cpiefer
Koi Lover
Jun 18, 2005, 9:43 PM
Post #12 of 13
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Re: [koiguyoz] new pond contruction
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Even though I am new on this forum, we built our first pond about 7 years ago and the newest over 4 years ago, and we have 3 ponds (500 gal, 1200 gal and 3500 gal) built in that succession as we kept outgrowing the ponds. I certainly agree with all the great advice your getting from the members here. A couple of things I could add from my own experience:
Volume, volume, volume. Build the absolute largest pond you possibly can with good depth 3'+ (especially if you wish to attempt to grow show fish as females tend to make better show fish and they claim they require a depth of 8' so they get enough vertical exercise to not develop pot bellies - I personally don't know if this is true, but I have show quality koi and my female shiro utsuri certainly seems to have a pot belly). Remember however, there is a surface area to depth ratio needed for good o2 exchange to occur - i.e. don't dig a well for your koi - 6'x6' x 8'deep could be problematic.
We have found locally with our watergarden supplier that the pump gpm sizes they recommend needed to be doubled or even tripled to actually achieve the water flow we wanted for waterfalls, filters, etc. Remember every length and turn of pipe reduces flow through friction, undersized pipe can greatly reduce flow and shorten the life of the pump as the pump is always working against pressure, changes in elevation greatly reduce pump output (most pumps have flow charts with them showing expected flow to rise ratio) - so if your pump is at the bottom of a 3' pond and your pumping to the top of a 3' waterfall that's 6' elevation and the pump's output can be greatly reduced. Undersized or clogged intakes also reduce the water available to the pump. And the first time the pump is plugged in is the best it will operate over its lifetime and it will lose efficiency from then on. Also, I think most koi people recommend turning over the entire volume of the pond every few hours.
I believe the first pump they sold us for our atrium pond (18" deep, 500 gal, 30" waterfall) was only 180 gpm, we took this back for a 240, then again exchanged it a couple more time until we were somewhere around 500 gpm. .
I hate to think these watergarden places do this intentionally, but I think the majority are really plant places and don't know the first thing about the needs of the fish. Beginners are easy targets and blame themselves when they loose a few fish and then go back and get more fish . . .
Sorry if this post is too long -- i just hate to see people lead astray and then not get to enjoy their ponds.
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