pond is ready for its 3rd season!

[Crispy]

got the pond all cleaned up and ready for a new season. all the plants have sprouted and I'm excited to say that all the fish lived through the winter (goldfish, koi, yellow perch, emeraldback minnows). even a bullfrog spent the winter there! enjoy...

0xcFLnEVdPc

...will update when the aquatic plants grow in. :ssmile:

[mommy1]

The pond looks great Crispy!

[Crispy]

Thanks mommy! now that spring has sprung, I would love to see others updating their ponds and showing progression through the seasons. :fish:

[TheVoldevader]

What a nice pond. I really like the stonework. and you've got such a lovely backyard!

[Crispy]

What a nice pond. I really like the stonework. and you've got such a lovely backyard!

thanks! it's actually my folks backyard (my home away from home) out in the county. me and pops built the pond 3 seasons back. it was totally DIY from beginning to end. we even built that garbage pail filter which works great. I hope to build more ponds in the future. :ssmile: :fish:

[Lady Hobbs]

Lookin great but sure doesn't seem like it's been there 3 years already.

[Crispy]

Lookin great but sure doesn't seem like it's been there 3 years already.

actually built in summer of 2010, but this is our 3rd season. sounds older than it actually is.

[smaug]

Looks very nice and a whole lot clearer then mine did when spring sprung!

[Cliff]

Nice looking pond Crispy

I'm jealous

[BigPoppa]

Nice Tank You Have There!:19:

[Brhino]

looking good! Did your fish weather the winter outside or did you bring them in?

[Crispy]

looking good! Did your fish weather the winter outside or did you bring them in?

the fish stayed outside in the pond all winter with a 300w heater and airstone.

thanks for the comments everyone! :shappy:

[smaug]

A heater! That's luxory living dude. Mine just get whatever nature throws at em.

[PhillipOrigami]

Amazing! Love it.

By the way, listening to james bond songs while watching this video makes the fish look like superheroes.

[Crispy]

A heater! That's luxory living dude. Mine just get whatever nature throws at em.

yeah, after the first winter with no heater, we lost all the fish. so I got my dad one last xmas. it gets dang cold here in Canada.

[smaug]

Is it just to keep a air exchange hole or does such a tiny heater actually warm the water to any degree? Our usual winters are fairly mild in Pa but the winter of 2010 and 11 was subfreezing for months,just my main pump kept enough unfrozen and the water temp itself was 37 deg f fro over a month while the air temp avg about 30.

[ScottishFish]

Nice Pond! How many gallons do you think it holds?

[Crispy]

Is it just to keep a air exchange hole or does such a tiny heater actually warm the water to any degree? Our usual winters are fairly mild in Pa but the winter of 2010 and 11 was subfreezing for months,just my main pump kept enough unfrozen and the water temp itself was 37 deg f fro over a month while the air temp avg about 30.

yeah, the heater keeps a hole for gas exchange. it only comes on to prevent the surface from freezing solid and doesn't run constantly. it's a 300w laguna. I don't think it can warm the entire pond to any degree, but I've never measured temps. I'm sure on a small pond it's possible to keep it heated somewhat? we keep an airstone underneath it to help the gas exchange. we keep the airpump in a tight plastic container covered with a plastic bag.

scottishfish> we estimated 1000g when we figured out how long it took for the hose to fill a 5g pail. then we filled the pond and timed it. while it's not 100% accurate, it gave us a decent ballpark figure I think.

smaug> the reason it's so clear is because we drained it, scooped out all the leaves, sludge, and algae. then we powerwashed the sides and drained it again. pretty much did a 100% wc.

[TheVoldevader]

scottishfish> we estimated 1000g when we figured out how long it took for the hose to fill a 5g pail. then we filled the pond and timed it. while it's not 100% accurate, it gave us a decent ballpark figure I think.

I was about to guess for SF, and I would have guessed that exactly thumbs2: Now I feel psychic

How many fish do you have, do you know?

[bignellm]

Dang, now I want a pond :11:

[ScottishFish]

I havent kept a pond before, do you need to do PWC?? or is a yearly clean out all they need??

[Crispy]

I havent kept a pond before, do you need to do PWC?? or is a yearly clean out all they need??

this was the first cleaning since we built it 2 years ago. rain or the occasional hose top-ups was all the waterchanges it got. there were so many leaves, algae, and mud in the pond that we decided it was time for a complete draining. it started getting a 'ditch' smell to it so we figured it was due. if it was a small pond, I think I would do pwcs much more often. it's filtered by mostly plants and about 10g of lava rock as biomedia in the filter. the filter is also only cleaned once per season. as long as it stays flowing strong, we won't touch it until we shut it down in late fall.

[ScottishFish]

Thats pretty do-able maintenance, I have always been under the impression ponds are a pain to keep clean. If I get a house with a yard im sure I will get one.

[smaug]

Now I feel better! It took three 1/3 WC at 800 gallons each to clear mine up a bit before I was able to get proper functioning from my uv clarifier. Wait til your koi get bigger,you may find it impossible to keep plants in the water any more. My koi simply root all of mine up,all I have left is one lily and 1 lotus both of which won't make it through this year. The only reason they are still alive is because I surrounded there roots with broken potter shards!