Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
I recently finished my first (only) koi pond. I did it all on my own,
with input primarily from books. I feel it is about a 450 gallon setup (9'X4'X2'deep (x7.5) minus shelves) It has a Beckett 1600 pump for the fall, as well as a Beckett BF700 Biofilter (it outputs up at the fall as well). The Biofilter is running 24/7 and the Big pump runs 8A to 10P. It is currently stocked with half a dozen gold fish and 2 koi. One 5" gold butterfly and a 15" something or other. Both were a score (didn't pay any were near what they were worth - read under $150). http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com/koi.html These are some pictures of the site. I started getting some green algae, and the local garden store (Los Angeles area) recommended putting in a barley bale (pellets in a mesh bag). Well, now my water is a lovely tea color. I have decided to install a 15 watt Aqua UV light attached to the 24 hour (beckett 350 btw) pump and remove the barley.. So, a few questions What would you change / add in this setup? Do I need to completely drain the pond and refill or will the barley tea color disappear in a while. How often do you have to do a water change? Partial and full? Anyone recommend some good books on this whole process that are steeped in advice. One koi book I looked at had tons of scientific data, but not much practical and easy to read. Anyway, I am sure it is the start of a number of questions, thanks to all in advance. Carl -- -- http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
Good news/bad news:
Good news: nice little pond! Bad news: you're overstocked . . . you can keep the goldfish, but you should get rid of the koi. Current opinion on koi is that you should have 1000 for the first koi, and 100 gals. for each additional koi. Pushing it, you need 100 gals. for each koi plus EXCELLENT filtration to handle the waste problem. But you don't want to hear that, I know. Sorry. So let's see what can be done to acommodate the situation: The green (pea soup) algae is common to all new ponds. Given enough time and patience (neither of which *most* ponders are blessed with), it would have gone away by itself. However, the UV will take care of the pea soup. Barley straw is used for string algae, which you probably don't have (yet!). And yes, it disintegrates (leaving messy suspended particulate matter) and it stains the water into a barley tea color. I would not change out all the water: your pond is just getting started and doesn't need the added stress. However, partial water changes - weekly - are needed, especially with your fish load. By partial, I mean 10-15%, which is replaced with fresh water (don't forget to dechlor the added water!). Topping off water evaporation or using rainwater overflow does NOT count and could be detrimental. You need to actually remove water and replace it. During the process of evaporation, all the chemicals (natural and added, including from the fish) become concentrated; eventually, just adding more water will leave you with a significant level of toxic material in the pond. That's why it HAS to be exchanged. There are people here that will argue that premise, but THINK about it. Also, with your fish load, you need the best chance possible for them. Goldfish and Koi are heavy waste excreters - it has to be removed. And as they grow, it becomes worse (sigh). Now, something you *didn't* ask about: testing your water. I hate to keep harping on this - but I know you're not going to find homes for your fish (I didn't either after I had them!) - so you have to keep a very good eye on your water chemistry, especially with a new pond. Until your filter gets up to speed, which can take 6-8 weeks to develop the bio-bugs, you're going to need to help neutralize the ammonia that the fish will produce. I suggest you get a bottle of Amquel (a water conditioner that neutralizes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia; you'll need it for your water changes, anyway): you can overdose it many times over with no ill effect on the fish, but it will bind the ammonia, rendering it harmless to the fish. To test for ammonia, however, you will need a 2 part ammonia test kit (salicylate versus nessler). Or, make it easy on yourself and find an Ammonia Alert card (made by Seachem): it will tell you at a glance if you need to neutralize ammonia, so you can pour a couple of glunks of Amquel in the pond (note: the card will ready ammonia almost immediately, but it takes it several hours to go back to neutral, so don't panic immediately). The first byproduct of ammonia is nitrIte, which can be deadly (causes brown blood disease, making it impossible for the fish to absorb oxygen), so you need a test kit for that, too. *No amount of ammonia or nitrIte is acceptable*. The help the fish through nitrIte, you need to add non-iodized salt to the pond. Or, if you can get your hands on it, a Tbs. of Koi Clay (calcium bentonite) will absorb the nitrIte (the salt just helps the fish cope with it). And your pH: anything between 7.5 and 9 is OK, but it should be stable, with as little fluctuation between AM readings and PM readings as possible. The scale for pH is kinda like your Richter scale: each point is 10 times the amount of the previous point, so the fluctuation between 8 and 9 is 1000! If you have the fluctuation, let us know and we can work on that, too. But at this point, you will need test kits for ammonia, nitrIte (not nitrAte, we'll worry about that later!) and pH (probably the high end, but something that will test to at least 9). Now that you're thoroughly confused, good luck! There are lots of folks on this board that will help! Lee "Carl Beyer" wrote in message ... I recently finished my first (only) koi pond. I did it all on my own, with input primarily from books. I feel it is about