Journal My New Filter and Pond - Lots of pictures

[Ed Seeley]

The whole pond, stream, waterfall and filter are all concrete base with block sides, rendered and painted with G4. That allows me to link them together with no leaks or chances of leaks developing. You could make one out of liner as well too but may have to get one professionally joined to make sure it doesn't leak if you want the fish to swim up from the pond like mine.

If you just want a stream then a liner will work fine.

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Wow.
Looks fantastic, really professional. I have only two questions. I notice that you don't have a net over the pond. How do you stop Herons and things stealing and eating the fish? I took the net off mine to do some maintenance over three day period and lost half my fish to a Heron.

Secondly are smails good in a garden pond or not?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Steve.

 

[Ed Seeley]

Wow.
Looks fantastic, really professional. I have only two questions. I notice that you don't have a net over the pond. How do you stop Herons and things stealing and eating the fish? I took the net off mine to do some maintenance over three day period and lost half my fish to a Heron.

Secondly are smails good in a garden pond or not?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

Steve.

Thanks Steve. I did used to design and build ponds and gardens once back in the day... 😉

To keep the herons at bay I have an alarm that makes a horrid sound whenever they get close. There's an ultrasound one too to keep the foxes and cats away as well.

Personally I wouldn't bother with snails in the pond, but if they're there then it'll be too hard to get rid of them! My koi would soon eat any that made their way into mine!!!

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Thanks Ed,

I have one other question. We do partial water changes in our planted aquariums. Should we be doing partial water changes in our ponds and if so how much,how often?

Your advice is appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[Ed Seeley]

Thanks Ed,

I have one other question. We do partial water changes in our planted aquariums. Should we be doing partial water changes in our ponds and if so how much,how often?

Your advice is appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.

Yes we should! Mine get a water change every time I clean the filter as the dirty water gets pumped onto the garden. It then has an automatic top-up to replace the water. The recomended amount on koi ponds is about 10% per week. You do also have the rain obviously to help with that too and the nice soft water is great for koi. Even in our summers though that's rarely enough on it's own and it's best to do them at regularly intervals. At this time of year I'm cleaning my filters every fortnight or so and that will go up to twice a week in the height of summer. Some koi keepers do a small clean every day!

 

[LondonDragon]

Hows the pond doing? Now that the summer is nearly here and the sun is shinning 😉
Looking forward to some photos and an update 🙂

 

[Ed Seeley]

Hows the pond doing? Now that the summer is nearly here and the sun is shinning 😉
Looking forward to some photos and an update 🙂

It's all looking great, but one of the pumps has broken so the waterfall isn't quite the 'torrent' it used to be! Going to try and repair or replace and probably upgrade it this weekend. Have promised pisctures of some plants and stuff for a mate on another forum so will take a few of the pond too and post them.

 

[Mark Evans]

amazing garden ed, truly!

mark

 

[Ed Seeley]

amazing garden ed, truly!

mark

Thnaks very much. Hoping to sort it out and re-do bits of the filter with static and fluidised media this summer then maybe, if I don't go abroad last minute, have UKAPS bbq in August sometime!

 

[LondonDragon]

Ed we need an update with more photos 😉 BBQ sounds good too 😉

 

[Steve Smith]

Would love an update Ed 🙂

Do you do anything to prepare for winter, and does your cleaning regime slow as the fish go into their dormant state (for want of a better term)? I assume they produce far less waste at this time?

 

[Ed Seeley]

Will try and get some pics tomorrow! To be honest I'm cleaning the pond more than ever at the moment. I've switched the filter over to a different media that traps almost all the fine particles in the water, but then needs cleaning regularly. Once it settles down it should be a once a week job. Amazing water clarity though!

It's going to get a good clean before winter to remove the leaves and things currently in the pond, but I'll wait until they've stopped falling first! Not too many end up in the pond really.

At the minute though I'm busy renovating and re-insulating my over-wintering pond so that's the priority before the really cold weather bites! Will take some pics of that too once it's redone.

