Anyone have experience building a pond

[Therapy]

I would like to build a pond in my yard. I need to keep it super basic. I will not be able to get electricity to the area so I cant have pumps and such. I want too keep a simple plant pond (lillies and such), and some goldfish or mosquito fish. I want to use a pond liner, and build something around 15 feet wide by 20 feet long. 3.5-4 feet deep all around.
Anyone got skills to build this?

UPDATED: That simple pond idea morphed into this current pond project

1) 18x12 formal koi only pond with a uniform depth of 5 feet (almost 8,000 gallons)
1A)Cinder block construction with xypex waterproofing in pond with thoraseal on outside of pond.
2) Two koi toilet 4 inch bottom drains with aeration. This is Gravity fed to aqua forte ultra sieve mechanical filter. Thats returned to pond via 4 returns.
3) No Niche skimmer which feeds an advantage 10 Bead filter going to ZAP 10 UV that is returned to pond via 3 returns and a waterfall feature.
4)Pond is totally covered with a pergola
5)Filter pit behind pond holds filtration

[bbandu]

If you want to have a pump on it you could always go with a solar pump

[av619]

Ill hep if i can but im really stoked your going with the pond!!! I have some pleco's you can probably have if you want them also a bluegill if you want. Also just an idea maybe you could do a solar type deal for a filter... but i bet at the cost to do something solar you could just get a wire ran down there..

Check this out: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=pond+liner&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=507736422211070646&sa=X&ei=EZLgTZz5K6XliAKf8bm6Bg&ved=0CIUBEPMCMAI
And this looks like a great place to read up- http://www.pondrushes.net/

here is a good quick paragraph about having that coral tree there and hos its in a low spot - Let's start at the basics. Where you place your pond makes a lot of difference. Sure your pond will look beautiful under that copse of trees, but you'll be spending more time scooping out leaves - unless you install a skimmer. That low spot in the yard may seem the perfect place for a pond since it's already soggy, but unless you raise the edge to keep OUT all that rain water runoff, you're in for a really big mess. If you stop to think what's in that runoff, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, dirt, dog and cat poop from all over the neighborhood you'll know why you want to keep ground runoff out of your pond.

[bbandu]

check these out...... http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=solar+pumps+for+ponds&cp=21&qe=c29sYXIgcHVtcHMgZm9yIHBvbmRz&qesig=_pN3j6bEz3fHA6QesuZN3w&pkc=AFgZ2tl1ZjXS2QIJrkpoGC-SBYLd3nfUJnsWfynOMXm8n_0_jbrCNQRdBJ2hSFqwTs8Ac5w2_ 5iXrOZDbU0sjuqQKrcujLq9RQ&pq=solar+pumps+for+ponds&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1152&bih=705&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=2450667726907920259&sa=X&ei=4pPgTfbKCsPW0QHez-iTBw&sqi=2&ved=0CGEQ8wIwAg

[Dizzle21]

ive built a 15x9x3 pond for my grandparents awhile back, Its ALOT of work "time" diggen up that much dirt id definetly would try and get a tractor for the majority of it.

[slurpeshark]

Hey Marde, If you decide to DIY, let me know I may be able to help with the manual labor part of it. :)

[av619]

there is a place in santee i remember... here is the link!
http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=fish+store&fb=1&gl=us&hq=fish+store&hnear=0x80d9530fad921e4b:0xd3a21fdfd15df79,San+Die go,+CA&ei=esPhTeHsD4niiAKa-YiYBg&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CAQQtgMwBA&iwloc=cids:13497752781889689444

[LotsaFishies]

Marde - contact Kevin @ Live Water Aquaria.

I don't deal much with ponds...everything else though!

[av619]

Another thing is I think koi eat the roots on pond plants... Not too sure but I thought I heard mike at vets pets saying that

[KDHL]

...Decided to go with a real pond with a waterfall feature. Will go with filtration and all. Thinking of keeping koi and some plants. Thinking of going with 3.5 feet deep all around . Pond will be small like 14x14 feet approximately .If you want a less maintenance pond. Take your time and plan it carefully especially the filtration system... do not rush. You will be glad if you take your time and build a good system. Go with gravity feed filtration.