a 450 gallon setup (9'X4'X2'deep (x7.5) minus shelves) It has a Beckett 1600 pump for the fall, as well as a Beckett BF700 Biofilter (it outputs up at the fall as well). The Biofilter is running 24/7 and the Big pump runs 8A to 10P. It is currently stocked with half a dozen gold fish and 2 koi. One 5" gold butterfly and a 15" something or other. Both were a score (didn't pay any were near what they were worth - read under $150). http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com/koi.html These are some pictures of the site. I started getting some green algae, and the local garden store (Los Angeles area) recommended putting in a barley bale (pellets in a mesh bag). Well, now my water is a lovely tea color. I have decided to install a 15 watt Aqua UV light attached to the 24 hour (beckett 350 btw) pump and remove the barley.. So, a few questions What would you change / add in this setup? Do I need to completely drain the pond and refill or will the barley tea color disappear in a while. How often do you have to do a water change? Partial and full? Anyone recommend some good books on this whole process that are steeped in advice. One koi book I looked at had tons of scientific data, but not much practical and easy to read. Anyway, I am sure it is the start of a number of questions, thanks to all in advance. Carl -- -- http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
In article ,
"Lee Brouillet" wrote: Good news/bad news: Good news: nice little pond! Bad news: you're overstocked . . . you can keep the goldfish, but you should get rid of the koi. Current opinion on koi is that you should have 1000 for the first koi, and 100 gals. for each additional koi. Pushing it, you need 100 gals. for each koi plus EXCELLENT filtration to handle the waste problem. But you don't want to hear that, I know. Sorry. So let's see what can be done to acommodate the situation: The green (pea soup) algae is common to all new ponds. Given enough time and patience (neither of which *most* ponders are blessed with), it would have gone away by itself. However, the UV will take care of the pea soup. Barley straw is used for string algae, which you probably don't have (yet!). And yes, it disintegrates (leaving messy suspended particulate matter) and it stains the water into a barley tea color. I would not change out all the water: your pond is just getting started and doesn't need the added stress. However, partial water changes - weekly - are needed, especially with your fish load. By partial, I mean 10-15%, which is replaced with fresh water (don't forget to dechlor the added water!). Topping off water evaporation or using rainwater overflow does NOT count and could be detrimental. You need to actually remove water and replace it. During the process of evaporation, all the chemicals (natural and added, including from the fish) become concentrated; eventually, just adding more water will leave you with a significant level of toxic material in the pond. That's why it HAS to be exchanged. There are people here that will argue that premise, but THINK about it. Also, with your fish load, you need the best chance possible for them. Goldfish and Koi are heavy waste excreters - it has to be removed. And as they grow, it becomes worse (sigh). Now, something you *didn't* ask about: testing your water. I hate to keep harping on this - but I know you're not going to find homes for your fish (I didn't either after I had them!) - so you have to keep a very good eye on your water chemistry, especially with a new pond. Until your filter gets up to speed, which can take 6-8 weeks to develop the bio-bugs, you're going to need to help neutralize the ammonia that the fish will produce. I suggest you get a bottle of Amquel (a water conditioner that neutralizes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia; you'll need it for your water changes, anyway): you can overdose it many times over with no ill effect on the fish, but it will bind the ammonia, rendering it harmless to the fish. To test for ammonia, however, you will need a 2 part ammonia test kit (salicylate versus nessler). Or, make it easy on yourself and find an Ammonia Alert card (made by Seachem): it will tell you at a glance if you need to neutralize ammonia, so you can pour a couple of glunks of Amquel in the pond (note: the card will ready ammonia almost immediately, but it takes it several hours to go back to neutral, so don't panic immediately). The first byproduct of ammonia is nitrIte, which can be deadly (causes brown blood disease, making it impossible for the fish to absorb oxygen), so you need a test kit for that, too. *No amount of ammonia or nitrIte is acceptable*. The help the fish through nitrIte, you need to add non-iodized salt to the pond. Or, if you can get your hands on it, a Tbs. of Koi Clay (calcium bentonite) will absorb the nitrIte (the salt just helps the fish cope with it). And your pH: anything between 7.5 and 9 is OK, but it should be stable, with as little fluctuation between AM readings and PM readings as possible. The scale for pH is kinda like your Richter scale: each point is 10 times the amount of the previous point, so the fluctuation between 8 and 9 is 1000! If you have the fluctuation, let us know and we can work on that, too. But at this point, you will need test kits for ammonia, nitrIte (not nitrAte, we'll worry about that later!) and pH (probably the high end, but something that will test to at least 9). Now that you're thoroughly confused, good luck! There are lots of folks on this board that will help! Lee Not confused, just encourage. Thanks for the great advice. I have a small (12gal) reef tank in the house, so some of this makes sense... I will get on testing shortly. Carl -- -- http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
Have fun, and let us know when you have other questions.
