Taking care of 16,000 gal pond

[jumpin]

Hello all. I am very new to the pond "scene" and am helping a friend who just became the proud owner of a 16,000 + gallon koi pond. I have one main question concerning the pond. It is a spring fed pond and the previous owners took the pump (had been using a sump pump) they had been using on the pond, so it had no real movement until we installed a 5,000 gph pump for the pond. Now I have done some research and I know that sump pumps are no good for ponds containing fish, and have read that koi ponds need a pump that can turn the pond's water volume over once every 2-4 hours. My main question pertains to this pump; Is the pump truly sufficient enough for the pond, or should we invest in a bigger pump?

 

[addy1]

Welcome

Well I don't have koi, but most koi keepers say you need to turn over every 1/2 to 1 hour. But since you said it is spring fed, I assume it is getting fresh water all of the time?

What kind of filters does the pond have?

 

[jumpin]

It does get fresh water all of the time, and is constantly, slowly spilling over into the overflow.

Filter wise, it has never had a filter placed in the pond in the 15+ years it's been there. We have discussed installing one.

 

[j.w]

jumpin
Hi and I would think it would be fine if it's constantly getting fresh water and you now have the new pump in there also.
Would love to see pics of it.

 

[taherrmann4]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[sissy]

welcome jumpin the one thing you is this a lined pond or just dirt bottom and how many do you think is it and what of fish are in it .I see a lot of ponds in VA and most seem to be dirt bottom and are also spring fed .

 

[addy1]

It does get fresh water all of the time, and is constantly, slowly spilling over into the overflow.

Filter wise, it has never had a filter placed in the pond in the 15+ years it's been there. We have discussed installing one.

With constant fresh water do you need one? is there a ton of yuck on the bottom?

 

[fishin4cars]

This is a intresting question, I would think that the 5000 gph pump would be good if your using it in a way to increase oxygen, That would be my biggest concern with a constant spring water supply and a pond of that size. Bio Filtering really should not be needed however some way of waste removal is needed. Make sure any try and spray water on one end of the pond or circulate bottom to surface to get some good surface agitation. I bet it stays crystal clear. I would like to see pics!

 

[addy1]

I ran my arizona pond, 14k gallons, on a 5000 gph pump, it did fine, did have a retro fit bottom drain installed and a upflow small bog.

If it has been running for 15 years without a filter I would think it must have been doing fine. I am curious if the bottom has a ton of junk on it, or has it been vacuumed.

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES! LOL

 

[jumpin]

Hello all! Sorry for the slow response. I have been out of town.

Thank you for all of the warm welcomes! You all have been amazing in responses and advice. Thank you!

Picture wise, I will see if the owner minds if I post one.

I am 99.9% certain that the previous owners NEVER vacuumed out the bottom of the pond. They told my friend that they never scooped up leaves off the surface of the water, so that's definitly decomposing at the bottom. I have not seen any sort of liner in the pond, so I would assume it's just a dirt/gravel bottom. There is at least an 1-3 inches of muck on the bottom all around, if not more. I haven't ventured out to the middle of the pond yet, because I start sinking the further in I go. Now that could also be due to not enough gravel around to prevent sinking. At least I REALLY hope so. Otherwise, those poor fish have lots of muck below them. We have tried to stir the bottom up as little as possible, because I have read that in the warmer months of the year, any hydrogen sulfide in the muck that is released can be amplified due to the warmer temperature of the water. So we should remove in the spring/fall time. And I am certain there is H2S due to the sulfur smell that comes up from pockets of gas/bubbles when you step in certain areas of the pond. I am looking into possibly using this stuff called Clear Pond Dry Formula to "safely" remove the organic matter, but I haven't found much of any reviews on it, so I have been hesitant to start. Otherwise, I don't know what to do other than shovel it out. There is no real effective way to remove all that is in there without stirring it up the bottom too much.

The pond started clearing up last week after we did a massive removal of over-grown algae (carpet algae, duckweed, etc.). There were at least 4 different types of algae that took over after the previous owners removed the pump and the pond stayed stagnant for a month+ .

I am uncertain of the number of fish in the pond, since we still see new koi we've not seen before. It's been a long process to get it to a good point. I do know there are mainly common goldfish, and a few differeny types of koi.

I hope this has been a decent description of the pond. Thanks again for all the advice!!!

 

[addy1]

You might want to check into a muck vac, that way you could vacuum the muck out without disturbing it too much.

 

[DrDave]

Welcome to the Forum!