An0n0m0us

Thanks David. I thought the piping i've just bought was expensive however looking at that link it looks like I got a good price - 2" pipe at 2.5m for £13.50 I bought some dechlorinator as well.

I've topped the pond up, put the hose directly from the filter out to the surface of the pond and poured the correct amount of dechlorinator straight into the pond (as that what the bottle says to do).

Now i've found a slow drip from the water out pipe on the filter. I turned it all off again, undid the seal and took the bits and dried them, put it all back together tightly and it's still dripping

My patience is starting to wear thin with it now so the slow drip will have to remain whilst I see if the water level stops falling.

The waterfall has some big old lumps of rock resting on it at the top of it I guess to hold it down however they are dug into the earth behind it. I betting it's one of these that is putting too much pressure on the waterfall leaning it to one side slightly and that's where the water is running away from. How i'm going to stop it I don't know yet as I can't get to the edge of it to try and prop it up, especially with big rocks weighing it down.

An0n0m0us

Well it's definitely the waterfall to blame for the water loss as bypassing it the water level is remaining constant.

I can't see any way of tilting the waterfall as there is too much weight on it. On the side that's letting water escape I need to build up the sides if possible. Is there anything that sticks and can seal to fibreglass? I've also noticed the water from the top pool comes over the lip just in one corner as opposed to over the whole lip and it drops down right in to the corner of the lower pool which has a very low side to it at this point and this is where it's running off outside of the waterfall.

Also how long should it take for the water to go clear now the pump is on? The water has gone from clear to black with all messing about it's had the last 2 days.

It's nice and clear this morning so looking much better. Only thing now is to work out what to do with the waterfall then.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Don't clean it out, unless the bottom has debris, the blanket weed will only return anyway.... we throw our fish into a cheap kids paddling pool when we finally scrub ours out...

Two pumps here running 24/7/365, our fish have shown less interest in feeding this winter because/despite the lack of a cold snap. Lost a couple of we Koi we got for £5 late last year.

We built a scruffy pond behind the "tank" for the frogs to get busy in....

Enjoy, once you get it sorted.

dunx

An0n0m0us

Thanks.

Well 24 hours after switching it all on and the fish seemed to have woken up from Winter:



Fed them just a couple of pieces and it all got eaten so how much and how often should they be fed?

The water is 9 degrees so only fed the wheatgerm food.

Turbohot

Tidy.


Once I stayed somewhere in Welwyn Garden City. The host had a big fish pond. She said to us that her all big fish freeze when the water freezes in winter, and come back to life in summer. I was very surprised to learn that her fish actually literally freeze and stop breathing for so long, and the kiss of summer brings all of them back to life??? it boggled my mind for a long time until I worked out that she was telling porkies to impress us. May be she was into hocus pocus.

Chip

That's true, we were doing a job in Wrexham and we had to have a newt barrier installed and monitored for over 6 months, cost over £30,000. Crazy!

An0n0m0us

Thanks TH and LOL at you being boggled for a long time over frozen fish

It would be tidy if it wasn't for the bloody great bit of tube laying across the surface of the pond. I'm that bugged by it all my other jobs are on hold until the pond is sorted properly now.

paul98typer

Keep at it mate, Once you got it sorted it's great having a pond in the garden, it's Great feeding the fish by hand and the kids love it.
A couple of years ago woke up to thousands of eggs round the pond, managed to save a few in a makeshift pond out of spare liner and kept them indoors over winter. was amazing watching them grow and return them into the pond.
I use a very large industrial filter setup and a conventional filter and light which during summer have to clean out quite often, but stops a lot of weed and crap getting into the big filter.
My pump feeds a top pond with plants in then runs into a waterfall which keeps the pond from freezing over completely in the winter. And during the winter I don't feed my fish at all.
Roll on better weather so I can sit at side of pond with a beer relaxing.

An0n0m0us

Seeing the fish feed yesterday I was tempted to sit there with a beer to watch them but decided i'm waiting until i'm 100% happy with it.

I asked at the aquatics place about whether they could supply me one of their large plastic self standing koi containers to make into a raised pond but they can't get hold of them anymore. Plus they said if I just sit it on the ground I will have the temp issues in Winter and so knocked that idea on the head. I was hoping for a cheap(ish) solution to have large Koi but the two don't seem to be possible. Their containers are fine because they are indoors. What I would like seems to equal a lot of hard graft and much £'s spent.

Turbohot

Yeah, I know. I had loads of newts turning up at the office door two years ago, and I wanted to kill them all, but I had no desire to touch them even with the barge pole, and I don't have other distant killer devises either. I got told that I could be put in jail for killing them, and I'm supposed to inform the authorities if I spot one. Sod that, I just stopped staying late at the office instead.

