Pond construction begins

[koifishgirl]

Just went to the farm and checked on the well, its still running, I turned it on at 12 noon yesterday and at 12 noon today still the same amount of water running in.

I wish I had done what you guys told me to do and my ponds would already be full. I just did not know how much water the well was going to provide.
I will put up some update pics this weekend, maybe the water will be running in the other pond

[koifishgirl]

Bads luck guys, I lost about a foot and a half due the the switch getting stuck again, I bypassed the darn thing and I hope the water will continue to run. So far so good. Changed out late yesterday and as of noon today still running.

Does anyone know the best place to get a liner for the pond if it will not fill up. I dont want the most expensive, I would say the middle of the road.

Im starting to get very frustrated with this and thinking about having another well dug, not sure if I should do this or not or if I should just pull up stacks and find some land with water already there. I really dont want to do this as it would set me back another couple of years.

[bekko]

Permalon liner is about $0.27/square foot. Its cross-laminated to give more strength in a thinner material. Its much less expensive than 40 mil polyethylene or EPDM. Will last much longer than vinyl or PVC. Permalon does not deal with rocks very well so if you have rocky soil you might want something thicker. Find it at:
www.reefindustries.com

Another poopular mid-range product is the fiber-reinforced polyethylene made by Unger. I cannot find a web site for them.

Before lining, you could have the contractor drag a sheep-foot roller over the pond to compact the soil and then a smooth roller to restore the surface.

I would just fertilize to get some biological activity going and give it some more time.

-steve hopkins

[koifishgirl]

Steve you may be right, I went out today and ran into another problem, I straight wired the pump and had a blow out today and was not able to make it to work, I plum freaked out, I did not know what to do, I got it stop though and turned the water to the larger pipe and it was running fine when I left and 6 gallons a min of water going in the pond for 7 hour before I left. I put my feet to the sides of the pond where the water has been for a while and it is hard as a rock. I think it is going to hold water if I can ever get it full long enough for the sides to bind. The pond up above this pond still has rain water in it from last week and I think will be my best pond. This has been on tough battle trying to get water in this pond. I called the well man and he told me that I need to put a float control valve in my well and take the timer and psi off and also the tank. since my well will run without any problem around the clock he said this will stop my problems and the well will run until I cut it off. Next problem I have Im calling him in to take care of this for me as I cant take much more. Im so dumb when it comes to this kind of stuff, its all so new to me. Its live and learn day by day.

[koifishgirl]

In this pic you can see that the water is turning light green and you can also see the amount of water going into the pond. It does not look like much but if you do the math it is 8640 gallons in 24 hours, I think my pond will hold 68,000 gallons of water, so at this rate it would take two weeks to fill and then only if it will hold water.

[koifishgirl]

Hi All,

I put a batch of koi in my mud pond three week ago, I believe this to be correct. I have noticed a difference in the koi's color, or a least it looks that way to me. The hi and sumi looks brighter, the sumi is getting very black, and the shine is so much better on the koi. Jack say he does not see the difference, but he does not really pay that much attention to the koi, I on the other hand pay very close attention to them, so if one gets sick on me I can Qt the koi and maybe help it. I cant really tell about the shiro, that may be due to the water turning green. I checked the ph and it is 8.0, it is to my understanding that this has something to do with the color of koi, I dont know, all I know is I swear, they are changing on me. My showas orange is a lot deeper than it was and the sumi is very good. Whats going on you all, can you give me some insite on this. Is it the mud that is doing this? They dig in it all the time.

[koifishgirl]

Just a couple of update pics, the pond is almost full I also have a little grass growing, it is starting to look better, also I want to ferterlize the pond but I dont know just how much I should put in the pond. The water is going green on its own but the bloom may die out before long.

[koifishgirl]

Since I am using a well to fill the mud ponds and they are large do I need a overflow pipe? If heavy rain come and they will, I dont know where I will turn the water. If I build a pond and let it stay empty will this work. I am thinking I might run into a problem if I dont do something. I cant be flooding the people around me.

[Bob Hart]

KFG,

Like many others I presume, I'm following your trials and tribulations as you build these ponds. I am amazed that you embarked on what is a very demanding side to the hobby, without (it seems at times) any real idea of what you are doing.

You're getting there though, with much advise from the knowledgable guys on this board. Hats off to you, keep it going and hopefully you'll have some great results in time.

Overflow would seem logical. Dont know what your ground is like around the area, but perhaps overflow to an area which would soak through the soil. It would perhaps find it's way back into the aquifer where you draw water from and top that up - recycling!

[MikeM]

You certainly are having your full share of challenges and learning experiences. I am not surprised that you would see some improvement in color. All that water and clay make a difference.

I don't know how much rain you expect, but for the time being I'd not worry about it. There is a lot of ponds to fill!

Good luck.