My Koi Journey

[yonny]

As some of you know I've inherited a koi pond after the purchase of a new home. It's not your average garden pond... in fact it's pushing 7000 gallons. Quite an installation I tell thee. It holds 16 koi to nearly 30lb, and 1 albino grass carp which is also a biggun. I'm considering doing a diary of sorts on here to document my journey keeping koi. I'd talk about the set up, any changes,  and more importantly the kippers and their condition and growth.

Obviously I know a thing or 2 about carp but I'm a complete newbie to ponds so it could be interesting to share in the fun of it all, as well as the blood, sweat and tears that are bound to manifest!

[jh92]

Sweet 👌 would love to see some pictures if you do 👍

[yonny]

Just now, jh92 said:

would love to see some pictures if you do 👍

Of course!!

[yonny]

So this is what the pond looked like when I arrived. The pond is 2m wide, 6m long, and 2m deep. It holds 24,000 litres (~5.2k gallons), with the filtration and pipework capacity taking it to over 30,000 litres. Construction is by way of reinforced concrete base and walls set into the ground by ~1.6m, with the top ~0.4m sitting above ground.

The wooden decking on the left is essentially a lid that is raised using a pulley system. You can then walk down into the filter house, which is also set into the ground just like the pond.

The filtration system is gravity fed, which means there is a bottom drain in the pond. The water is pushed down the bottom drain, along some pipework, and up into a Nexus 310 which is a high-performance combination mechanical/bio filter. First the water is pushed through the mechanical filter section which removes dirt, grime, and weed etc. The water is then passed to the biological filter section which uses a filtration media, agitated by air lines, to foster friendly bacteria growth. This bacteria converts ammonia and nitrite (from carp poo) into harmless nitrate. The water is then fed, by pump, into a UV filter which passes the water through a tube under UV light which kills algae. The treated water is then returned to the pond through an outlet ~15cm below the ponds surface.

There’s also a skimmer system which filters contamination from the surface of the pond. Water that goes through the skimmer is then pumped into a ‘veggie’ or ‘bog’ filter (an additional shallow, gravel-filled pond, planted with moisture-loving plants). This section, located over the back of the main pond, is currently blocked off due to a leak – I’ll worry about this next year.

So, as you can see, it’s far from just a hole in the ground. I’ve spent loads of time online researching how all this stuff works, and spoken with the local koi centre, and the local pond builder. I’ve replaced a pump, and the UV bulb in the UV filter, trying to get the existing system working as perfectly as possible ready for winter. We have loads of trees, which means loads of leaves, and this could be a problem when autumn hits properly, especially with the skimmer system blocked off. I’ve purchased a massive fine mesh net to protect it this year and I’ll just chuck this over when the time comes.

In the coming days I’ll post about the best bit…… the fish.

Edited yesterday at 11:47 by yonny

[elmoputney]

13 minutes ago, yonny said:

So this is what the pond looked like when I arrived. The pond is 2m wide, 6m long, and 2m deep. It holds 24,000 litres (~5.2k gallons), with the filtration and pipework capacity taking it to over 30,000 litres. Construction is by way of reinforced concrete base and walls set into the ground by ~1.6m, with the top ~0.4m sitting above ground.

The wooden decking on the left is essentially a lid that is raised using a pulley system. You can then walk down into the filter house, which is also set into the ground just like the pond.

The filtration system is gravity fed, which means there is a bottom drain in the pond. The water is pushed down the bottom drain, along some pipework, and up into a Nexus 310 which is a high-performance combination mechanical/bio filter. First the water is pushed through the mechanical filter section which removes dirt, grime, and weed etc. The water is then passed to the biological filter section which uses a filtration media, agitated by air lines, to foster friendly bacteria growth. This bacteria converts ammonia and nitrite (from carp poo) into harmless nitrate. The water is then fed, by pump, into a UV filter which passes the water through a tube under UV light which kills algae. The treated water is then returned to the pond through an outlet ~15cm below the ponds surface.

There’s also a skimmer system which filters contamination from the surface of the pond. Water that goes through the skimmer is then pumped into a ‘veggie’ or ‘bog’ filter (an additional shallow, gravel-filled pond, planted with moisture-loving plants). This section, located over the back of the main pond, is currently blocked off due to a leak – I’ll worry about this next year.

So, as you can see, it’s far from just a hole in the ground. I’ve spent loads of time online researching how all this stuff works, and spoken with the local koi centre, and the local pond builder. I’ve replaced a pump, and the UV bulb in the UV filter, trying to get the existing system working as perfectly as possible ready for winter. We have loads of trees, which means loads of leaves, and this could be a problem when autumn hits properly, especially with the skimmer system blocked off. I’ve purchased a massive fine mesh net to protect it this year and I’ll just chuck this over when the time comes.

In the coming days I’ll post about the best bit…… the fish.

Wow that's mega.Will look forward to seeing the updates, Why does no one ever build a bream pond, 😂

Also why doesn't Rob Hales try and grow the world's biggest bream in his swimming pool? That would be quite interesting to see. 

[framey]

You would never guess that was 6m long in that photo 

I foresee a load of heartache, love, time and money being poured into that 

Edited yesterday at 13:45 by framey

[yonny]

6 minutes ago, framey said:

I foresee a load of heartache, love, time and money being poured into that 

I foresee that you are right😅

[emmcee]

Lovely sized pond mate, I'd love one that size but I know they are pricey to build/maintain etc. Do you have the automatic self cleaning nexus. Looking forward to seeing a few pics of the fish. 