Lee "Carl Beyer" wrote in message ... In article , "Lee Brouillet" wrote: Good news/bad news: Good news: nice little pond! Bad news: you're overstocked . . . you can keep the goldfish, but you should get rid of the koi. Current opinion on koi is that you should have 1000 for the first koi, and 100 gals. for each additional koi. Pushing it, you need 100 gals. for each koi plus EXCELLENT filtration to handle the waste problem. But you don't want to hear that, I know. Sorry. So let's see what can be done to acommodate the situation: The green (pea soup) algae is common to all new ponds. Given enough time and patience (neither of which *most* ponders are blessed with), it would have gone away by itself. However, the UV will take care of the pea soup. Barley straw is used for string algae, which you probably don't have (yet!). And yes, it disintegrates (leaving messy suspended particulate matter) and it stains the water into a barley tea color. I would not change out all the water: your pond is just getting started and doesn't need the added stress. However, partial water changes - weekly - are needed, especially with your fish load. By partial, I mean 10-15%, which is replaced with fresh water (don't forget to dechlor the added water!). Topping off water evaporation or using rainwater overflow does NOT count and could be detrimental. You need to actually remove water and replace it. During the process of evaporation, all the chemicals (natural and added, including from the fish) become concentrated; eventually, just adding more water will leave you with a significant level of toxic material in the pond. That's why it HAS to be exchanged. There are people here that will argue that premise, but THINK about it. Also, with your fish load, you need the best chance possible for them. Goldfish and Koi are heavy waste excreters - it has to be removed. And as they grow, it becomes worse (sigh). Now, something you *didn't* ask about: testing your water. I hate to keep harping on this - but I know you're not going to find homes for your fish (I didn't either after I had them!) - so you have to keep a very good eye on your water chemistry, especially with a new pond. Until your filter gets up to speed, which can take 6-8 weeks to develop the bio-bugs, you're going to need to help neutralize the ammonia that the fish will produce. I suggest you get a bottle of Amquel (a water conditioner that neutralizes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia; you'll need it for your water changes, anyway): you can overdose it many times over with no ill effect on the fish, but it will bind the ammonia, rendering it harmless to the fish. To test for ammonia, however, you will need a 2 part ammonia test kit (salicylate versus nessler). Or, make it easy on yourself and find an Ammonia Alert card (made by Seachem): it will tell you at a glance if you need to neutralize ammonia, so you can pour a couple of glunks of Amquel in the pond (note: the card will ready ammonia almost immediately, but it takes it several hours to go back to neutral, so don't panic immediately). The first byproduct of ammonia is nitrIte, which can be deadly (causes brown blood disease, making it impossible for the fish to absorb oxygen), so you need a test kit for that, too. *No amount of ammonia or nitrIte is acceptable*. The help the fish through nitrIte, you need to add non-iodized salt to the pond. Or, if you can get your hands on it, a Tbs. of Koi Clay (calcium bentonite) will absorb the nitrIte (the salt just helps the fish cope with it). And your pH: anything between 7.5 and 9 is OK, but it should be stable, with as little fluctuation between AM readings and PM readings as possible. The scale for pH is kinda like your Richter scale: each point is 10 times the amount of the previous point, so the fluctuation between 8 and 9 is 1000! If you have the fluctuation, let us know and we can work on that, too. But at this point, you will need test kits for ammonia, nitrIte (not nitrAte, we'll worry about that later!) and pH (probably the high end, but something that will test to at least 9). Now that you're thoroughly confused, good luck! There are lots of folks on this board that will help! Lee Not confused, just encourage. Thanks for the great advice. I have a small (12gal) reef tank in the house, so some of this makes sense... I will get on testing shortly. Carl -- -- http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
Another thing you may wish to consider: without a doubt, you don't have as
much water as you think you do. Knowing how much you "really" have is important when it comes time to medicate or salt your pond. May I "assume" you don't have any salt in it at the moment? When you're out buying the other test kits, get a salt test also. The ones you have for your reef tank won't work: the maximum a koi/goldfish pond should EVER be is 0.3, whereas reef tanks start on the OTHER side of the decimal point! I kinda like Aquarium Pharmaceutical tests: they're pretty easy (and accurate), but you may have to deal with whatever you can find. Go to this site: http://www.click2roark.com ; sign up (no cost/no spam!) and check out his info. He has a calculator that will tell you exactly how much water you really have. You test your water first (get the salt reading), add a KNOWN (weighed) amount of salt, wait a day for the salt to dissolve, then test again. Plug the figures into the calculator and it will tell you how many gallons you really have. Be ready for a shock! FYG, you can buy the plain ol' rock salt (in the blue bag) made by Morton for water conditioners. It will dissolve slower than (NON-IODIZED!) table salt, and is cheaper. When you add the salt, try to find a place to put it where the fish can't get to it, like in your filter or something. They're curious little buggers, and if they nose around in a pile of salt, they'll get burned. It's important to know how much water you really have. Lee "Carl Beyer" wrote in message ... Not confused, just encourage. Thanks for the great advice. I have a small (12gal) reef tank in the house, so some of this makes sense... I will get on testing shortly. Carl -- -- http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
