If you don't want to read the backstory, you can scroll down to the fish for the setup and questions...:fish2:
First- a little background. Recently moved into a duplex with my mother in law, and she had a "koi pond" that came with the house. Now I don't know(or didnt at the time) much about koi ponds, but I was familiar with fish tanks.
This "pond" (made by the previous owner) was 2 pre-fab liners, stuck in a hole in the ground, surrounded by rocks, and he threw a pump in that made the top pre-fab with a waterfall flow into the bottom. That is it. The top portion is about 50 gallons, the bottom potion being around 200 gallons. The pump is a monster for that sized pond, in my opinion at least, moves close to 600gph, will drain the pond in about 20-25 min).
Last year my mother in law bought 7 koi and put them in the pond, ran the pump a few hours a day, and fed the koi maybe once a day. Her and her neighbor(they share a backyard and were taking turns caring for it) just assumed once winter came all the koi were dead, and apparently found one still alive once the ice thawed (died a few weeks later).
And then I moved in, and decided to do something about it...Things I have done-
Removed the liners and reseated them, since the hole they were in was almost 8 inches deeper than the liner, and too narrow so the liner stuck out about 4 inches and tilted to the side...that was fun. I bought the only filter I could find nearby that would fit on the pump(yes it had been running without any filter) which leads me to believe that this pump is actually some sort of greywater pump, since it eats up leaves/sticks/sand like candy...again...a monster pump). So that now has a cheapo sponge filter on it but it works wonders for gathering up the copious amounts of solid stuff that blows into the pond.
Purchased some river rocks and peagravel from home depot(guy at the LFS suggested it) and rinsed it all off three times, and lined the bottom with it. Then I got overconfident and went and bought 14-comet goldfish.
5 died within two weeks. As soon as they started dying I tested the water and, the ammonia was pretty high, so i went and bought a bio filter. Again the LFS suggests one...its a big box with 2 mech filters at the top, and full of bioballs, with a pump on the inside) and a tree next to the pond is shedding these awful yellow flower pedals that are turning my pond into a big vat of yellow tea, so i get some charcoal to throw in there as well. In the mean time while the fish were dying and making me sad, I ordered some plants. LFS only had Hyacinth and a few lillies that were..well....mostly black and brown and $15 each, so I opted for 4 hyacinth, and picked up some lily bulbs from petco.
Who knew ebay sold pond plants...Got a fully grown water lily, a gallon bag full of hornwort, and some anachoris from a few lovely(and well priced) vendors on ebay.
At this point algea is starting to become a big problem, and the 2 more fish are dead...down to 7...
After a lot of research and thinking, I make a semi-bold move and order 6 trapdoor snails, and 6 freshwater clams (mussels). I get 7 of each in the mail.:biggrin: They are amazing. four days later the water is crystal clear and they are all..well..happy as a clam.
:fish2:
Now my setup is...
-250 gallon split level pond, with a 600pgh pump and a 100gph pump with a bio filter
-7 comet goldfish, 7 clams, 7 trapdoor snails
-water hyacinth, hornwort, anachoris, a hardy lily, and a few baby lily's just starting to come up, and some donated water lettuce.
the big pump moves water to the top tier(50g), where it cascades down to the big bottom part(200g). I placed the bio-box, as i call it, right below the waterfall, with the outlet pointing to the other side of the pond, where the filter for the big pump is. It pumps hard enough for me to see the water being disturbed on the other side slightly, so I know its reaching it. It seems to be working REALLY well so far, but I am concerned about the muck that gathers up in the rocks.
Of course I read that rocks are not advised in fish ponds, but that wasn't until after I put them in, and, well, the clams like em, almost as much as the like to burrow into the pots the lily's are in.
Would some sort of UGF work in this case to clear out the debris, or one thing I was thinking was do a reverse UGF, where the water from the bio-box is directed down below the gravel to come up through it.
Does anyone have any comments, ideas, or suggestions? Pond has been running stable for a month now, with no spikes/deaths from any of its occupants.
Also, if anyone knows anything about clams...I am a little concerned that they will eat themselves into starvation...
Thank you in advance, and I am sorry this is such a long post...well..not really, feels good to share my trials and tribulations.