 I've got a tiny 2 metre square pond by 900mm deep. I built it soley for goldfish originally but I did have 6 dinton carp in it once upon a time and  believe it or not one of them grew to just shy of 10lb and the rest all over 5lb. Sadly they all died due to a freak accident. I've now got a few goldfish,  one gold tench, 3 x carp that i grew from spawn in 2020 from my old lake, one of which is probably 6lb and 2 x koi that are knocking 7 or 8lb.They've out grown the pond really and i do need to upgrade mine really. Time and money holding me back at the moment.  I've got a bog filter on my current one and boy do the plants grow in that, especially when I up the feed in spring.  The first picture is after I built the bog filter. The next picture is after one month, second picture after 2 months and last picture after 5 months and cutting it all back after 4 months. 

 

[yonny]

12 hours ago, emmcee said:

Do you have the automatic self cleaning nexus.

Not automatic but it is the 'Eazy' version so no need to get wet when cleaning. You just shut the pump off, isolate the central chamber, turn on airlines to the central chamber, leave it for 5 mins and drain to waste with a ball valve. Top the pond up with water and you're good to go. Takes about 10 mins, and of course while you're doing it the carp are milling about next to you at about chest height. I'm still loving this little job.... but it's still the honeymoon phase innit. We'll see how much fun it is in January in -4 C with no carp on top to stare at.

12 hours ago, emmcee said:

I've got a tiny 2 metre square pond by 900mm deep. I built it soley for goldfish originally but I did have 6 dinton carp in it once upon a time

Looks like a great set up. I was thinking about putting some 'proper' carp in mine. Will see what happens in spring. There are 3 or 4 ghosties among the koi and while they're all a bit different I might want to take 1 or 2 out and replace them with fish of my own choosing.

12 hours ago, emmcee said:

Looking forward to seeing a few pics of the fish.

I found out last night how difficult it is to get good shots of the fish with my phone camera. My proper camera isn't yet onsite (it was relocated prior to our house move, with my fishing gear, separately of the removal trucks, to avoid damage) and I haven't yet collected it. For now the rubbish phone pics will have to do.

[yonny]

So I did my best to get shots on the phone - apologies for the poor quality. This fish is one of the bigger koi in the pond. It's a Gin Rin Platinum Ogon. Gin Rin meaning 'scaled' i.e. a common, Ogon meaning metallic, solid, single-coloured koi, and Platinum referring to the white/silver colour. In our carpy language it's basically a pure white common.

The kids have named it 'Whopper', which imo is an absolutely rubbish name, but they love it so the name stays. I put Whopper at about 28 lb despite the local pond/koi expert being adamant she's a 30. Stick to your pond building mate... I know a 30 when I see one😅

Whopper is actually a young fish, possibly as young as 5 or 6, so if I want to grow a real monster (which obviously I do😅) she's probably my best bet in the shorter term. She's probably the most friendly fish too and will always be first up at feeding time.

I'm taking it easy with the food at the moment due to dropping temps, but next year I'll up the feeding during growing season. Whopper should easily be 30lb by this time next year. I've taken a lot of advice on how to grow as safely and as naturally as possible. I don't want to heat the pond, I want the carp to have a 'natural' annual cycle, so I just need to optimise feeding at the right time.

[elmoputney]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

So I did my best to get shots on the phone - apologies for the poor quality. This fish is one of the bigger koi in the pond. It's a Gin Rin Platinum Ogon. Gin Rin meaning 'scaled' i.e. a common, Ogon meaning metallic, solid, single-coloured koi, and Platinum referring to the white/silver colour. In our carpy language it's basically a pure white common.

The kids have named it 'Whopper', which imo is an absolutely rubbish name, but they love it so the name stays. I put Whopper at about 28 lb despite the local pond/koi expert being adamant she's a 30. Stick to your pond building mate... I know a 30 when I see one😅

Whopper is actually a young fish, possibly as young as 5 or 6, so if I want to grow a real monster (which obviously I do😅) she's probably my best bet in the shorter term. She's probably the most friendly fish too and will always be first up at feeding time.

I'm taking it easy with the food at the moment due to dropping temps, but next year I'll up the feeding during growing season. Whopper should easily be 30lb by this time next year. I've taken a lot of advice on how to grow as safely and as naturally as possible. I don't want to heat the pond, I want the carp to have a 'natural' annual cycle, so I just need to optimise feeding at the right time.

Ignore your Dad kids "Whopper" is a great name for a fish. And it is a whopper too mega, 

Sounds like you have found a great way to scratch the itch, such a great project, I'll put my name on the waiting list 👍

[crusian]

Hello Yonny .

Don't you mean you bought a Koi Pond , and a house came with it ?  😁 .

I hope you have Heron and Otter  protection  ? .

 

 

[emmcee]

9 minutes ago, crusian said:

Hello Yonny .

Don't you mean you bought a Koi Pond , and a house came with it ?  😁 .

I hope you have Heron and Otter  protection  ? .

 

 

I'd hate to see the size of the heron if it was to eat "whopper". That said the otter protection is a good shout if near to waterways.  

[yonny]

30 minutes ago, crusian said:

I hope you have Heron and Otter  protection  ? .

I have another pond down in the main garden with goldfish in.... the heron can have them!

Otters...... now there's a scary thought. We're 3 miles away from the Nene... but there's a small brook just 250m away. Fencing the pond, or the garden, isn't really possible. Maybe a steel mesh over the top of the pond when I'm not around?