Help with pond questions, please!
 

Hi everyone..
We built a pond this spring...not huge, two ponds with a stream in between...marginal plants on a shallow shelf, with about 10-make that 9 koi (one died the other day)...
Anyway, I'm getting it ready for winter...darn leaves are driving me crazy, so we put a net on the pond, and clean it out every day or so...
a book I read suggested cutting the marginal potted plants down and submerging them in the bottom of the pond...so I did, but the water's a bit brown now, although I can see clearly to the bottom.
Is the water brown from the plants, or from the decaying leaves that get into the ponds?
I have a deicer for the pond with the fish in it...do i install that once ice starts to form?
I obsessed about this pond all summer, and I'm still obsessing over it...I love it, but it's really a lot more work than I thought it would be...
Any information would be helpful!

In our zone, zone 5, we don't recommend submerging marginal plants. The ones we use around the ponds are zone hardy and don't need to be submerged for winterization. I would assume that the brown water is from the soil from the marginal plants.

Since you didn't say what kind of de icer you have, my response is for both types of pond de icers. Both floating and submersible pond de icers are designed to turn on when the temperature of the water falls to 32 degrees (freezing level) and to shut off when the water temperature reaches 45 degrees.

How large is your pond? Use one de icer for a 600 gallon pond. If your pond is larger than 600 gallons you will want to use two de icers tied together. It should be placed as close to the liner as possible as the heat will reflect back and in the shallowest part of the pond.

I hope this helps! Take a look at my profile pictures for the Koi Pond that we built this past summer.

Wow Deb, Cheryl sure knows a lot about anything gardening doesn't she? :)

I'd love to have a pond, but wouldn't know where to start.

With a shovel!!! ;)

i MADE MINE WITH 150 & 300 GAL RUBBERMAID TANKS {arrggh sorry about those caps}
We dug them about half way into the ground and used sections of an old telephone pole to make a raised retaining wall around them. I laid flat rock around the perimeter on the larger one and back filled with sand.
I made a made a whiskey barrel bio filter that spills over the edge making a water fall into the pond.

I started my pond adventures with just a 30 gal planter on the patio with a fountain head and pretty rocks.
Then got a preformed 50 gal liner and then moved up to the the tanks and my self built bio filter/water fall.

when the weather gets into freezing here I just leave the pumps running 24/7 to keep a hole open so the gasses can escape. If it does get solid i just go out and open it up a couple time a day.
We usually only have a few days below freezing at a time, so extreme freezing temps or extended freezes aren't a problem here.

The fish go into a hibernation mode so they should be OK as long as there is an open hole.

I usually just do a major clean up 2x a year {spring & fall} to get the leaves and tree needles out of the water.

Don't let it stress you out -water features are supposed to be relaxing & enjoyable.
:grouphug:

Thanks for the advice!
Cheryl, your pond is beautiful...our ponds are 8' in diameter and 9', the top pond being the smaller one...the waterfall goes into that one, and then the stream is about 2 ft long into the lower pond, where the fish are.
I had such trouble with algae this summer, and it's impossible to get it off of the waterfall...I scrub it with a brush, but it's so stuck on...:(
we have Mexican rocks in the pond,and the rocks have gotten a brownish goo on them. Do I need to take everything out and wash it all off?
I know it's supposed to be relaxing, but I am so worried about doing something wrong and killing my sweet fish...wish I could do it all over again and know what the heck we were doing when we made the pond...
oh, by the way, I don't know what zone I'm in, but it can get down to -10 in the winter. I have a surface deicer for the lower pond...the one with the fish.

Thanks Debbie. This was one of the ponds I designed and our crew installed this summer. It was one of our larger ones, 11'x13' and approx 4' deep. We don't use preformed liners as they tend to crack and the rocks will perforate the liners and cause them to leak. We have a lot of fish predators so we install ledges in the pond for the fish to hide. It's quite a process but the clients get to keep their fish a lot longer!

Here's a link to an interactive Sunset Climate Zone Map. Find where you live and click on it and you can find what climate zone you are in.

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/...845218,00.html

To control the algae, you need to control the water temperature. The warmer the water, the more the algae will grow.

The ideal conditions for algae to grow rapidly in number are: 1) warm and well-lighted water; and 2) an abundance of nutrients. The key to 'clearing up' green water, therefore, is to prevent the algae from multiplying by removing the ideal conditions for their growth.

You need to shade the pond. Here's a link that might help you.

http://www.koiandponds.com/algaecontrol.htm

"homemade pond bio-filter" info links
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...er&btnG=Search

I use a variety of the suggestions to make mine.
I clean ours out once a year because we live on a dusty rock road and a lot of the airborne dust lands in the pond and builds up in the filter making a sludge.

One of the projects that we undertook when I was in school was to take care of the City's Koi Ponds. It was a lot of fun! The Koi were quite spunky sometimes and we got to wade around in the huge ponds and clean them out. We wore chest waders and sometimes the fish would "bump" us. Some of them were quite large and if you weren't paying attention, you could find yourself getting knocked off balance and a lot wetter than you anticipated!!! :eek:

In the subdivision where I live, we have an irrigation pond system in which we had an algae problem until I convinced the association that one of the neighbors was dumping their heated water into the pond from their heat pump system. The association wondered why, during the off season months when we don't have irrigation water flowing into our pond, the water level wasn't dissipating and that the water had to be coming from some source. Keeping the water temperature higher than normal was creating the perfect breeding ground for string algae which is poisonous to some animals. Since the irrigation water flows through two pastures this could potentially cause a problem for the homeowner creating the hazard.

