On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:25:28 CST, Timmah1980 wrote:

We've had our house for about six months now and are at last getting
around to replacing the leaky pond liner. With the pond, we inherited
about 14 small-medium gold fish, along with one quite large koi carp.
The pond itself will be about a 10ft x 8ft oval, with varying shelves
and depths - the deepest being about 1.5m.

I've read up on the subject and (plan in hand) am pretty comfortable
with the actual physical design/construction process. What I have
read conflicting information about is how long to leave the water to
settle until putting the fish back in?

The local pond centre suggests we keep the fish in a large barrell
during the changeover and reuse as much of the old pond water as
possible. So...we won't be entirely using tap water (about half-and-
half), but some sources have said we should leave it a couple of days
for the water to settle, and others have said upto six weeks!
Tim

The 2 most important things will be temperature and pH, not time, IMO. You
can use some of the old water, if it is clear (no sludge or cloudiness). In
fact, IMHO it will be less likely to go green, as you'll still have some of
the balance from the use of the old water.

Do have on hand, test kits for ammonia, pH & KH, plus a thermometer, Some
ammonia detox and salt also should be purchased. Once pH & temp are quite
close to same, you can move the fish. Then watch your water quality. ~ jan
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Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us