***The Pond Discussion Thread****

ChrisLX200 said:
One annoying issue was maintaining the water level as there is (I think) a small leak somewhere in the upper pool/splash pool area which defies precise detection. That together with evaporation meant topping up was required at least once a week.
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Watching with interest as I have just made a small solar powered water feature. I wanted to replicate a natural spring with a gentle trickle of water falling over plum slate. I sank a 40litre box and placed a grid over it made from two fridge shelves. The slate is arranged to allow the water to return to the reservoir and to hide the white shelves (bad choice but upcycled so free).
 
I may have sent myself down the koi rabbit hole. My pond has been running fine for a few years now and I've always said goldfish etc were enough for me but now I have myself two koi arriving next week! I blame watching the Shogun TV series.
 
Just bought 10Kg of Hakari Wheat-germ.

I think next season it will be 10Kg bags rather than 5Kg bags - they managed to get through 5Kg of Gold in 1 month. So the high temps and growth have seen the pond jump from consuming 1Kg/month to 5Kg/month. However as the temps drop so will their appetites.

Their colour will drop a little but that's normal and I'll re-boost when the water temps rise again.
 
Only issue with the temps and the fish going through 5kg of gold in a month plus some high protien nibbles is that it has increased nitirites and nitrate levels faster than the bio mass can cope this late in the season.
I’ll do a water change but for now they are on reduced rations.
I’m also going to check the hardness as the bio hits that quite hard when it extracts nitrates. I’ll order a bag of clay too which should help the bio side.
 
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I hadn't tested my water in a while so thought I should before my new fish arrived today and found my nitrate levels were high as well! I don't think it's helped that I haven't done a water change in ages. Last year I was topping it up quite a bit as it was very dry, but this year it's rained so much I haven't had to.

A quick water change last night and my new fish are acclimatising now before I release them.
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I also had to butcher my iris last night as it was starting to take over. It took two of us to get it out of the pond and when we did, it was bigger than my missus!
 
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Good job. I take it he's in the trade. Not many people can quickly progress like that. Only thing I'm paranoid about is splashing of chemicals - weed killer or pesticides, but I'd be thinking - splash of chlorinated pond water :D but should be fine.

On the pond filter house, did you put in a bottom grill drain? Helps clean up if you can simply hose down after and it goes straight to the drain. Have a mesh across the drain to stop the rats/mice from coming up it if it goes outside.
 
I am in the pond trade and this has been done in the background when we've had some free time but its been an incredibly busy year this year for us. The plan has changed slighty as we've been working on the garden with this being the most recent plan which has already been adjusted, mainly the shape and design of the small patio area in the far corner.

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The shed which is going to be part shed part pond filter plant room is now built and has a roof and power so I'm hoping we can get the pond finished and pool structure built before we start the next clients pond build. Turf and some of the plants are hopefully going to be in soon aswell which will make it look much more garden like that what we've been used to!
 
You remove the bottom drain cover for 5 minutes....

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@madtoady If you need one of these belt filters hit me up :) In my 25+ years of keeping ponds and helping friends/family etc with theres, ive never had a system so amazing.

Expensive yes but so maintainance minimal its genuinely amazing. Just give it a jet wash twice a year! (Its due one at the moment)
 
Have about 7 goldfish in garden pond that must be easily 20+ years old, anyway recently we have discovered two small black baby fish, at what age do adult gold fish generally stop producing baby fish?
I was quite amazed seeing these 2 little fish as not had any new fish for years. Its like they suddenly dropped from the sky into the pond, lol, its only a small pond and one day just noticed them!
 
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beachBOYken said:
Have about 7 goldfish in garden pond that must be easily 20+ years old, anyway recently we have discovered two small black baby fish, at what age do adult gold fish generally stop producing baby fish?
I was quite amazed seeing these 2 little fish as not had any new fish for years.
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You may have more fish than you realise, especially with natural cover including adult fish and amphibians etc!

“Goldfish” don’t last that long, possibly a few years at most - are you sure they’re not golden orf or rudd etc?
 
NickK said:
You may have more fish than you realise, especially with natural cover including adult fish and amphibians etc!

“Goldfish” don’t last that long, possibly a few years at most - are you sure they’re not golden orf or rudd etc?
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Always just been goldfish to me, lol. What ever they are they have been in the pond for 20 years or more. Its quite easy to spot all the fish currently because a lot of the natural cover has died back like Lilly pads, use a dark screen cover over part of the pond and a few things in the pond they can go under in the winter months. Here is a few photos, you can just make out the small black fish in 2nd photo by the large stone.

Water is super clear, I guess natural pond life helps with that or the pond pump/filter, should I turn it off during winter do you think? Never been an issue mind, just not sure what's best.
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Hey look like hybrids - carp/goldfish/orf. The shoulder is quite koi/carp like.

Quite often a mix is introduced, they breed and you get the longer life with what appears to be goldfish features and the original goldfish parent dies off or is taken by a predator.

Black is often the outcome of spawning - the reason you don’t see that in koi is due to the selective process. The less desired colours combinations, forms and black end up as fish meal.
Each quality koi is the result of 1000s or even 10000s to one survival/culling more when you consider lineage.
Natural spawn/selection ends up less genetically stressed so hybrids will last longer than imposed selection stress.

Although having said that the longest living goldfish was 43 years!
 
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