Go deeper than 3.5 feet.... I have a 4 feet pond and wish I go deeper.

koiphen dot com forum has good info. There are quite a lot of ponders in San Diego.

Digging is not fun.... oh... I won't put any plants in the pond, also no gravel bottom also.... if you want a clean, clear and less maintenance pond.

Good Luck.

[CGsReef]

My friend is a member of the SD Koi club. He would know all the right people to talk to. If you are interested, pm me. Good luck

[H4Rk3R]

14x14 is small?

i have a 11x12x5 hole dug all ready for a liner in my backyard and that thing took a summer to dig by hand. =P But that was just me and help from a friend now and then.

[KDHL]

what would you put at the bottom of the pond?Nothing. Install bottom drain(s) if you can. Do not put rocks on the bottom of the pond. You will regret later! Just leave it bare empty. I never have to vacumn or cleaning the bottom of the pond. Everything gravity feed into the settling chamber.

If I build another pond.. I go at least 6 feet deep.

[LotsaFishies]

Keep in mind there could be legal requirement with certain depths like there are with pools... ie over "x" feet deep requires a fence around it...

But who cares. :)

[Therapy]

ive built a 15x9x3 pond for my grandparents awhile back, Its ALOT of work "time" diggen up that much dirt id definetly would try and get a tractor for the majority of it.

You called that!!!!!! The digging sucked. We also ran into a natural ground water stream and had to dig an addition trench to divert the water. P.s all done by hand. I wish we used a bobcat

[Therapy]

My friend is a member of the SD Koi club. He would know all the right people to talk to. If you are interested, pm me. Good luck
I joined the club. COOL people. The president, vice president and other member of the club came to my house for free to consult on the pond build

[av619]

and what did they have to say? when am i over there again? i think we are done digging correct?

[AJ858]

I might be a little late but let me know if you need any help. I dont know anything about koi ponds but I am interested and can do physical labor.

[KDHL]

Final stats on what we are building

1) 16x13 formal koi only pond with a uniform depth of 5 feet (almost 8,000 gallons)
2) Two bottom drains Gravity fed to mechanical filter
3) Filtration
two cetus sieves, advantage 15 bead filter bawaki shower to uv back too pond via 5 returns. One in each corner one mid pond
Second filter circuit will be 2 Skimmers that go to moving filter bed returning to pond via three waterfall features.
Congrats! That is an awesome pond.

Please post some pictures of your future pond.

With all the equipments you listed above... you'll definitely have a beautiful pond.

Happy ponding...

[Rabidgerbil38]

Koi are troublesome because they tear up plants and prolific breeders.

When you dig out the hole make sure you slope the floor so that you can take a pump and pull as much water as possible for when you need to clean it out.

If your going to put rocks in there for the walls it's best to use mortar and set your stones in that so you don't end up with a ton of muck behind the rocks leaching algae food.

Also be careful with your sellection of plants as some create fuit like stuff that you either have to manually remove or it will decay and turn into grade A algae food.

That's all the advice I got off the top of my head. HTH

[Live Water Aquariums]

Wow, it sounds like you are putting together a top notch koi pond!!!

I would deffinately go deeper if you can. The deeper the better. Also I'm sure you're planning to but make sure the sides go straight down, not sloping. This will help keep raccoons and harons out.

It looks like you've got a handle on everything. Something I would highly reccomend is to add some type of pergola or shade structure over the pond. it helps with algae and clarity (which you shouldn't have any problems with with the filtration planned) but it also helps limit the visibility of the pond to the great blue harons as they fly overhead. They can spot that bright orange and white of Koi from a mile away, and if they cant see them from overhead, it will greatly help your chances of keeping them away. Also consider running water lines across the front of the pond to be ableto set up "scarecrow"s they are motion sensor sprinklers that scare critters away. If you set them up across the front of the pond, pointing at the pond, you can walk up to the pond without getting sprayed. If you bury the water line while your doing all this work it will be much easier to hide them ahead of time. If set up right they are very affective.
When you build the pond deeper, your fish will grow faster and get bigger overall, it helps with clarity because the algae circulates downward where less light penetrates. Good luck with the project, I'm sure it's going to be great.
It doesn't sound like you need it, but if you need any advice, I'd be happy to help. I don't do construction anymore, but I do some consultation and filter installation/ maintenance. I also have great connections for top quality koi, if you are interested. Thanks, Kevin.

