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i am a newbie...i started my first pond 2 years ago ( @100 gal.) and had a terrible time with algea, last year i started adding pond algea block tabs and that seemed to help, still a problem though but i am still working on it...well this year i am feeling brave and excited , i added a new pond with a waterfall, still smaller than most of yours....(@ 700 gal.)... i have only one lonely fish, i think its just a large 8 inch white & gold goldfish, it looks like a minnow in the ocean.... how many koi should i add to both of my ponds.... i put my fish in the new pond, he loves the extra room to swim....i have a few lillies but they have never done very well....yesterday i repotted them using the soil-less method, and put them in the large pond (is there any way to fertilize them). i have been reading everything about ponds and koi that i can...now i am going to try to make my own floating islands. i am going to use waterfall foam & flower pots....what kind of plants would be good to plant in them and yet safe for my fish....
sorry about the 5 million questions..

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Hi Sheryle,

Welcome to the forum. Glad to see you’re enjoying the hobby. Can become very addictive.

What type of algae do you have? Algae needs sunlight to grow. The deeper the pond the better. If you have green water the best remedy is to use a UV light. If you have string algae, you can get rig of it using plants to create shade as well as Koi Clay which is good for water quality and fish. Plants fight for the same nutrients as the algae. A great plant rapidly grows is water hyacinth.

I believe Bonnie uses soil-less planting on bog/marginal plants. For lilies I think soil should still be used.

Stocking levels of fish can get complicated. Much depends on your filter system. Many folks overstock, but because they have oversized filter systems and/or perform regular water changes they can get away with overstocking. The first consideration here is what kind of fish do you plan to keep. It is generally accepted that Koi are dirtier (waste wise) than goldfish and therefore require a better filtration system.

Not sure there is an exact formula to figure out appropriate sticking level. I’ve read articles where one lb. of Koi per 400 gallons and others saying one lb. of Koi per 500-2000 gallons. One thing to keep in mind Koi can get quite large, so what might be adequate today may not in a year or two.

Hope this helps.
Steve

i had both string and green pea soup algea water this spring, but i did a complete water change last week. i put my fish in the new pond. what is your feelings on the barley bale? i do want to order koi clay. i am trying a homemade filter. how do you know if it is big enough? we also have a sand filter from our pool that we removed. i had thought about trying it.

what do i plant my lillies in? top soil? one i had planted in soil-less container last year and didn't remember but the others were in that stinky clay gross planting material,

my first pond is @ 5x3 in size and my new one is 7x10 in size.... both are 2 feet deep.

thanks for you suggestions

i am still trying to download my pics..... i am usually pretty good with adding pics but not here...

help!!!!

<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/firstpond003.jpg" width="400">


<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/firstpond005.jpg" width="400">


<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/firstpond004.jpg" width="400">

this is my new pond, we are still working on it...... my husband dug by hand and did all the work himself with a little help from our family....

below is our first pond....

<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/firstpond002.jpg" width="400">

and now for our only fish

<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/mypond001.jpg" width="400">

teresa,
my family can't wait to add to our family of fish....by chance we met some poeple at our local lowes (we learned that their kids go to school with ours) and they are over run with koi & plants, they wanted to know if we wanted some, how many would you add in a 700 gallon pond. i am taking it in stages, if i can keep this one under control from algea then i will be ready to go bigger. we just built our home 3 years ago on 5 flat acres...oh what a pond i could build ... your pond is beautiful, and your plants love them....what do you plant in? my son doesn't like it if i add to much to the bottom of the pond, he doesn't understand plants are important also...how do you keep your pond so clear... mine needs swept, it has mud from construction...what kind of filter do you use?

any suggestions for my pond, what would you do next

Sheryle,

Not a big fan of using barley bales. I never noticed a difference. There's a few algae threads in this forum and if I remember others had similar experience with barley.

As far as filter size, bigger is always better. Can't go wrong with having too big of a filter. We have a 8K gallon pond. The filter we're using is 6cuft and is rated for ponds up to 17K gallons. What the larger filter provides us is higher stocking levels along with less frequent backwashes. We still perform weekly water changes though.

Sand filters can be effective in Koi ponds at removing fine particles that pass through the biological stage, therefore enhancing water quality. One thing you need to be aware is that because the sand is so dense you may experience that the filter clogs quickly and therefore has to be cleaned on a regular basis. If you do use this as a biological filter you may want to consider installing some sort of mechanical filter in front of it to collect the larger particles that pass. This way the biological filter operates more efficiently.

For planting your lilies I'm a fan of using clay garden soil. Clay hold more nutrients. Becareful though, the clay can be quite messy, especially if a pot accidently falls over in the pond. As Teresa indicated Koi will eat almost anything they find. Therefore, place some large stones on top of the pot to keep them from making a mess.

Avoid using potting soil (bagged soil with labels that would say "potting soil"). These aren't really suitable for water plants. They usually contain a high degree of peat moss and manure (great for geraniums). Also bagged soil often contains vermiculite and perlite, which float to the water surface once they enter the pond. Not fun trying to skim this out of the pond.

Steve

thanks steve,

so basically i need a pump double my gallons of water. good to know. i have a lot to learn. with a sand filter, i read where it would be better to change out the sand for bio balls or the nylon scrubbers maybe.

my poor fish is freezing his fins off. water temp dropped to 50 degrees this morn.

SNOW!!!

above (in forum) is pics from yesterday, below is today.....

<img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/sheryledew/april292008003.jpg" width="400">

Sheryle

Ideally you would like to choose a pump that can over the volume of water once every hour or two.

Bummer about the snow. We've been having a rather strange spring as well. After enjoying some beautiful warm days, this week we're back in the low to mid-50's.
Steve