Newbie from the Isle of Man

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Hello all, here is my story so far, I bought a house just before Christmas which had a very neglected pond think muddy puddle ( I have never owned a pond or fish before). It contained no fish, lots of sludge, a water fall that didn't work, various lights and pumps that also didn't work. It was populated by what seemed like millions of shrimp and tons of leeches. Sooo when the weather improved Aprilish 2016 I got stuck into both the pond and the garden. I read load loads of books, Internet articles and got some cracking advice from my local garden/fish/pond specialist (jurby water garden). It seemed a little knowledge was hugely out weighed by blood sweat and tears, as countless weekends were spent (the waterfall was a particular bitch to sort). Anyway this weekend I put my first fish into the pond 2 X goldfish 1 X canary goldfish, 2 X shubumkin and 1 X koi.The fish are all of a similar size 3-6 inches. I am still very much a newbie and will need loads of advice and help. I am willing to learn and enjoy my new hobbie as much as I can. Regards Hooded Ram
 
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Thanks Meyer it took loads of work. I would like to make it much bigger but I want to enjoy it for a few years first. I am amazed by my fish I keep going out back to have a look at them haha. No doubt I will have loads of questions in the future but I just want to enjoy it this week.
 
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Cheers cas. Just been out for anther look, it seems like one of my goldfish is particularly fond of my koi, not sure is cross breeding is possible or the fact that they are so young but he seems very keen haha.
 
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Hello Ram! As a newbie myself, this is now my first "welcome". You have a beautiful pond and I really admire the way you built it in to your patio area. How big is it ( gallons) that it supports Koi and Goldfish?
 
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It's only small 400 gallons ish, 3.5 foot at its deepest point. I only have 6 fish 1 being koi. The fish are only babies so at the moment have plenty of room. There is a nice shelf so shelter is good and the sides are steep so the neighbours cats shouldn't be an issue. I plan to extend the pond to 3 X the size over time bringing it the length of the wall and putting in a glass window. However for now she will have to do. Thanks for the reply and complements.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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Very nice pond. The only problem you might have is the koi they grow fast and like lots of water. You might want to see if they will take it back and replace it with shubunkins, poor mans koi...........lol They are very colorful
 
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Cheers Peter Ye the waterfall sounds great, addy the plan is that this is stage 1 of the ponds development and will incease in size in a couple of years. The fishes well fare is of up most importance to me and if need be I would take the koi back in couple of years if she out grew the pond.
 
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Cheers Peter Ye the waterfall sounds great, addy the plan is that this is stage 1 of the ponds development and will incease in size in a couple of years. The fishes well fare is of up most importance to me and if need be I would take the koi back in couple of years if she out grew the pond.
Welcome to the forum @Hooded Ram if you like reading books check out our koi and fish health Library , you'll find titles those all important ISBN numbers where possible and Authors names with a small review of each book these will help guide you to buying books on their welfare and welbeing :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/articles/our-updated-library-with-reviews.11/

I've also written a few other Articles that you as the newbie to our hobby need to know about especially the importance of Quarentining your fish however I'll let you read them rather than add them to this post , you'll find them all in the articles section at the top of the page .
Pretty soon like us you'll end up like my Partner Val and I with 30 years tucked under our belt into such a wonderful hobby .
Our oldest koi is 30 this year .
You have x2 shubunkins do you know if they are London or Bristol Shubunkins [as a point of interest they have for as long as I can remember also gone under the knickname of poor man's koi ]:happy:



Dave
 
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Many thanks for advice Dave, I am not sure if my shubumkins are cockneys or bristolians needless to say they are as Manx as the hills now (even though they have tails). I will try and take a pic of my two later they are both good looking fish and the bigger one has a fantastic fan tail.
 

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