W. Lim's pre-formed Koi Pond

[baddiesel1]

Has anyone out there purchased this product? 1500 gal poly, 1/4 inch thick, 81" x 149" x 48 "; the price is $2290.00, plus $500.00 for shipping to my residence. It includes: bottom drain, 2 venturi jets, and a skimmer. I think my 100 gal skippy filter would be acceptable for this pond. Any comments would be appreciated....remember, I'm a rookie with 3 rescued "pups". Thank you for your time.

[MCA]

lotta money for something so small


What type of pond (koi or water garden) do you want ...and what size in gallons...or how many koi do you want to keep?

[baddiesel1]

I guess I wasn't clear in my paragraph. I have (3) "rescued koi, sizes in length: 12", 12" & 8". I don't want anymore. I like to keep things simple. I have an understanding of the differences in ponds. I would like a "koi pond", that's intended to sustain the lively hood of koi. "How many gallons?", I don't know.....Right now my koi are in a 300 gallon horse trough, and it's just temporary until I can either construct something else, or purchase the W. Lim (if it's worthwhile). I thought the W. Lim pond would be the fastest as far as installation and implementation. Thank you for responding.

[CarolinaGirl]

for the number of fish you want to keep, that pond will be OK. The problem I see though is that you want to use a skippy. A skippy filter is usually pump fed. The pump sits in the bottom of the pond and pushes water to the filter, and it gravity flows back into the pond. The shell you are looking at has bottom drains. Bottom drains are fantastic, but work best when you can gravity feed a filter from them and pump back to the pond.

If you DO use the skippy, please don't buy into the crap that the skippy web site claims. They say you NEVER should clean your filter and all the fish poop turns into sand. that is just pure crap. Keep that filter clean. Install a clean-out drain and flush it out at least once a month.

[baddiesel1]

Thanks a bunch!!! I'll reply again later, gotta check out of this hotel, and into another....

[CarolinaGirl]

also...if you do plan to use the skippy, keep in mind that the venturi jets will have to be blocked. Those are also intended for a pump return to the pond. It it were me, I'd forget about the skippy. Build a nice gravity fed DIY filter and take advantage of that bottom drain and returns. A pond is so much easier to maintain with a bottom drain and the environment is so much healthier. My first "koi pond" (which I now realize was a water garden) had no bottom drain and only a skippy for filtration. It worked....but the fish never thrived. They didn't die.....but they did not grow either. The annual cleaning I did on that pond was a disgusting job. Poor fish lived in a septic tank. A small pond can be done right though, by using "big pond technology" on a smaller scale and keeping the stocking rate very low. If you are only going to have those 3 fish in 1500 gallons, that is a pretty darn good stocking rate.

While I don't have any personal experience with Mr. Lim's preform, I do have several of his pumps and let me tell you.....those pumps are fantastic. Expensive....but VERY good pumps. He makes a good product.

[KDSD]

We did one of these for a SDKoi member as a club project, she was an older lady that had a few Koi only. What we did was set up the bottom drain to go to a 55 gal drum sank in the ground, and also did the same for the skimmer as well. This would give you settleing tanks that you can then use a 1/8th hp(3960 GPH / 3.47 ft. Head@ 215 Watts) Lim's pump. Don't cap off the ventuires they can be used as Tpr's, and the bottom drain can be upgraded to a air dome as well. This would give much better circulation and keep debris on the move,and increase the DO and ORP.

Now from the pump you could add a Uv 25-40 watt in line to system(returned via Tpr's). For the filter we used a round tank app 150 gals and about 4' tall, we added Matela for the media. The water entered in from back and flowed through media to be gravity feed back to pond. Also by passed filter to send some flow to Tpr's. We made a small waterfall about 2' high stepped by stacking flagstone in layers. The filter was hidden by a lattace panel in front of system.

IMHO a very simple but funtioning system for 3-5 Koi about 18". I will see if this pic comes in or not as an example...from Lim's website. She is still useing this setup and its been over 5 yrs now.

__________________
Koiman™
CDKPA

[MCA]

I don't question the function....only the cost. Of course I know I could build one myself for much less using liner.....if.....big if.......the soil conditions there allow it. If the soil is very sandy....then doing a fiberglass unit may make sense.

[JosephandGabby]

I agree with MCA on this one. I don't think it's worth the cost. I'd go with a liner pond if I were you...

[baddiesel1]

I appreciate y'all's input, and I place an extra value on Carolina Girls' info. I know just enough to be dangerous with this hobby, and I especially like to focus more attention to less maintenance and better living conditions for our "rescued pups", as I know they have had a tough life in the past. I think the aerated bottom drain, and utilizing a gravity flow system is a plus. I'm a good listener, and I really thank you very much for all the great info & advice.