[KDHL]

Changes. Already thinking about going 6 feet deep instead of five. What you think, better or worse deeperDefinitely agree with Kevin (Live Water Aquarium). If you don't mind the formal or raise pond... you can build 18"-24" above ground. Save you some digging... and a place to sit to enjoy. I have a raised pond.

Definitely plan to have some kind of shade cover for the algae. I have sail shades. Pergola is nice... put in one of the corner and have a BBQ island will be great!

Plan everything ahead of time will save you a lot later. I did ad-hoc (build & plan on the fly) on my pond... so I'm not 100% happy with it.

Something to consider... instead of liner, do the polyrea (sp?) spray. Look 1000% better. I don't have it sprayed... but I have concrete + pondshield pond.

Again, filtration is the key... there is no such thing as "That filtration is too big for your pond"... the BIGGER.... the BETTER.... plan to run the drainage pipes to the garden or trees... save water + your garden/trees will love it.

Good luck.

- Kev

[Therapy]

Heres some progress of my backyard.

April 2010
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/back.jpg

April 2011
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/photo-15.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/photo-17.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/photo-9.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/yardnow.jpg

[Therapy]

Now to make this into a koi pond!!!! This area is to the right of the outdoor kitchen.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/photo-34.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/6.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/13.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/8.jpg

[Therapy]

Now that its cleared its time to dig.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/11.jpg

Of course in the process of digging we run into a source of underground water. That sucked !!!

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/25.jpg

[Therapy]

After we divert the water its time to lay out a plan

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/95.jpg


The pond ended up being 18x12 feet with a uniform depth of 5 feet
Cinder Block walls with a poured concrete floor
Pergola roof over the structure and a CRAP load of money on retaining wall, staircases and other hardscape

[Therapy]

Heres the floor

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/81.jpg

and block for the walls
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/80.jpg

[Therapy]

walls started going up
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/87.jpg

[Therapy]

staircase formed
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/100.jpg
Pillars go up for a pergola
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/securedownload-4.jpg

[AJ858]

super nice... good job!

[seareef]

WOW! Nice job Marde! I need to check this out. Call me if you need some help.

[Rob619]

that looks like i want to go swimming in that bad boy!

[bbandu]

WOW is all I can say, Very nice job

[Rob619]

i think party at therapys house?!

[Nick_Kun]

WOW, really nice work marde. I need to come down and check this out one of these days.

[sdsocal]

Very nice Therapy. Great to see a dream becoming a reality. The progression picks are great and it was awesome to hear all the great feed back and all the offered help from other member on here.

Can't wait to see it filled and Rob swimming I mean the koi swimming in it.

[kamero87]

Another thing is I think koi eat the roots on pond plants... Not too sure but I thought I heard mike at vets pets saying that ive got over 700 koi divided between 3 large planted ponds and never had the problem

[Therapy]

ive got over 700 koi divided between 3 large planted ponds and never had the problem
Anyway I can come check your ponds out? Are you showing any koi in the show next month?

[duecejt]

Finished pond photo's Therapy? I need to take some photo's of my pond build too.

[av619]

Marde let me know when I can spoil these guys with pictures if you do not have time! I took 2 when I went over to check it out. :)

[Therapy]

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/121.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/122.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/107-1.jpg

[Therapy]

We used a material called xypex in the concrete cells and then used it again with black dye to paint on the inside of the pond. Thats how we waterproofed cinder blocks. Only time will tell if it ACTUALLY works. Most use liners, but I wanted to try something more "pretty".

