Need help. Best approach to neglected ponds.

[JJshiv]

Hello, Im new to ponds and this forum. I am looking for some help in getting some neglected ponds looking good again. From what I can tell there is no plant life and the water is as murky as can be. What I would like to do is to get these ponds to the point where the water is clear and will stay clear. Would it be best to drain the ponds and refill them or is there some other methods to getting ponds in bad shape back to where they should be? Thanks for any info.

[jnorth]

Welcome to Koi-Bito! First tell us more about these ponds. How large? How deep? What kind of filtration? Are there koi in them now? Thanks!

[Regenmeneer]

Welcome to the board!

Can you give us some more info? How many koi/fish, what size, what liner, what is the temperature of the water, what climate (where are you at?)

Regenmeneer

[JJshiv]

Hey thanks for the responses. Here are some more details. There are 2 ponds one that has koi and one that has only goldfish I believe.

First pond. Was built approximately 10 years ago. It is a hard plastic premolded pond liner. This pond was thriving for years with koi and various goldfish as well as 1 turtle. It is about 13' long, 5' wide at its widest, and 1.5' deep. It also has an upper level that is about 3 feet wide and 2 feet long and 1 foot deep that the filter empties into to create a waterfall. I am not sure how many fish are in there now as they have been reproducing for years and the water is so murky I cannot see them all at once. Also there used to be a third level that had a biological filter of somekind with rocks and bog plants. That is not in use now. I am located in California near Monterey. I am not sure what filter is in use now as it is pretty much barried, but it does need a better filter I know that much. Water temp. is 51 degrees F at 4pm.

Second pond. This pond was built for the koi from the above pond 7-8 years ago so they would be seaprated from the goldfish and would have more volume of water. It is the kind of liner that is layed down after digging the hole. I am not sure what that is called. Its dimensions are 14'x7'x2.5'. This pond had 5-8 koi each about 1-1.5 foot long as well as some large goldfish. This pond has a FishMate biofilter with 30W UV light. This pond only recently became (within last year) murky because some overgrown bull rush (sp?) were removed which released all that they were holding. Water temp. is 44 degrees F at 4pm. This pond stays in the shade most of the day.

Thanks for any help and I can try to get anymore info for you guys if need be.

[aquitori]

First off welcome to the board. I know some will hate me for this, but plants and koi dont do well period. The filter size for the koi pond is too small first off and I think we need pics of the ponds to give a formal opinion base on what we see...So supply us with pics and you will be best advised on what to do...

[dubtaco]

Can you post some pics, do you have a budget?

[dick benbow]

my recommendation would be to get your hands on a show tank so that you can remove the koi and goldfish from their present facilities. That way you can see the fish and access their health, as well as clean the ponds and access their conditions. Bottom drains etc? Once you know what you have there you can get better information from this board of koi kichi's...

Having an AKCA affiliated club in the vicinity would be helpful to make a contact. Their KHA advisors are more than willing to be on hand for guidance.

most ponds suffering...can look no furthur than under filtering and over feeding and stocking!

[junglegeorge12]

Do these ponds have bottom drains?

[PapaBear]

Be sure to include a pic of the mostly buried filter as well. Some of our more experienced members may be able to identify it if they can see at least the top part. Most likely they are both gunked up and simply channeling water through the media with no real filtration taking place. UV lights only last about 1 season, so the one you have probably isn't doing anything but using electricity.