Show us your pond

[Erns]

Quote: Originally Posted by mojo patient brother Bim, here they come, 3 of them around the house each about 1500 gallon connect together with a pathway. on more on his way.

Filtration? Remember I would like beginners to learn from this thread and not just drewl...

[Dan Blatt]

Couple photos....4778 gallons...7 ft. 2 inches deep at two bottom drains, sloping from 6 ft. 6 inch sidewalls and middle ridge forming two bottom compartments.
Would post some additional ones......but because I have posted them previously, thread won't allow them to come up again.

[JosephandGabby]

Here are our backyard ponds. Not as fancy (or expensive) as some others I've seen, but 100% DIY and we're happy with them (for now)...

Pic 1... 100-gallon goldfish pond
Pic 2... 800-gallon turtle pond
Pic 3... 2,500-gallon Koi pond
Pic 4... 5,500-gallon growout pond (converted pool)

[MikeM]

Erns: My pond is 12,500 U.S. gallons, 6',2" deep at the bottom drains, egg-shaped 22.5' (approx. 7 meters) long and 15.5' (approx. 4.75 meters) wide at the broadest point. There are 4 separate filter runs. One skimmer feeds a Bakki Shower. A second skimmer feeds a bead filter. The two bottom drains lead to a vortex settlement chamber and then to two Nexus equipped with EAzy units. The pond volume turns over in about 45 minutes. Water changes are a minimum of 30-35% per week. A shade structure over the pond reduces the leaf litter, etc. falling in.

Pics were taken this evening, so rather dark. You can see the whole construction on the Best of Bito forum. It's been two years. I love my pond.

[Erns]

Very nice Mike! What growth rate have you been getting on that pond?
What was the total cost of the project. It would be intresting to see what people are paying in defferent parts of the world. Mine was about $13 000. Pond, filtration and shade covering.

[MikeM]

Erns:

My stocking rate has been a max of 16 koi. But, this summer I am over my limit. There are now 20, 5 of which were tosai added in March. I'll reduce the population to 15 by March 2008 to make room for a couple more tosai to grow. Growth has been good. A Nisei Koi Farm tosai Showa added at 9-10" in March 2006 was benched in Size 4 (20-24")at Central Florida Koi Show in March 2007. A Maruyama tosai Kohaku acquired at 10" in March 2005 is now close to 28"... maybe longer the way she has been doing the last two months. She has the genes to grow large. The warm Florida climate gives a long growing season.

Cost for a koi pond is going to vary widely depending on local economic conditions, design features, site conditions and the extent to which the koikeeper does some of the work or acts as his own contractor. Since I did virtually no work and relied completely on the pond builder, and had a constrained site, and had it built in a post-hurricane building boom with materials shortages, the cost was substantial. I tell people to check the cost of having a like sized swimming pool built in their area, add 10% for the extra plumbing (20% if the person knows nothing about how to plumb a koi pond, because there will be errors and time delays), and then add the cost of all the filtration equipment & media, bottom drains/air domes, vortex tank, water pumps and air pumps, and then add a further sum for building a filter pit to have gravity flow to the filters. I could have saved some if I had used larger pumps to serve multiple filters, but I wanted each filter and bottom drain to have its own water pump/air pump. That is what I mean by a design decision.

[Birdman]

Very nice Mike. The landscaping and lush vegetation really sets the scene.

[Birdman]

Just finished re-doing my old pond. 12,500 gal, 4 feet deep, now becoming a water garden. Will be adding Lily's and other assorted plants next week. Then a lawn hopefully.

[ajm808]

4750 galls uk 1 bakki shower 1 nexus 300 easy 15 koi from 12ins to 28ins

[MikeM]

Birdman: I like the "dock" concept. When the lilies and all are established, it will be a spot where you can really feel you are a part of it. I'm wondering what you have in mind for the surrounding landscape.