We had a two year process of killing the algae once we put a stop to the homeowner dumping their hot water into the irrigation pond. Fortunately, we have solved the problem and our irrigation water is once again safe.

Algae can pose a potential problem if left uncontrolled. It can damage your pump system as well as kill off your fish. It is also unsightly. It doesn't take much to keep it under control.

Good luck with your pond. They can be a source of relaxation! One of these days, I am going to have one instead of designing and installing them for others!!!

Thanks for all of the advice...It's true that we have afternoon sun beating down on the ponds..in the morning, they're shaded by our maple tree.
I have a pond vacuum on my Christmas list...it might help get some of the waste out of the ponds...
I hope to get an expert in here next spring so that we can clean it right. My spasms and knee and back problems make it impossible to clean it right this fall.
Sometimes I think I should take the koi out of the pond and get an aquarium for the winter, but I really want to see if our deicer works and we can get through the winter...
Thanks again!:)

How did your fish survive the winter ? I live in the northeast and it gets very cold and snowy here. My pond is about 18 feet long 4 feet deep and 6 feet across although it curves around, it is not a rectangle.

For Algae control I use a combination of algae reducing plants and a ultraviolet lamp that the water flows through. The UV light kills most algae . and the plants are most welcome by the Koi as they eat them.

I run my pumps and waterfall until it freezes over, I then drain down the hose, unplug the pump and go into the house until spring :D

The pond freezes solid, but come spring, it melts, I clean out the leaves and debrie, and the fishicles defrost and start swimming like nothing happened. Funny I know last winter, the pond was a solid ice cube, we had a very deep freeze and yet this spring the fish are all accounted for :winky:

My biggest problems are leaves in the fall and blue Heron in the spring and early summer, One heron can clean out a pool in a few hours.. I think I need to go deeper, I built a ledge for the plants and I think the heron stands on it and has a good shot at the fish.

A few years ago we had a raccoon, that decided our fish were a free meal, so I left the dogs out for a couple of nights.

The UV light is really great for reducing the algae, you should add it to your pond, you dont need a big one and they are fairly cheap on ebay. 50-90 bucks.

Enjoy your pond !

Ahhh spring, with all of it's beauty, and all of it's work:rolleyes:
All the fish survived the cold winter...we had a deicer on the surface of the fish pond.
We drained the lower pond with the fish in it...and found about 3" of sludge at the bottom. We'd had two 4" rains within a week during the winter, and the mulch and mud had gotten into both ponds. I honestly don't know how the koi survived all of that. In fact, we found two of the fish in the mud, still alive and kickin'...
we got all of the sludge out, washed off all of the rocks in the bottom, and refashioned the ledges in each pond. We put all of the rocks from the bottom around the edges, building up the edges so we can avoid any further issues with mud.
None of my marginal plants survived, since I left them out of the water. My two lily pad plants did survive, since they were in the bottom of the pond, and they are really taking off this year.
My husband put a net over the fish pond so as to keep the herons and racoons out. We had a male and female mallard duck that thought the pond was their swimming hole. We put a fake owl out next to the pond, and they haven't been back since.
We put some new plants and grasses around the ponds...some of which have already been destroyed by the blasted rabbits. It's a learning process...
We do have a UV filter that we're using this year, and we bought an 11 ft. wide umbrella to protect the ponds from the afternoon sun. It's shaded by a large tree in the a.m.
I'm using an algae reducing liquid a couple of times a month, so I hope it doesn't get too bad this year. The sides are kind of wierd this spring, and I'm trying to figure out how to keep them clean. That's the challenge now. Any advice would be helpful!!
Thanks for all the info!

I just wanted to add that I discovered an awesome plant a few weeks ago, called Unicorn Rush. It's an ornamental grass that is good planted by ponds. I put mine in a container that I keep soaked. I used to landscape, and I have never seen it before! If you're looking for a cool new plant, check it out. The "leaves" grow all twisty and corkscrew-like, and it's very interesting.

One of the seasonal plants we use comes from florida. The name escapes me "fibro fog". It is a plant that the Us considers dangerous to local waters, but they sell them here. the are floaters and spread quickly. they die off in the fall.

In florida they have infested the local ponds and lakes and are killing out the local plants, they also use up the oxygen in the water, so if they get to dense they can kill fish too. Not a problem in your pond as you can trim them out.

You want to have 60 - 80 % of the surface area covered by plants! this keeps the water cooler, removes a lot of the algae food source, and naturally keeps the water clean.. My lilies return each spring bigger than before with multiple blossoms all summer, they are beautiful, just leave them in all winter, they can handle it fine.

Netting is a good way to help keep it clean and to keep out the Heron, I just hate to do it, I like being able to just walk out and sit by the pond with out having to remove the netting to see clearly. Lazy I guess.

Comets and Koi are fine in muddy water :) Its us that want it clean. Asure sign things are ok in the pond is when the frogs move in :rolleyes: They are very sensitive to water quality and will leave if it is poor...

Well I am glad to hear that they survived the winter, as I wrote earlier, I let it freeze over and everything was just fine..

Your ponds sound lovely. Where we are the predation would
be severe!

But I sure wish I had one!

Heres a partial view at night

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...38/bobpond.jpg

to the right is a bridge I built to cross over the pond, the pond continues for another 6 feet to the right.

OMGosh.... I knew it! It is more than lovely!

It's beautiful, and I especially like the lighting!