First- a little background. Recently moved into a duplex with my mother in law, and she had a "koi pond" that came with the house. Now I don't know(or didnt at the time) much about koi ponds, but I was familiar with fish tanks.
This "pond" (made by the previous owner) was 2 pre-fab liners, stuck in a hole in the ground, surrounded by rocks, and he threw a pump in that made the top pre-fab with a waterfall flow into the bottom. That is it. The top portion is about 50 gallons, the bottom potion being around 200 gallons. The pump is a monster for that sized pond, in my opinion at least, moves close to 600gph, will drain the pond in about 20-25 min).
Last year my mother in law bought 7 koi and put them in the pond, ran the pump a few hours a day, and fed the koi maybe once a day. Her and her neighbor(they share a backyard and were taking turns caring for it) just assumed once winter came all the koi were dead, and apparently found one still alive once the ice thawed (died a few weeks later).
And then I moved in, and decided to do something about it...Things I have done-
Removed the liners and reseated them, since the hole they were in was almost 8 inches deeper than the liner, and too narrow so the liner stuck out about 4 inches and tilted to the side...that was fun. I bought the only filter I could find nearby that would fit on the pump(yes it had been running without any filter) which leads me to believe that this pump is actually some sort of greywater pump, since it eats up leaves/sticks/sand like candy...again...a monster pump). So that now has a cheapo sponge filter on it but it works wonders for gathering up the copious amounts of solid stuff that blows into the pond.
Purchased some river rocks and peagravel from home depot(guy at the LFS suggested it) and rinsed it all off three times, and lined the bottom with it. Then I got overconfident and went and bought 14-comet goldfish.
5 died within two weeks. As soon as they started dying I tested the water and, the ammonia was pretty high, so i went and bought a bio filter. Again the LFS suggests one...its a big box with 2 mech filters at the top, and full of bioballs, with a pump on the inside) and a tree next to the pond is shedding these awful yellow flower pedals that are turning my pond into a big vat of yellow tea, so i get some charcoal to throw in there as well. In the mean time while the fish were dying and making me sad, I ordered some plants. LFS only had Hyacinth and a few lillies that were..well....mostly black and brown and $15 each, so I opted for 4 hyacinth, and picked up some lily bulbs from petco.
Who knew ebay sold pond plants...Got a fully grown water lily, a gallon bag full of hornwort, and some anachoris from a few lovely(and well priced) vendors on ebay.
At this point algea is starting to become a big problem, and the 2 more fish are dead...down to 7...
After a lot of research and thinking, I make a semi-bold move and order 6 trapdoor snails, and 6 freshwater clams (mussels). I get 7 of each in the mail.:biggrin: They are amazing. four days later the water is crystal clear and they are all..well..happy as a clam.
:fish2:
Now my setup is...
-250 gallon split level pond, with a 600pgh pump and a 100gph pump with a bio filter
-7 comet goldfish, 7 clams, 7 trapdoor snails
-water hyacinth, hornwort, anachoris, a hardy lily, and a few baby lily's just starting to come up, and some donated water lettuce.
the big pump moves water to the top tier(50g), where it cascades down to the big bottom part(200g). I placed the bio-box, as i call it, right below the waterfall, with the outlet pointing to the other side of the pond, where the filter for the big pump is. It pumps hard enough for me to see the water being disturbed on the other side slightly, so I know its reaching it. It seems to be working REALLY well so far, but I am concerned about the muck that gathers up in the rocks.
Of course I read that rocks are not advised in fish ponds, but that wasn't until after I put them in, and, well, the clams like em, almost as much as the like to burrow into the pots the lily's are in.
Would some sort of UGF work in this case to clear out the debris, or one thing I was thinking was do a reverse UGF, where the water from the bio-box is directed down below the gravel to come up through it.
Does anyone have any comments, ideas, or suggestions? Pond has been running stable for a month now, with no spikes/deaths from any of its occupants.
Also, if anyone knows anything about clams...I am a little concerned that they will eat themselves into starvation...
Thank you in advance, and I am sorry this is such a long post...well..not really, feels good to share my trials and tribulations.
They have grown but they are still all under 2 inches.