 

[Brenmuk]

Is this the same pond that won the cyprio(?) pond design competition back in 98-99 that was featured in PFK? I was re reading some old PFK mags and I seem to recall a design that featured a stream leading to a pool. I can't remember the details off the top of my head atm I will check again tonight when I get home.

 

[Ed Seeley]

Is this the same pond that won the cyprio(?) pond design competition back in 98-99 that was featured in PFK? I was re reading some old PFK mags and I seem to recall a design that featured a stream leading to a pool. I can't remember the details off the top of my head atm I will check again tonight when I get home.

Blimey, yes it is! Didn't think anyone remembered that far back!!!

Unfortunately I have to apologise that I never got round to taking any pictures. I will, I promise, but when I had time over half term I didn't remember and when I remembered I didn't have time!!!

 

[a1Matt]

but when I had time over half term I didn't remember and when I remembered I didn't have time!!!

If you don't mind me paraphrasing you I might just put that on my gravestone when I pop my clogs!

 

[Ed Seeley]

but when I had time over half term I didn't remember and when I remembered I didn't have time!!!

If you don't mind me paraphrasing you I might just put that on my gravestone when I pop my clogs!

Not a problem but I do hope your not planning to do that anytime soon. If I remember it when I die (which will hopefully be on my 125th birthday while sleeping with my 25 year old wife...) then I might add it to mine too!

 

[Tony Swinney]

Hi Ed

Just found this thread, and read it through - thats a great pond set up you've got. 😀

Can you recommend any good pond / koi forums ? Our pond needs a bit of work, and I'm looking for inspiration on redesigning it etc.

Cheers

Tony

 

[Ed Seeley]

Cheers mate, though I'd change a lot of things now if I had to do it again.

Have you got a koi pond or a general one? I am a member of Koi Quest and Koi UK but both of these are totally koi orientated and linked to a couple of British koi farms where I buy all my koi from.

I used to design and build a few ponds before I was a teacher so you could always start a thread here with some details if you like?! 😉

 

[Tony Swinney]

Have you got a koi pond or a general one?

Well, I think I've got a general one with Koi in it ! The pond was here when we bought the house, and was originally built for Koi in the 80's, but had been left unloved, and had a massive wysteria over the top of it which allowed it no sunlight and dropped lots of rubbish in to it.

I cleaned it all out and took the wysteria out, installed a couple of laguna pump / filters and its been running like that for a couple of years. The koi were bought for me, from one of those ebay " 30 x 5cm koi for £40 " ads, and they are all fit and healthy, and up to about 15cm now.

It all seems healthy and works fine, but aesthetically it could be alot nicer, and it could definately be cleaner! I'll start a thread and post some pics up in the next few days, and you can see what you reckon to it. Your input would be much appreciated.

I'll take a look through the 2 forums you mentioned too 😀

Cheers

Tony

 

[Ed Seeley]

Have you got a koi pond or a general one?

Well, I think I've got a general one with Koi in it ! The pond was here when we bought the house, and was originally built for Koi in the 80's, but had been left unloved, and had a massive wysteria over the top of it which allowed it no sunlight and dropped lots of rubbish in to it.

I cleaned it all out and took the wysteria out, installed a couple of laguna pump / filters and its been running like that for a couple of years. The koi were bought for me, from one of those ebay " 30 x 5cm koi for £40 " ads, and they are all fit and healthy, and up to about 15cm now.

It all seems healthy and works fine, but aesthetically it could be alot nicer, and it could definately be cleaner! I'll start a thread and post some pics up in the next few days, and you can see what you reckon to it. Your input would be much appreciated.

I'll take a look through the 2 forums you mentioned too 😀

Cheers

Tony

IMHO your best bet is to build the pond deigned for koi and then other fish will love it too. I look forward to the pics mate and will try and help best I can! The first thing I'd do is upgrade the filter pretty seriously if you want to improve things as those box filters tend to clog up a lot and need a lot of cleaning! I know a few DIY filter designs that don't cost too much to make and are dead easy to clean. I'll have a look which will be best for your site in the new thread.