Hiya Carl,
All I've got to add to Lee's excellent advice that I agree with is perhaps this website: http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/H2oQual.html Explains the chemistry and green water, plus other interesting things, and you don't have to have a chemistry degree to understand it. ;o) Only one minor disagreement is adding salt to one's filter, bio-bugs are also sensitive to salt burn. So unless you can add it after the bio-filter, figure something else out. ~ jan See my ponds and filter design: http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~Keep 'em Wet!~ Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a To e-mail see website On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 14:49:12 -0700, Carl Beyer wrote: I recently finished my first (only) koi pond. I did it all on my own, with input primarily from books. I feel it is about a 450 gallon setup (9'X4'X2'deep (x7.5) minus shelves) It has a Beckett 1600 pump for the fall, as well as a Beckett BF700 Biofilter (it outputs up at the fall as well). The Biofilter is running 24/7 and the Big pump runs 8A to 10P. It is currently stocked with half a dozen gold fish and 2 koi. One 5" gold butterfly and a 15" something or other. Both were a score (didn't pay any were near what they were worth - read under $150). http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com/koi.html These are some pictures of the site. I started getting some green algae, and the local garden store (Los Angeles area) recommended putting in a barley bale (pellets in a mesh bag). Well, now my water is a lovely tea color. I have decided to install a 15 watt Aqua UV light attached to the 24 hour (beckett 350 btw) pump and remove the barley.. So, a few questions What would you change / add in this setup? Do I need to completely drain the pond and refill or will the barley tea color disappear in a while. How often do you have to do a water change? Partial and full? Anyone recommend some good books on this whole process that are steeped in advice. One koi book I looked at had tons of scientific data, but not much practical and easy to read. Anyway, I am sure it is the start of a number of questions, thanks to all in advance. Carl -----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==---------- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =----- |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
First Koi pond advice
Thanks Jan - I forgot about the bio-bugs being a little sensitive to excess
salt. I have an area in my skimmer box, post pre-filter, pre bead filter and bio-falls. I usually just chuck the rock salt in there, where it dissolves slowly, away from the fish. But not every one has that "luxury"! Lee "~ jan" wrote in message ... Hiya Carl, All I've got to add to Lee's excellent advice that I agree with is perhaps this website: http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/H2oQual.html Explains the chemistry and green water, plus other interesting things, and you don't have to have a chemistry degree to understand it. ;o) Only one minor disagreement is adding salt to one's filter, bio-bugs are also sensitive to salt burn. So unless you can add it after the bio-filter, figure something else out. ~ jan See my ponds and filter design: http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~Keep 'em Wet!~ Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a To e-mail see website On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 14:49:12 -0700, Carl Beyer wrote: I recently finished my first (only) koi pond. I did it all on my own, with input primarily from books. I feel it is about a 450 gallon setup (9'X4'X2'deep (x7.5) minus shelves) It has a Beckett 1600 pump for the fall, as well as a Beckett BF700 Biofilter (it outputs up at the fall as well). The Biofilter is running 24/7 and the Big pump runs 8A to 10P. It is currently stocked with half a dozen gold fish and 2 koi. One 5" gold butterfly and a 15" something or other. Both were a score (didn't pay any were near what they were worth - read under $150). http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com/koi.html These are some pictures of the site. I started getting some green algae, and the local garden store (Los Angeles area) recommended putting in a barley bale (pellets in a mesh bag). Well, now my water is a lovely tea color. I have decided to install a 15 watt Aqua UV light attached to the 24 hour (beckett 350 btw) pump and remove the barley.. So, a few questions What would you change / add in this setup? Do I need to completely drain the pond and refill or will the barley tea color disappear in a while. How often do you have to do a water change? Partial and full? Anyone recommend some good books on this whole process that are steeped in advice. One koi book I looked at had tons of scientific data, but not much practical and easy to read. Anyway, I am sure it is the start of a number of questions, thanks to all in advance. Carl -----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==---------- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =----- |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
First lawn, first post. In need of advice.... | Lawns | |||
Advice needed - pond PH too high, my koi died | Ponds | |||
koi and plants? depends on the pond size.... and the koi's diet... | Ponds | |||
my first pond and other first pond | Ponds | |||
advice wanted on building 10,000 gal koi pond | Ponds |