Looking back at my pond:

It is almost a year ago since I built my 30000L pond and I did many things wrong but I have learned a few things as well.

1 I did not know about this forum until I completed my pond, so many ideas was my own and was based on old technology. Firstly I have built my filters more that 10% the size of my pond. Years ago people used filter media with a small surface area but these days you get some potent media that takes up far less space.

2 I had 12 days to complete my pond and believe me it was hard work to get everything done in time.

3 My filters were built on a 40 x 40cm foundation and brick force between every layer of bricks. Plastered and after that I used a cement / salt solution that I painted over the plaster. This gave a rough look to the cement – the way I wanted it. Two days later I painted it with waterblok.

4 The pond itself was built 2 days before I came back to Tanzania and later I realized it was a stupid idea to rush things. Had some bad cracks in the area last build.

5 Try to do all your foundations at the same time. I waited till the end to build my waterfalls and that part of the foundation was above ground – ended up with cracks where waterfall and filter joined.

6 The waterblok is a brilliant product but when I tried to fix up the cracks with waterblok and membrane (in a hurry again) the membrane came loose and the leak was back.( Huge water bill as a result)

7 If you have a leak rather chip the area away and fix it in a proper way.

8 When building a pond in summer be aware that the water might evaporate fast and the concrete might cure to fast (shrinking) leaving you with cracks. To must water in concrete will weaken the structure. In winter the people use less water in the mix but be on the lookout for frost – bad idea again. You can use some additives designed for different application

9 Make the corners of your pond round. This will not only prevent a build up of the unwanted stuff but also strengthen your pond.

10 If you use more than one bottom drain it will be a good idea to use a separate pipe for each drain. Try to use as little bends / elbows as possible. Use the biggest diameter pipes as possible. Extend the drain pipe into your settlement – if the pipe is flush with the bottom of the drain you might drain your pond if something goes wrong. It is also good for settlement if the pipe is higher up in chamber.

11 Use a skimmer where possible – this will prevent leaves ending up in drains and a build up of debri on the pond floor.

12 Use as large as possible pipes on your motors with as little as possible bends. Believe me it makes a huge difference. I run 2 x 750W motors ( same make – same age). The one pump is sucking water from settlement chamber via a 75mm pipe straight into filters(via UV’s) The other pump is for my 7 jet returns (50mm piping) and I did an experiment by filling up my filter chambers. The smaller pipe size took 22% longer to fill the chambers. This is a waste of energy ( I used the same length piping and the same amount of bends on both motors)

13 I have 2 waterfall returns to my pond and in the;beginning I used white garden rocks to fill up the space between the water inlet and the pond – bad idea since this is a breeding place for the baddies and the rocks don’t stay clean anyway.

14 Make sure you use the correct size filter and UV for your pond and take the flow rate of your pump into consideration – you might end up with a brilliant filter system but the flow rate might be too high for that system.

15 Check your water parameters and buy a test kit. Currently I use dipstick testers but remember they are not accurate and I use them only as a reference. The pH reading is about 0.5 out. I also use the MediKoi Salt meter and pH tester( R800 each) but if you want to go the electronic way it will be a better investment to buy the HANNA water tester for about R1700. You can test TDS and temperature as well.

16 Expect an ammonia and nitrite spike when you set up your new pond. Don’t over stock or feed to must in the beginning. You can use salt to help out the fish during this stage. Bao Bio Clear is also a good product to start up a filter system. Zeolite will remove ammonia but I don’t think this is a good idea in a new pond since you will need the ammonia to start up the Bio cycle – different story in a settled pond when you experience ammonia problems.

17 Good to quarantine new fish but this is not a guarantee that something can’t go wrong. Your pond might have a bacteria / parasite count far higher that the supplier and the fish will get sick and don’t blame the supplier. Go and rectify your own pond.

18 Take advice from people on the forum and treat your fish whenever something is wrong. In most cases you will end up with dead fish without visible signs of a disease. If you are serious about your expensive hobby it will be a good idea to buy a microscope and determine the problem with the fish – guess work is not the way to go. You can’t drink flu pills if you have Malaria, so try to pin point the problem.

19 Don’t fiddle too much with your Koi or pond. Enjoy the hobby; it is great and you will never stop learning from your Koi, they are one step ahead of us

Hi Marius
Thanks for sharing, I have been finding excuses not to start my second pond, winter and so on. The first one with only a bit of book knowledge was easy, now 2 years later and lots of info to the various pond builds I am probably a little scared not to make mistakes. So many filter systems to choose from. I have a plan of my new set-up using again a gravity flow system. I purchased a Nexus 300, two Easy Pods and two trickle towers for the filter operation. Space is very limited therefore the smaller footprint required for the filter pit. I need a reputable builder to walk in to start the ball rolling. Failing that I will start as soon as the weather is on the up.

Marius, I recall seeing many snippets on your repairs and filters, how about a a full view of the pond in operation?

Hi Marius
I think everyone still has a lot to learn about this fascinating 'hobby'. Iv'e just completed my first pond - mistakes and all - but I'm happy, and will do much better with the next. Had much assistance through the forum - especially from Collin (Orient Koi). He also assisted me with equipment to move 16 largish koi in one trip. The whole pond - fish, filters and media, pump, UV all transferred and set up in about 6 hours.
I used Sika's Cemflex for the final sealer, and it's peeling in places. Contacted Sika in Durban, and their only response was that perhaps my final plaster hadn't dried enough. I waited a week before application. My borehole water (which I used for filling the pond) has a pH of 7.4. I'm doing a 25% water change every second day to bring my pH down from 8.8. I've been told that this pH increase is more than likely as a result of the open plaster where the Cemflex has peeled, and I don't know what my course of action should be.
You mentioned Hanna Instruments for testing. The guy who gave me all the fish, filters, pump etc. also gave me a "DiST WP" Conductivity/TDS meter. I emailed Hanna in USA and got the reply that it measures "total dissolved solids in water", but cannot tell me how it should asist a koi keeper. Can you (or anyone else) tell me how / why to use it?
Regards
Jack

Hi Bobby I will do that for you. Just give me some time to take proper photos. Hopefully the people will learn what not to do

Jack
I am no expert but to me TDS does not mean much. Forgive me for saying this but if you treat your pond with salt ( a good thing under certain conditions) and you add some clay ( to add minerals) your TDS will be high. This high TDS will be ‘good’ as far as I am concerned. A high TDS under different conditions will mean that you have unwanted impurities in your pond. Forgive me if I am wrong but if I remember correctly, a TDS higher that 400ppm will not be suited for human consumption