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Posted By: kodell Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 2nd, 2007 at 02:04 PM
We have a Koi Pond thats about 10 years old. Started out with one of those little peanut shaped things. That lasted all of two years before my husband said "We need a bigger pond!" Fine by me...he had to do all the work! We (HE) dug out a little more but because of the tree roots we decided to go up. The sides are 2x12 boards with cinder blocks for the support. We put Arkansas stone of the front of it for looks tho. There are 6 koi and 1 goldfish. I think the youngest one is 9 yo the oldest is Big Yeller at 14. Here he is last summer...

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Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 2nd, 2007 at 02:06 PM
And this is a picture of them this winter...it was cold...

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Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 2nd, 2007 at 02:27 PM
And of course we always have visitors...

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Posted By: penny in ontario Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 2nd, 2007 at 02:41 PM
What a great looking pond Kirsten!!!
They always start out small dont they!!
Love the last picture too laugh thumbup laugh thumbup
Posted By: plants 'n pots Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 2nd, 2007 at 07:57 PM
WOW Kirsten!!!

Your fish look terrific! I can't wait to get our pond set up this year and get some koi. Can you show us some pictures of the overall pond? How big/deep is it?

Does it freeze over in winter?
Any words of advice?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a newbie at this, and would like to get it right!
Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 01:32 AM
Hey, questions are great. I will take some pics just for you. The will be covered in snow. But you can see its just a big square above ground. I don't remember the exact dimensions. 10 or 12 feet square? It's a little more than 3 feet at the deepest. Originally we had a peanut liner (one of those hard plastic things you get at Lowes) with a 4 foot creek coming from a whiskey barrel. So the bottom contours to that plan. We had a 3200 gph pump that divided between two outlets to the waterfall you see in the pic with the squirrel, going thru the green bio filter in the back, and thru a in-pond filter. Over-kill extreme but hubby cleans the filters "every once in a while". Unless it gets down into the single digits for a week, the waterfall will keep an opening in the ice, which the fish have to have for the gas exchange. But we do put a stock tank heater in for just in case. The only problem that we've had with it was one time it almost pumped dry when a neighbors dog knocked the hose out of the bio filter! Always raise the internal filter so their is at least a foot of water in the bottom!
Posted By: Triss Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 02:02 AM
Looks great Kirsten!! I cannot wait to get some sort of pond going!
Posted By: eclo Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 05:30 PM
Hey your pond looks great!..... Gotta ask what kind of winter you have there...I just bought me a new chain saw so's I could cut some holes in me pond..... had the niece and the grandkids over here ice skating the other night.... was really neat! the ice is 8 inches thick.... heres a pic...... [Linked Image] the ice block in the middle of photo is the one I just cut out with me new chainsaw..... you can see a couple of holes I cut last week that have since frozen over solid ..................
Posted By: plants 'n pots Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 06:02 PM
I have read on several ponding websites to never pound or bang/cut a hole in the ice, because the vibrations from that will shock and kill the fish! ters

Has anyone found this to be true?

Kirsten - I look forward to seeing your other pictures, snow covered and not.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 06:25 PM
Love those pics Kirsten! Keep them coming! muggs

Quote
I have read on several ponding websites to never pound or bang/cut a hole in the ice, because the vibrations from that will shock and kill the fish!
I've read that too Lynne, a bazillion times....
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 3rd, 2007 at 07:41 PM
there is some truth to that, but it is exagerated for safety sake.

there are parts of the world that indulge in something called "blast" fishing where dynamite is dropped over the side of a boat and after the explosion, the stunned and dead fish are just scooped up. it is highly discouraged, but is a prime example of fish dying from vibration shock.

on the other side, when net fishing, fishermen will often "whack" the water with the flat side of an oar to startle them into moving toward the nets. killing or stunning the fish is absolutely not desired, but rather startling them into moving. particularly in cooler weather.

bear in mind that both of these practices are for open water fishing, but as you can see, in the extreme it can kill the fish, and in the mildest form, startles them. not always a "bad" thing, but not necessarily a good thing.
Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 12:49 AM
Hey eclo. I never thought of using a chainsaw. How big is your pond?! I see you are from Raytown...SW MO is pretty much like yours except you usually get more snow than us. The temps are pretty much the same.
Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 12:54 AM
OK Lynne, here is a pic I took this morning. Isn't expecially a good pic, but you have to know that my backyard is tiny so I was pretty much standing back as far as I could. I don't have a lot of interesting angles to choose from
[Linked Image]

