babies that I know of and had them in my pond since 2004 Plus they are slow and fun to watch that butt wiggle they have to swim and if you start them off hand feeding they get so used to you they will swim into your hand for a belly rub <>I am getting two more .Lady told me that her other fish are to big and attack them .
101_0664.JPG
 

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