On May 5, 7:59 pm, Derek Broughton wrote:
wrote:
It's a bit shallow for koi, but people have kept them in worse...

So, it's not a definite no-no, just a "shouldn't".

If you _don't_ have koi, the UV (and filter) is pretty pointless - a water

garden with only plants will stay clear on its own without

As I said I'm no expert at ponds and just let the landscape gardner do
his thing. I didn't think of doing very much with the pond at first,
but when I saw all that filter equipment on the detailed plans, I
thought.. "hhmm.. maybe I could keep fish in there". It would save me
getting that 2000L Discus aquarium..

They've also currently planned a series of fairly powerful underwater
green lights.

It's deep enough in most places to keep goldfish.

Might start with that and then see how much the pond actually freezes
over in the winter. The winter outside is a big unknown for me. My
fish are usually nice and warm inside.

That's not really "obvious". One big problem with running a waterfall i
n
winter is ice damming. It's possible for ice to build up in such a way
as
to redirect water flow out of the pond. If that can happen, you're much

better off to turn off the waterfall.

Hhmm.. I think I'll have to see how it all works out this winter.

I also wouldn't mind
heating part of the pond with an immersion heater,

That will cost you a fortune.

I've read that this is fairly commonly done, just to keep an "air
hole" open during the winter. I've seen Jaeger do some pond heaters
that are of similar power to those used in a biggish tropical tank.

Not really. It would be a good idea to insulate those concrete walls,
between the concrete and the liner, with at least 3" of foam insulation,
but then conductance from the soil beneath the pond should keep it from
freezing solid.

Too late..

Are Koi surface feeders? would I be able to feed them properly? will
it stress the fish?

Many people have done this, it shouldn't be a problem. They're not stri
ctly
surface feeders, but they will come to the surface if food's there. The
y
can suck pretty well :-) If the grid is only an inch below water surface
they won't have trouble. What size is the grid? If the spacing is mo
re
than 3", they probably won't even notice it.

Haven't see it yet..

3) lighting during the night?

No idea, but you'd want a switch anyway, wouldn't you? There's no point

leaving the lights on if nobody is there to see, unless you're thinking of

it as a safety feature (being able to _see_ if your child's in the pond -
in which case motion detector external lights are probably more use).

It's actually going to be on one of those fancy light level detectors
and timed to switch off at midnight.. LEDs so it shouldn't consume too
much electricity. The pond is actually quite a feature for the lounge
(!?) as one of the walls is completely built in glass.. thus the fancy
lighting at night.

My son should long be in bed before the lights come on and no way is
going in the garden in the dark :-)