timwkd

Hi All,

I recently bought a house with a very nice pond. This is my first ever pond so completely new at this, I have been researching pond for a good week and looking to put Koi in it.

The pond was already half full with 6 frogs in it, they were probably trapped in there.



I bought the OASE BioSmart 140000 sets - My pond is L:10.5ft x W: 4ft x D: 4ft - with Pond Volume 4700litres



I filled the pond up and added Tetra AquaSafe for removing the harmful stuff from tap water, also added Interpet Bio Activator for good bacteria 2 days later.


I have planted Water Lily, Elodia, water grass, long blade like grass and a basket of 4 different plant that I dont know.



From this point after reading forum that I should not have any gravel/pebbles in the pond, I started net out as much gravel out as I can since previous owner have them.

The pond instantly went all cloudy/dirty, also net out lots of dead leaves debris, as much as I can.

Is this actually normal? Since its already there, are they very harmful? Anyway of adding anything to remove these?

The pond is still very cloudy/dirty, hope it will all settle down soon!

-- hopefully you can give me some tips on what I've done wrong or things to do? --

Many Thanks in advance

Gazfish

Hi,

Was there a filter on the pond before you put one on as this could of been a wildlife pond where people just leave them to mother nature to deal with and thats why there is so much waste in it.

If you are looking to keep koi then the water has to be looked after as they will also create a lot of waste which has to be removed and if there is no bottom drain many use a vacuum to keep the bottom of the pond clean.

You may have to be carefully with some of the plants as well as koi tend to forage for food and can make a mess of plants and roots if they can get to them which normally makes the pond go murky.

Remember also to not go made with the fish as this will be a new system that needs to mature and being an relatively small pond and the way koi can grow the filters have to do all the work to keep the water spot on to allow the fish to live without any problems. Water is the key so you will need a good test kit to be able to test the water and then add a couple of small koi and keep testing and making sure you keep the filters clean from any waste and also the pond as if not done the problems can soon come around.

__________________
Best Regards

Gazza

timwkd

Many thanks for your very detailed reply! Much appreciated!

The previous owner had an Oase BioTec filter, it was obsolete so couldn't find the exact model.

I'm thinking of investing a vacuum, how often do I need to vacuum the pond?

For now I'm thinking of stiring up the pond and allow the filter to suck up all the crap then clean the filter. You think this will help?

Many Thanks Gazza!!

timwkd

Just notice the frog came back! So maybe I'm
Doing something right!?

AlanK

If the pond was half full, there may be a leak at the point of the water level.

timwkd

I hope not, they literally just moved out the previous kois and they halfed the pond water...

The water has been at the same level so far..