Paul Ford

Just joined the forum - Hello!

After installing a rather large wildlife pond a few years ago at the end of the garden (which obviously I did all wrong!) I have been building myself a raised koi pond on the patio. My aim was to not have any pipes showing (my pet hate!) which I think I will be able to achieve but already I realize that I could have made my life a lot easier (and I should have fitted a bottom drain etc etc).

Anyway, it's pretty modest by some standards and seeing as I can't lay a brick to save my life, I'm quite pleased with it so far:



The water returns from the filter into a "troff" behind the pond and the water drains back into the pond through the holes in the wall.



As you can see I have yet to finish everything off but the pond has been up and running for a couple of weeks now and there are even a few fish in it (For some reason progress has been much slower since some fish went in as I seem to spend a lot of time just watching them instead.... )

One of the things I have still to do is to lay some decking at the back of the pond (mainly to cover the troff). I will try to cover/seal the troff as best I can but undoubtedly some rain will find it's way through the decking and into the troff so a question if I may.... As the decking will be treated (tannelised?) is this going to be harmful to the fish?

Thanks for your help.

Paul

worthy

I love it that looks great and i really like the way the water returnes only thing is have you got any curent in the pond for the fish to swim against or you might end up with some fat fish and down to the decking if its tanalised then it will be poisenous and kill your fish sorry to say the only thing i can think is to make some kind of water proof cover to go over it then decking on top just so you get no run off from the decking.

__________________
Hi im Dan and im addicted to Koi

susie

Lovely pond, you must be very proud of it.
If you are worried about leaching why don't you make some sort of guttering/drainage to catch the water and drain it away from the pond perhaps use a different kind of wood preservative that is not harmful. Lots of folks have use decking around their ponds so there must be a way of making it safe why not speak to your local koi dealer they may help.
What sort of filters are you using and where have you hid them

bcfc

hi,p2 super seal,pond safe.i have to get some myself.nice pond mate! for a cowboy y have done that well!

Paul Ford

Thanks for the comments guys - some things for me to think about then.

I'll see tomorrow whether I can get some untreated decking and treat it myself with P2 super seal.

Fat fish? - Bugger - something else I didn't think of

Cowboy? - spot on

I'm hoping to finish it this week - I've arranged a "pond warming" BBQ for Saturday anyway!! (and no I won't be barbequing any fish), so I'll post up some pictures of the finished article then (and I'll find out what model of filter I've got).

Thanks again

Paul

ellen

nice pond

Paul Ford

I'm having awful trouble trying to source some untreated decking

The only stuff available is hardwood decking and is far too expensive. One of the guys I spoke to told me that modern decking preservatives are safe and even gave me the details of a co who treats timber so that I could check!?

I've done a bit more digging and B&Q decking is preserved with "Tanalith e" which is made by a company called Arch Timber Construction who I contacted and who confirmed to me in writing:

Thank you for your enquiry.

"We wish to confirm that TANALISED E pressure treated timber is suitable for use in, around and over garden ponds.* However, where fish are present we recommend that direct water contact is avoided. *

Whilst we are confident about the safety of TANALISED E pressure treated timber, fish are very sensitive creatures and may respond unfavorably to changes in their surroundings."

Given that I will do my best to cover/waterproof the troff anyway (so the run off from the timber will be minimal) I think this sounds ok.....!??

Paul

Paul Ford

Well it isn't going to be finished in time for the BBQ tomorrow - one decent day all week - what a waste of a week off

Anyways my set-up is a oase 8000 pump, 25watt UV and a biotec 10.1 filter

Cheers

Paul

koimaster

hi chap what the gallonage of the pond you might need a bigger uv !!!!!

Paul Ford

2000 gallons (including the troff and filter) ....

Funny you should say that - it does get a lot of sun and when it was really sunny (seems ages ago now) it did appear to go a bit green but it's clear again at the moment....?

Do you think I need a to get a larger one?

Cheers

Paul