Polyurea Spray Liner Pond

[HenryC]

Quote: Originally Posted by John Sprinkle TBT Hi Lee I bought the bottle you donated to the auction. I have not been a big rum drinker since my collage days. However I will tell you that bottle brought back a lot of memories and is one of the tastiest bottles of rum we have enjoyed. If another bottle makes in the auction I promise to give it a good home. John

Although you cannot open it until all your show duties are completed

Henry

[keokoi]

Henry, wassup with your avatar.. Please post a big pic of it.. so we can ave some eye candy...



Joe

[HenryC]

Quote: Originally Posted by keokoi Henry, wassup with your avatar.. Please post a big pic of it.. so we can ave some eye candy... Joe

That is my Sakai (Isawa) Kohaku when I first got her 2 years ago as a nissai. She was basically a gift from Toshio Sakai and Mat McCann (replaced a Kohaku that developed a tumor shortly after I bought her). I'll have to get a more recent photo of her this weekend. She is now 66cm and looking great. She still has a few more years before she finishes.

[Rich L]

I posted this because I know you all missed this string.

naanerner, gotcha!

[keokoi]

So Mike! How is your pond doing as its been about a year? Please let us know.

Joe

[Nancy M.]

I just went through this entire thread, what a great pond and it only took Carl 14 days to complete. I am impressed very nice.. Carl is one hell of a pond builder.
After 1 year now with your new system, is there anything you wish you had done differently? Do you wish it was bigger?

[aquitori]

Mike what was the cost of the spraying per square foot if you dont mind me asking....

[MikeM]

Joe: It has been over a year since fish went into the pond, although the construction site feeling stayed until last Labor Day when the flagstone was finally completed. ...It has been a quick year.

First & foremost, the koi love it. With the old pond I was able to grow koi to a fairly large size due to our climate and huge, regular water changes. But, I could not get the nice luster & skin finish I saw on HenryC's fish (in his old pond... with his new pond his water is going to stay a mile ahead of mine!). I am not referring to a genetic quality. I am talking about the glow that a really healthy, strong koi can have. Even with 50% weekly water changes, I could not keep nitrate levels below 10ppm for any length of time, and nitrate would rise very high during the times when we were having leaves or pollen showering into the pond... which occurred in 6 distinct periods during the year. Hurricane Charlie not only led to doing the new pond, but cleared out most of the trees that contributed to the problem.

The new pond is typically under 5ppm nitrate and it is not unusual for it to be below 2ppm. I have had one period where nitrate went up to 12ppm when pollen and debris from the remaining pecan tree were really bad. Ammonia is never detectable. In the break-in period nitrite was barely detectable for a short time. Whether the Bakki Shower or all the air in the Nexus gets the credit, or the moderate stocking or ???...I cannot say. Maybe the combination of the different types of filtration? In any event, the water quality shows in the fish. Even the aged home bred Hariwake that's been with me a long time has never looked better. I think she has finally crossed the 30" mark in her middle age and has a more youthful appearance.

But, is anything ever perfect?... No.

Having a 6-foot depth is great for the koi. I believe it helps moderate our hot temperatures, and the fish love the swimming room of a large pond. But, there is a negative. When a pond is 3-4 feet deep and around 5,000 gallons, the fish are never very far from the surface and never very far away. That gives a certain "intimacy" when viewing the koi that goes away when a pond is deep and large. I would not go back, but for many pondkeepers the extra size and depth would take away what they enjoy most. I think there is a compromise that I wish I had room to accomodate... JR mentioned a couple of years ago (on NI, I think) the idea of a "feeding ledge" similar to what Maeda has in his big indoor pond. The idea is to have an area at one end where the depth is about 3-4' where the fish can be easily observed when sinking food is used. Since I use sinking food more than floating, I think I would particularly enjoy having such a feature. It did not occur to me when the pond was being planned, and I'm not sure how filtration/returns, etc. would need to be re-designed, but it is something I would want to consider if I was starting over.

Well, this is going too long and I've got work to do. I'll post some other thoughts later.

[MikeM]

I've a few minutes before I have to go back into a meeting...

A problem I have is having to depend on the sump whenever dumping settlement, cleaning the EAzys etc. That is a weak point in the design. I now really apprexciate the benefit of having a koi pond on a hill (or at least, higher ground) so reliance on sump pumps is not so total.

I will be changing part of the current set-up. The discharge line is fed both by the sump pumps and by the bead filter discharge. Both cannot operate at the same time. It is too much pressure for the fernco plumbing connections. To address this, I will have the sump discharge to a separate line. This will allow me to backflush the bead filter and dump the vortex at the same time. Currently, daily tasks and weekly cleaning take much longer than necessary.

The big time consumer, however, is the in-flow of fresh water when I do my weekly water change. I need a bigger line so replacing 3,000-4,000 gallons does not take so long. (Since I like algae growth on the pond walls, that means wetting down the exposed algae before it dries out.)

...all for now.

[MikeM]

Nancy: Would I like it bigger? ... of course! But, realistically, this is a good size for me in terms of the time I can devote to it. What would interest me is having a second pond about 4,000 gallons in size to use for QT and for raising tosai. I really enjoy getting some tosai each year to watch grow and change. In the new pond they certainly grow, but seeing them up close just cannot happen.

That raises another point: the dimensions. The pond was stretched to 15.5 feet wide at its widest point, and 22.5 feet long, to get it as large as the available space would allow. Catching fish is a challenge! If it was 10'-12' wide, it would be a lot easier. I hardly ever catch my fish, so it is not a big deal for me. However, when I want to catch a fish it becomes a big endeavor. I use a seine net to corral the fish at one end...not so easy to do when I'm alone. (My wife, Susan, puts up with my hobbies and enjoys sitting pondside when the weather is nice, but lugging nets is definitely not her idea of a fun time. ) For most folks, a narrower pond would be preferable.