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/123.jpg

[Therapy]

Went to visit goldfish world couple weeks back, and picked up a used net. Its around nine feet tall. The handle is 6 feet long. to bad I cant use it in the aquarium.



http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/123-1.jpg

[Therapy]

Currently working on landscaping. Trying to go with a japanese , bonsai style of landscape

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/124.jpg

[Stephen]

That is beautiful

[LotsaFishies]

Wow, really nice work Marde.

[duecejt]

WOW! Is it 6' deep? Those Koi are going to get huge.

[Therapy]

Josh
The pond is a uniform 5 feet deep. I am very happy with that depth.The overall goal is to keep a "few" nicer koi that have the potential to get in the 30 inch range.

[Therapy]

Here is a day and night picture of the waterfall feature in the pond.
I wanted to do a colorful backsplash to the pond instead of that muted brown color. However, I was told to never add color to the surroundings of a koi pond. Technically that means even the landscaping. There should be no colors that would "distract your eye" from the one and only focal point which is the colorful koi in the pond.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/127.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/140.jpg

[Therapy]

Here is a blurry crap picture I took with my phone of some of the koi. These are being used to cycle the pond. I have had no casualties. Koi ponds are soooooo much easier than reef tanks. A group of koi is called a herd. I think the name applies very well to their behavior. Koi NEVER fight, there are no shows of aggression or dominance. They are happier and prefer to be in big groups.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/120.jpg

[Therapy]

Whos been setting off all the motion detection lights and making the neighbors dog go crazy as they EYEBALL my koi

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/158.jpg


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/156.jpg

[sjames]

Looks like you can take a swim with your Koi. Fantastic job it looks stunning.

[duecejt]

Raccoons!

[Deep_blue]

Beautiful pond! Hope those raccoons don't harass your Koi too much.

[Therapy]

I went to the college garden show today near my house and picked up plant for the area

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/170.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/172-1.jpg

[Therapy]

Japanese Maple finally has come out of winter and looks terrific.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/171.jpg

[Shells]

Marde

Beautiful! I love this.

I use xypex often at work. Great product. Did you use the modified or the concentrate?

Keep the photos coming


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Therapy]

Shelly,
Whats the application you use xypex for?
Yeah it was tricky using a product not many have used for koi pond application. I had many sleepless nights wondering if it was going to hold water. The alternative was polyurea which had a 12 thousand dollar price tag to it just to waterproof the pond.
I used the admix in the floor and cells of the wall. I brought the powder product to the mix plant and had them mix it into concrete to be put into the mixing truck. I then used the concentrate in a slurry to brush the inside and outside of walls. I mixed it with blacck dye to make the walls black instead of gray.
Awesome product for sure. Knock on wood its been over half a year with no issues.

[Therapy]

Anyone looking for some nice koi or a chance to meet other koi pond owners in san diego come to this event on may 12. Its a koi auction !!


Friends of Koi Auction at California Koi Farms (http://www.sandiegoreefs.com/link/?id=2mz9). Fish and volunteers needed! Contact Al Pierce 619 427-9008.
Prior approval is required if you wish to bring more than 20 fish. No fish under 6 inches will be accepted. Seller receives 50% of the bid price for the first $300, and 100% of the portion over $300. If there is more than one fish in a bag during bidding, this split applies to the bag. All fish must be healthy, as determined by our KHA, however there is no guarantee to the buyer. We will supply bags and oxygen to the buyer, but if further packaging (e.g., boxes, et al.) is required, that must be supplied by the buyer. Bidder registration is $5, which includes lunch.

Bring fish not later than 8:30 am
Viewing of fish: 9:00 am
Auction Starts: 10:00 am
Lunch: Noon - 12:30
Auction concludes: 2:00pm
Payment must be made by cash or check.

[Therapy]

Newest koi just added to pond. She is over 2 feet long and is know as a karashigoi. She eats more than the rest of the fish combined. Because of her desire to eat, she is really friendly and always ready to have food dropped into her mouth. Pic taken with cell phone.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/181.jpg

[h20poloman]

looks great Marde ~~ how is the reef doing? I need to give you a holler one of these times I go to visit Chad as I understand you live close to him.

[duecejt]

What food are you feeding Therapy? Ive been feeding the Tetra "Koi Vibrance" sticks. My Koi are eating 3 handfuls 2 times a day. I can only imagine the amount that you need to feed to keep that fish alone. Nice lookin fish!

[Therapy]

Josh
There are very specific rules to feeding koi. Currently as the water continues to warm 70-80ish degrees your koi should be eating a wheat germ based food with a 30-35 percent protein content. They can now be fed 2x a day 1-3 percent of their body weight. Depending on how much waste your filter can absorb. As the water temperature plateaus in the summer and begins to decrease you have the maximum growth rate in koi for those few weeks at that point the koi should be fed 50 percent protein diet as many times a day you can feed them small meals with a goal of 3 percent of their weight in food. Then in the coldest months the koi should fast and not eat anything for around 3 weeks depending on their size.
My 10 koi eat one half pound of food per day currently.
I feed saki hikari floating food and tomigai sinking food equal parts . Peaches, oranges and lettuce from the yard and any worm, grub or bug we find laying around.

[KDHL]

I feed saki hikari floating food and tomigai sinking food equal parts . Peaches, oranges and lettuce from the yard and any worm, grub or bug we find laying around.Your koi eat all high class food! :-)

[Therapy]

Anytime !! I live one street up from Chad and Justin. You are welcomed any time.
The reef has never recovered from the move . It's been taken over by RBTA. I have like 10 in the tank now .

[Therapy]

Your koi eat all high class food! :-)

Word! These mutts eat pretty darn good. The club buys food by the 100's of pounds sometimes and we divide it up for substantial savings. We did a group buy of kodama farm food before that.

[Therapy]

Newest koi just added to pond. She is over 2 feet long and is know as a karashigoi. She eats more than the rest of the fish combined. Because of her desire to eat, she is really friendly and always ready to have food dropped into her mouth. Pic taken with cell phone.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/181.jpg


She is spitting water out of her mouth trying to stay at surface so you will drop food in her mouth. That's what those water drops in front of her is all about.

[Therapy]

Came home from work at lunch today. I normally NEVER do this . However, on this day I find this animal swimming for its life in my pond. He jumped in but I don't know if he could of gotten out? I grabbed it by its neck and yanked him out. Poor guy was exhausted
What you think? Could he have climbed out?

[Therapy]

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image-1.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image-2.jpg

[Therapy]

Working on zen garden . From this to that




http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/47.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image-3-1.jpg

[Goldfish World]

Was your dog swimmin with the Koi?

[duecejt]

Is that your dog or the neighbors? Good thing you found him in time that would have been horrific having to pull him out if you were too late. You definitely save the day for him.

[Therapy]

Jojo
No! Thats not my dog, at the time I had no idea who he belonged to. He's been poopin in my yard and today I found him swimming with the fish. My next door neighbor recognized him so I took him home. They had no idea he was missing. He was coming in from under the neighbors fence.

[Goldfish World]

Hope the fish are ok i would check the water and your Koi are not cheap, what did your neighbor say

[Therapy]

Jojo
Did about a 1,000 gallon water change. Its several weeks later with no issues. Yeah I was worried cause they use flea medication on the dogs coat. They most assuredly did not want to pay for a pond of dead japanese koi.

[Therapy]

pond is now 58 degrees. Koi wont eat for the next 6 weeks straight. Imagine going that long without eating!

[Goldfish World]

semi hibernating i normally recommend food with spirulina to enhance the color since they eat less during cold water season to maintain their color that just suggestion

[scubasteve]

Super cool koi setup!!!!

[Therapy]

SAN DIEGO KOI SHOW!! This weekend at Del Mar race track

[belladoula]

You have one of the most amazing backyards and ponds I have ever seen.

I helped my father-in-law dig out his koi pond and do all of his planning. I am not convinced now that his pond is taken care of enough now that I have done enough research on my own for my fish tank. Sadly, I don't think he would take any suggestions to make changes. I never see him do water changes, just fill it up with water from the hose when it gets low. I know for sure he doesn't own a water test kit.

[Therapy]

Its harvest time in japan!! You think we have it bad as reefers. This Koi is 3 years old and around 26 inches. Its not mine. Its not even close to being "the best" and its priced at $12,000.
This is awesome we are up at 2:30 in the morning cause the dealers are coming back from their buying trips as its like 6pm in japan and posting their prospects on line for us geeks to buy. Me and two other koi geeks are staring at our computers waiting to see what pops up. :crazy:
http://s49.photobucket.com/user/mardesmith/media/MOV_1066MOV_zps9201e2f2.mp4.html

[Therapy]

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image_zps8f1404f9.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/image_zps1393c10f.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/mardesmith/media/image_zps8f1404f9.jpg.html)

[knightnsd]

I had the most beautifiul one I have even owned that was lost to a heron long ago but this one is close to it. The markings look painted on it the other one was similar but had red and orange, scaleless and metallic and had been shipped from Japan and was incredible. Ill look for a photo of that one but here one of my favotites
http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii501/knightnsd68/orangejulius.png (http://s1257.photobucket.com/user/knightnsd68/media/orangejulius.png.html)

[SmilinAvnger]

That is fantastic! I vote for March's meeting to be in your back yard.

[knightnsd]

I found a photo of it and snapped a picture of it, this one was priceless lost on some heron problems and refilling the pond- Horrible mistake. FOR ANY POND KEEPERS DIXIELINE SELLS A WATER TIMER FOR FILLING YOUR POND AND IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNS OFF AFTER SO MANY GALLONS OR MINUTES OF WATER. WORTH THE $15.00
http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii501/knightnsd68/lostkoi.png (http://s1257.photobucket.com/user/knightnsd68/media/lostkoi.png.html)

if I could replace this one I would quit my day job and breed it

[Therapy]

Thats a big fish !! The koi show is in 10 days !!! Please come and check it out.


I had the most beautifiul one I have even owned that was lost to a heron long ago but this one is close to it. The markings look painted on it the other one was similar but had red and orange, scaleless and metallic and had been shipped from Japan and was incredible. Ill look for a photo of that one but here one of my favotites
http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii501/knightnsd68/orangejulius.png (http://s1257.photobucket.com/user/knightnsd68/media/orangejulius.png.html)

[Therapy]

Check the schedule and information
https://www.koiclubofsandiego.org/show-booklet.html

Its almost show time. I am doing 500 gallon a DAY water changes for the last month before the show. At least the plants look good

[Therapy]

More pond visitors. The koi in the pond are to big, but it ca certainly disfigure a koi and injure it.
http://youtu.be/tIuyqv9ipEo

[SteveParkinson]

Wow that is a nice backyard and koi pond, awesome work and thanks for sharing the pictures. I wish I had the room and $$$ to do something like that in my backyard.

[Therapy]

[QUOTE=knightnsd;850815]I found a photo of it and snapped a picture of it, this one was priceless lost on some heron problems and refilling the pond- Horrible mistake. FOR ANY POND KEEPERS DIXIELINE SELLS A WATER TIMER FOR FILLING YOUR POND AND IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNS OFF AFTER SO MANY GALLONS OR MINUTES OF WATER. WORTH THE $15.00


SO! That egret threw me off my game today, and I left the water on in the pond. Left it on a good hour before I remembered what I did. Look outside the pond was over flowing and the pond was dead, meaning the GFCI was tripped meaning water had found electricity. Ironically I bought one of those timers as you suggested, but need to plumb it in line since I don't use a hose to fill my pond.
Along with that timer, I would suggest enough " chlorine binder" on hand at all times just in case. The pump for our second pond was submerged and is now dead, but the fish seem ok. I feel as I have dodged a bullet. I have never done this in the three years the pond has been in existence. Whats the chance a fully submerged pump will survive total submersion?

[knightnsd]

yeah I always try and keep plenty of prime or some chlorine remover product just in case I do this again after store hours or on a holiday, and how did this turn out? Sounds like you got lucky??

[Therapy]

Yamabuki Ogon and Bravo
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps70aadf39.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/mardesmith/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps70aadf39.jpg.html)
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f299/mardesmith/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpscff5ff4d.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/mardesmith/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpscff5ff4d.jpg.html)