I never knew people worshipped newts in the UK like that.

Actually your pond looked so good in that second picture that my eyes didn't register the pipe. Now I see, and yes, it needs to go underground.

I'm looking for a small water feature for my indoor use, but I just can't find one. The ones I've seen are just unreasonably highly priced. Most of them are quite fugly and tacky too. I shall keep looking.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

When ours grew too large for a pond, I built a wall around it and doubled the depth, looks far less attractive now, but the fish keep growing, and growing, and eating and *hitting....

The filter is a coffin sized fibreglass tomb that's not too attractive either !

LOL

dunx

An0n0m0us

OK more questions (sorry!)...

How much should I be feeding the fish? The wheatgerm pellets are tiny and all I put in the other day was 5 bits, one for each fish -although obviously I know they don't share the food like that!

How often should I be feeding the fish? Once or twice a day?

How long do I leave it floating on the surface before removing it if not eaten? The fish are still shy at surfacing if i'm about so once I put the food in I have to leave and give them a chance to come up and feed.

Should the pump be removed and cleaned? (now the water is crystal clear I can see absolutely everything at the bottom and the pump is thick black however obviously working well still for the water to be so clear)

Spoon

Bearing in mind there are a lot of variables between ponds, locations etc, there are no hard and fast rules. Your fish are moving, your water temperature is rising, (though the weather is forecast to get cooler again), you can for now feed the fish sparingly. You only need to throw a bit of food a couple of days a week until temperatures are stable. Your fish are still weak and don't want a lot. As the weather warms up you can increase the amount fed and daily, even 2 or 3 times a day in the 20s, if you're there. 5 or so small fish don't need a lot of food to thrive though, you'll soon pick up what they will eat. Feeding 1% daily of the fishes' body weight is often used as a pointer to maintain healthy fish over the summer.

Remember, the more food they eat the more the filter needs to work and be cleaned if you're to maintain healthy pond water. Pond keeping is really about looking after the water quality and the fish will take care of themselves.

Any uneaten food can be removed if you want to save on unnecessary protein loads on the pond (encouraging algae growth), and although it won't be huge, it is relative to the size of the pond and filter. Give them time to graze though if they don't eat it immediately. It's a garden pond to enjoy not a hardcore Koi keeping environment.

The pump should be removed and cleaned at the start of the season and you might find you'll have to remove it through the season on occasion depending on whether or not you get weed clogging it up.

An0n0m0us

Cheers Spoon. I'll put a bit in again this afternoon and see if they eat it. I wasn't here over the weekend whilst it was warm so the last time they had a tiny bit of food was Friday.

I'll add cleaning the pump to the list of things to do.

David Lock

Give a quantity of food that they will guzzle down in 3 - 4 minutes from the surface. Quality of food is the key factor. Avoid the polythene wrapped £2 a bag stuff from corner shops. Food from the aquatic centre should be OK. If you're a Spoon-type Koi nutter then you would get food from a specialist supplier

Glad water is clear now. Makes it easier for the Heron

d

===========

An0n0m0us

Using Nishikoi wheatgerm so hopefully that's an alright food.

Lol at heron, none round here. However I did see a plastic one in the shop for standing at the edge of the pond. Do they work as a deterrent?

Spoon

That food will be OK but the same principles apply to fish food as does dog food. The nearer the top real meat content is the better it is.

As for heron scarers. The only real deterrent, I would envisage in your case is netting. In my early pond days I had a plastic heron that appeared to attract partners in the mating season. Fortunately herons that still visit just come for a look around and as they can't access the water they leave empty beaked.

Spoon

Honestly, David, I'm no Koi nutter. Like anything, if you get that deep you become a bit weird. Genuine Koi keepers are like those that enter their cars in concours competitions. That's all a little bit wet for me. I have the space and the water so I filled it with fish. Over the years I've bought some semi decent fish mainly because they respond much better to being fed and grow at a rate lots of fish don't. Most of my early fish are nothing much more than big but I wouldn't have it any other way. Looking after "real" Koi is way too much fuss for me.

The wildlife and dodging duck shít are a equally important when it comes to relaxing waterside after doing something strenuous like thrashing a car round a track or partying with naked women for 12 hours.

David Lock

Only if you move them around daily so no!

Somewhere I have a piccie of a Heron standing on top of a plastic jobbie which gave him a better view of breakfast

d

David Lock

Spoon, Do you remember a chap called Theo who used to post on these threads?

Lived in Belgium I think, heated ponds and some beautiful fish.

david



Where are these parties you mention

Spoon

Can't say I do, David. Once you get in to heating and bottom drains the fun is taken out of ponds for me because of the largely sterile, shapeless looking environment to match. Having no plants would be like a Snickers bar without nuts. That isn't to say proper Koi no matter where they are swimming are a beautiful sight. I do get the heating thing though for the comfort of the fish but it isn't possible in my set-up due to size.