It looks much better in summer with all my water plants in it.
Posted By: kodell Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 01:01 AM
Jiffy is right about the banging on ice and that it isn't always a bad thing...Such as today I had to check on one of my jobs, a dayspa that has a goldfish pond outside. There are three pillars that water trickles down from. We decided to leave the pumps running this winter. I put a heater in it but it quick working and the outlet is buried in the bushes. So I have to keep the ice open for the fish. The icicles coming down the pillars are very pretty but keep the water from dropping to the surface like its supposed to. So breaking the ice is the only way to keep it open for now.
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Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 02:13 AM
Kirsten, i LOVE your pond! I think i need one like that.

and i'm glad you can verify that the banging can be a good thing (much better to have the gases escape)

i am fortunate that my pond doesn't freeze at all, in fact, we have only had about 10 days total that the dog's water bowl froze!

i'll post pics of my pond again soon.
Posted By: Triss Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 02:25 AM
Those are some big blocks of ice Eclo!! WOW!

Kirsten, your pond is beautiful!!! Love the rocks!
Posted By: plants 'n pots Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 06:58 PM
Thanks for posting those pictures, Kirsten!
Your pond is very nice - I really like how you arranged the rocks around it! I can't wait to see more pictures when the weather warms up - would you please tell us more about the plants you put in there? This is all still new to me, and I need all the info I can get.

I really like those columns as well. Would love to see them when they are not frozen.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 10:30 PM
ok, as requested, here are the pics of my pond in cold weather. to see pics in warm weather (3 weeks ago nutz ) click here.

this is the overall set up:
[Linked Image]
i have great plans for when the weather warms up to fix it a little nicer

this is a close up of the top two tiers:
[Linked Image]

this is the bottom, the "main" pond:
[Linked Image]

continued next post.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 4th, 2007 at 10:38 PM
here are close ups of the plants

this is duckweed. cindy sent it to me, and it lives quite nicely and prevents algae quite well.
[Linked Image]

next is some water hyacinth that i am surprised is surviving
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a testimony to how warm it has been here this winter

and finally water lettuce
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which won't die at all if the water doesn't freeze. although it doesn't do "great" when it gets really cold.

in the warm weather post, i had moved most of the floaters to the top bucket so i could see my fish. most of time, i don't do that.
Posted By: eclo Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 5th, 2007 at 05:33 PM
I would definately agree,pounding on the ice to break it is NOT a good thing and can hurt or even kill the fish but cutting a hole in it with an electric chainsaw does not vibrate it to much at all. Especially since it is 8 inches thick and it is like solid rock...I have a pond heater on order just enuff to keep a small hole opened up... Hope it gets here soon!
Posted By: afgreyparrot Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 6th, 2007 at 02:35 AM
2 years ago my little pond almost froze solid.
I was in a panic...and Bill told me to put a flood light shining down on it, which I did...and it thawed a pretty large spot out.

I have since built a much bigger pond, and bought a heater at the local feed store (for keeping livestock water thawed out). It floats on top of the pond and keeps a 3' circle thawed.


Kirsten..you have a beautiful pond and some beautiful fishies!
Posted By: penny in ontario Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 6th, 2007 at 02:11 PM
I love it Jiffy.....i have room for one of those here!!!
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 6th, 2007 at 05:51 PM
that one is a kit i got at kmart a couple of years ago, and LOVE it! and it was cheap comparatively. the pump alone was worth what a paid for the whole thing.
Posted By: penny in ontario Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 6th, 2007 at 06:33 PM
Thanks Jiffy......I'll have to remember that one, but i do love how it looks!!!
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 7th, 2007 at 03:48 AM
penny, i think you misunderstood me. the pump was included. a comparable pump cost more then the whole kit did.

so, i basically bought the pump and got the kit free! laugh laugh

and, after i showed hubby a few pumps he quit griping about the kit! thumbup
Posted By: penny in ontario Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 7th, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Good deal......i showed Brad the picture and he liked it, so i am hoping i can get one this spring thumbup thumbup
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 8th, 2007 at 03:18 AM
fingers crossed here for you too!
Posted By: penny in ontario Re: Koi Pond ~ photo heavy ~ save - February 8th, 2007 at 03:02 PM
Fingers crossed here too Jiffy.....what would you recomend for first time fish for it?
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