You can try going to http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/
there is a pond section there, the guys can give you great advice on setting up the filter and the bacteria ect. and treating fish illness. I think you have to register to post, but it is free. I have posted lots of times, and always get good responses.
There is also a cold water fish forum as well besides the pond forum. Also there is a forum for equipment, where you can get tips on making homemade instead of buying.
Rethinking a koi pond
Ahhh, I love it when people post pictures! Thanks snapple for the fish pics! I'm getting ready to dig again, I've just been too busy to even THINK about it, but really want to get it done! I wish I knew a plumber who wants to trade helping me for a few burgers on the grill!
:) Ahh the good ol' days of the barter system.
evesta - We do the same thing! Do you have potted plants in your ponds? I'm told that some nitrosomonas bacteria will survive the winter in the pots if the pots are deep enough to keep the pot planting medium around 40°. My filters and waterfalls have been running for about 2-1/2 weeks now. Fish have been lightly fed (1/8 C for 11 koi) about four times during this period when the water temps were above 55° for three or four days in a row. Regular testing has showed 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. I havn't fed for several days now because the weather was forecasted to turn nasty again - and it sure has. Spring ramp up is always a very delicate balancing process. I feed extra light every three days or so until the weather settles, usually early to mid May. I won't put my bacteria "seed" in the ponds until later this month. I am dosing with Microbelift PL. Love that stuff. I'm also trying a probiotic called Aqua MedZyme for the first time.
Would you reccomend that ic use Microbelit Pl in her stock tank or Cycle?
This message was edited Apr 6, 2009 2:01 PM
I started up my filters a couple of weeks ago too:) More for mechanical filtration and aeration but I did add some bacteria gel as well. My water is testing perfect but I'm not feeding yet. There is plenty of algae in there already, they will be good for a few more weeks. I am also using the microlift PL to jump start.
Not sure about what to use for stock tank. I would think cycle would be enough for a smaller body of water but I enjoy microbelift products myself. But you could use either I would think.
My friend is bringing his PondVac 3 after Easter to clean things up!!! My bottom drain is good but it doesn't pick up all the gravel that fell out of the potted plant baskets! Need to also get my stock tank set up because I have new wakin coming soon:)
Where are your wakins coming from? Nobody around here has them and I'd like a couple.
I've got the original PondVac. It's a pain with that on again - off again routine but it does get the job done. There's no sense in spending the money to replace it just because it takes longer. I'm not vacuuming until I dont have to wear winter clothes just to get out the back door to the pond. The bottom looks pretty good. I netted out all the winter accumulated debris. The water's crystal clear ( thanks to the UV's and 10lbs of activated carbon). All we need is warmth! Please some warmth! I've got a giant pot of water lilly to divide and there's no way I'm going in that water now to drag the pot out.
I'm getting the wakin from raingarden.com. Cheap (but good) shipping and for such nice fish the prices are awesome. Steve is a great guy. I'm also getting a new calico lionhead for indoors:)