Your wife would need to be of the type to allow a hall pass every so often without repercussions, or in my case join you at the parties.

An0n0m0us

I'll not bother with the fake heron then. I'll stick with Nishikoi for my tiddlers for now and see how they get on with it over Spring. For Summer food is Tetra just the same quality as Nishikoi? If it is i'll buy them more of what they are used to.

Don't even start me on dog food - that's a minefield all of it's own.

Spoon

The food you have now is fine for your needs. I also feed mine oranges and lettuce in the summer, as well as silkworm pupae and meal worms.

I'm just wondering how long it'll be before you're planning a bigger pond.

An0n0m0us

I've already been asking, looking and having all sorts of ideas. I do like big carp, the shops i've been in have had some big old fish in stock.

I was after a quick fix for bigger fish and so I was asking after the large rectangular tanks they keep the big koi in at the aquatic shops as they are nice and deep. I fancied one of them with a timber surround like you see displayed. I thought that would allow me some nice big fish plus as it's raised nice and safe for the kids. Plant bushes/trees around it with some nice plants in it and it would look alright. That was all wrong for several reasons.

Firstly the big tanks were sold by Laguna apparently and they don't do them any more. Secondly and more importantly those tanks are fine above ground in a shop however in a garden they would be a disaster as no ground protection in Winter for the fish and the temperature would drop too low with no where for them to hide from it. So I showed my complete lack of understanding of what I should be doing and that you really shouldn't have a pond 100% above ground level

So as i've discovered there is no quick solution for a bigger pond. It involves hard graft digging your garden up and throwing £s at it to get it looking good. I don't have the time or the money after only having moved house 2 months ago so I can dream all I like of a bigger pond, it's not going to happen for quite some time. I need to spend my time sorting the bloody waterfall out and getting what I have 100% right before going off dreaming of a 'proper' pond.

I fed the fish today but again only put in 5 pieces as they were all laying still at the bottom of the pond now the temperature has dropped again. However I went out 20 minutes later and it was gone and they were swimming around so next time I will up the amount slightly to see how much they will actually eat at the moment.

An0n0m0us

The output from the pump seems to have dropped significantly so I assume the pump is partially blocked/needs cleaning having made the water crystal clear.

If I turn the pump off and drag it out the water what is the best way to clean it up as no doubt it's going to be hideous to touch?

A bucket of pond water, drop the pump in it and then use a scrubbing brush on it?

David Lock

Many submersibles have an outer casing which is fixed with a couple of clips and may be a screw.. The casing gets covered in weed etc and just needs hosing and a scrubbing brush helps. 20 min job.

dl

An0n0m0us

Thanks David. As the water is above 10 degrees at the moment I've put the blanket answer in the pond so will let that kill off all the weed in the pond and pump and then see if the output goes up again and if not take the pump out and give it a good clean.

The pond is now white due to the blanket answer. Also whilst out there I thought i'd take another look at the waterfall issue. I managed to get a spade under it and lift it and clear all the mud away from the edge and water is just pouring out the side where there is a really low point on the bottom pool. Even lifting with the spade didn't help so the waterfall is a write off.

I cut the black pipe i've been using as the return to the pond right back so it comes down over the waterfall and just hangs over the edge now. Still unsightly but better than it was and water is dropping into the pond causing a lot more splashing and surface disruption for oxygenation.

David Lock

Once you have the pump out tie a bit of cord to it and tuck the end somewhere at the edge of the pond so you can easily lift it out next time. Otherwise you will have to hoik it out with the outlet pipe and risk pulling it off the pump or using the electric cable which is not a good idea. Don't let the pump outlet drop too much as you will harm the pump if it runs dry. Is it an Aquamax?

David

An0n0m0us

Thanks David, no idea on the make of the pump as i've not removed it from the pond since being here.

An0n0m0us

Well that was a fun experience, attempted to clean the pump this evening. I lifted it out the water and it was thick with gunge which had slowed it down to a trickle. I couldn't work out how to disconnect the outlet pipe so after much faffing about I had to straddle the pond with a large bucket filled with pond water and managed to squeeze the pump into it and scrub it with a toothbrush. Once the grills were visible and much cleaner I put it back in the pond and switched it on and it's now coming out like a jet wash which has got the fish swimming around and sitting directly under the returning water.

If I can find how to disconnect the outlet pipe from the pump casing i'll give it a much better clean.

Also the blanket answer I used, does it not remove the blanket weed but merely just kill it off so it goes brown? It's been 48 hours since treating and the weed is still present, just no longer green. Do I need to remove it or will it eventually be broken down and dissapear?

And is this a Common or Palmate Newt: