need pond advice-calling all koi lovers!

Hi All: I've cleaned out my backyard pond (it's approximately 350 gallons preformed tub). I had horrible luck last year keeping fish alive and had multiple algae blooms (I think in part to the very hot summer we had). What advice do you have in terms of keeping my pond algae free and with some live hardy goldfish.

I currently have one filter that has a box filter attached to it with two sponges in it. It does a decent amount of turnover of the water. I would like to add a little water fall in the near future to add some additional flow and for aesthetics as well.

The pond sits in a part-sun location so I have a couple of hardy plants in there with that sun need. I would like to keep it clean and algae free from the get go but I'm not sure how to do that in this set up.

Thanks in advance for advice!

 

I love koi ponds. I used to have a 600g pond off my back deck surrounded with tropical plants. I had a main box that pulled in the water to catch leaves & such in firate step & then it had a bristle brush type filter screen to catch 1/4" size & such debris with the main pump in back. Main pump would push water to another filter that had uv in it. And also 2 pads & bio balls which this all got cleaned weekly. But that water went to a fountain that squirted water into air & into pond so it oxygenated the water. But also gave a ripple effect over water to help with the Fla sun toasting our fish. Our pond was about 3 ft deep & I had rock covers under water to give fish a place to hide. But I built a waterfall on opposite end of filter to give pond a flow & a helps me more ripples on top of water. The ripples help block sun & creates a blurr. We have herons here who will come down & eat your fish. Another reason for ripples. But I eventually built a terrarium covered with bird netting to keep them out. During the summer I would use an algea additive which makes algae clump together so it would catch in filter. I had a bunch of flat river rocks to put along the sides of black liner. And then smaller round stones to cover the bottom. I noticed algae would grow wherever there wasnt rock. Plus I had a bunch of lilipads & plants to help give cover in corners. But I would suggest getting some round river rock to cover the bottom. And keep it clean & don't over feed. Sounds familiar huh? Lol

 

Well unfortunately your pond is too small for Koi as they grow very large.I have always loved Shubunkin and Sarasa Goldfish and you could keep a few in that sized pond.The best way to keep your water clean and algae free is to use a U.V. sterilizer however the right kind of plants can also help.By adding things like Lillie's you can block enough light to keep the algae from becoming an issue. Since my ponds and the plants have matured I have been able to remove both sterilizers and my water stays crystal clear.Plants are the key for a happy healthy pond.
Heres some pics of my ponds.

 

do you have rock on the bottom? I hadn't thought of that.....my only problem is where the pond sits, it gets just part sun so lillies don't get enough light....I can add some more plants though and a UV sterilizer I've never used - on any set up I've ever had...so how does that work? you run it all the time?

Beautiful ponds btw! how many do you have?

 

I have 2. I have always run the U.V. 24 hours but depending on the size of the sterilizer I guess you could put it on a timer.There is a little bit of gravel that fell in from the surrounding area but most of the pond is BB.

 

is there a particular type of UV you would recommend? I started looking and it looks like some are submersible and others are not? I would prefer to have one that is not because my pond is obviously not very large and the filter takes up a lot of space in the bottom.....

 

I used the Tetra pond and it worked very well.

Pond UV Clarifiers & Sterilizers for Water Gardens at Drs. Foster & Smith

 

Lillys dont need a crap ton of light either. I live in Montana and mine do alright in prat sun. You can also get water lettuce and hyacinth just about everywhere. I suggest going bare bottom for ease of maintenance. Keep in mind if your pond isn't 3 feet deep you should not be keeping fish in it year round anyway.

 

Gorgeous ponds Vinny.

oldfishkeeper you have received some great advise. Glad to see you are taking Vinny's and strongly suggest you take ingtar's also from what I have read.

 

is the advise about lillies not needing a crap load of sun? j/k yes, thanks all for the awesome advice! I hadn't planned on keeping koi but the types that Vinny has - I just hope this is the year I will have a quandry about whether to bring them inside in the winter or not - unfortunately they just kept dying on me last year and haven't had it cleaned up and running for two years prior to that. Plus changed out the liner to the preformed last year - it does make cleaning it a whole lot easier.