AzFishKid's 2,500 Gallon Koi Pond [PIC HEAVY]

[AzFishKid]

A while back, another forum member suggested that i start a journal for my two ponds, so here's one of the two i have in my backyard..

[ You Can View My 500 Gallon Turtle Pond Here ]

SIZE: 2,500 Gallons
PLANTS: Water Lillies, Umbrella Palms, Water Hyacinth
FISH: 10 Koi (butterfly/standard fin, ranging size from 2"-6"+), Several Comet Goldfish
FILTRATION: AQUA Ultima II
OTHER EQUIPMENT: Surface Skimmer

We had this pond built when we moved into this house, which was about 5 years ago. We had a builder who "thought" he knew what he was doing, but he didn't. The plumbing was all messed up, which eventually led to a broken pump and filter. Thankfully we found someone else who really knew a lot about ponds, so he fixed it all up and it's been running well for the past few years.

[Axelrodi202]

You wait until NOW to show us?! jk Its nice!

[AzFishKid]

Originally Posted by Axelrodi202

You wait until NOW to show us?! jk Its nice!

Lol thanks! I'm starting a thread for my turtle pond now.

EDIT: Turtle pond thread created.

[4f1hmi]

Awesome! I like both your turtle and koi pond. How often do you tap off your ponds considering the weather there?

[AzFishKid]

Awesome! I like both your turtle and koi pond. How often do you tap off your ponds considering the weather there?

Thank you!

The ponds are both connected to a water source, so when the water level gets too low, the plastic floater goes down and opens the valve.

[4f1hmi]

Originally Posted by AzFishKid

Thank you!

The ponds are both connected to a water source, so when the water level gets too low, the plastic floater goes down and opens the valve.

COOOOL!!!!!!!!!! I dream to bulid one myself in the future. have a nice day!

[AzFishKid]

Originally Posted by 4f1hmi

COOOOL!!!!!!!!!! I dream to bulid one myself in the future. have a nice day!

If you do, don't forget to show us!

[vtkid]

nice pond, Ive been trying to get my parents to fund one of these projects for years

[AzFishKid]

Originally Posted by vtkid

nice pond, Ive been trying to get my parents to fund one of these projects for years

Thanks!

[CL]

Nice pond! I can't imagine your water bill in Arizona. Top offs on that thing must be frequent with the air being so hot and dry.

[pskorf]

i guess i need to speak up,few things bothering me.
first let me say my wife is the one on here asking some questions(not getting much for answers) as i have turned a 150 gallon tank over to her(i said sell it or salt water)

anyway,I am big into koi,decided i should speak up.
first welcome to koi ponding but
rocks have no place in a true koi pond(boy will this create heated debates).
plants are kind of iffy also for true koi(they will more then likely destroy them)
should have a skimmer(maybe missed in picture)

BUT what REALLY bothers me with your pics.the pump looks like an energy hog pool pump.good pumps cost more but will save in long run.
BUT WORSE THAT BOTHERS ME IS THE FILTER
the ultima filter well the size of it is a model 2,000 but the valve on top is one that should be on a 20,000 size filter.will not effect performance with pipe size and such but is very misleading on the max. 125 gpm.a 2,000 size filter should be only max. 34 gallons a minute.
so your pump and filter do not match at all plus pond size looks a lot less then 5,000 gallons.
People need to know exact gallonage of a pond and that LxWxD does not work at all.if you ever need to medicate the pond say your pond is only 3,000 gallons and you dose for 5,000 depending on medication you could kill all the fish.
so decided i did not want to be the one that sits back and says nothing.now hopefully a few others will help my wife.

[AzFishKid]

Originally Posted by clwatkins10

Nice pond! I can't imagine your water bill in Arizona. Top offs on that thing must be frequent with the air being so hot and dry.

Yeah we have two ponds and a pool so i bet it's a lot.. i don't know though since my parents handle it.

i guess i need to speak up,few things bothering me.
first let me say my wife is the one on here asking some questions(not getting much for answers) as i have turned a 150 gallon tank over to her(i said sell it or salt water)

anyway,I am big into koi,decided i should speak up.
first welcome to koi ponding but
rocks have no place in a true koi pond(boy will this create heated debates).
plants are kind of iffy also for true koi(they will more then likely destroy them)
should have a skimmer(maybe missed in picture)

BUT what REALLY bothers me with your pics.the pump looks like an energy hog pool pump.good pumps cost more but will save in long run.
BUT WORSE THAT BOTHERS ME IS THE FILTER
the ultima filter well the size of it is a model 2,000 but the valve on top is one that should be on a 20,000 size filter.will not effect performance with pipe size and such but is very misleading on the max. 125 gpm.a 2,000 size filter should be only max. 34 gallons a minute.
so your pump and filter do not match at all plus pond size looks a lot less then 5,000 gallons.
People need to know exact gallonage of a pond and that LxWxD does not work at all.if you ever need to medicate the pond say your pond is only 3,000 gallons and you dose for 5,000 depending on medication you could kill all the fish.
so decided i did not want to be the one that sits back and says nothing.now hopefully a few others will help my wife.

Thank you for the suggestions, but we are not in the high-end koi hobby. My family simply had this pond built because we enjoy koi. Our pond may be the "pirate ship, blue gravel, plastic plant aquarium" of ponds (to some people), but we enjoy it and the fish are happy and healthy. The plants are growing very well, and the koi haven't seemed to "destroy" them during the past 5 years that we've had it set up. We have a professional pond-keeper who comes once a week to inspect, dose and backwash the filter. My family was told that it was 5,000 gallons, but it is actually close to 2,500 gallons according to the pond-keeper (i just called him - not sure why we thought it was 5000!). And about the rocks - i'm not really sure what else you would build a pond out if in arizona? We were planning on using a plastic liner, but once the construction crew started digging, it was impossible to dig down deep enough even with machines. The soil here is very dry and hard. I appreciate your comments and concerns, but we like our pond the way it is.

And yes, there is a skimmer.

[pskorf]

high end or not you need to be VERY concerned about the pump does not match up with the filter.like i said the top valve assembly is for a 20,000 gallon size hence the flow rate but the body of filter is only the 2,000 gallon size . where if it had its true valve assembly it would say max 34 gpm.that is where you should have the flow rate matching the filter.trying to figure why there was a switch.

good luck and as the years come and the koi grow you will learn about the other things in my other post.experience will be the true lessons learned.

[S&KGray]

Awesome pond! I like the waterfall and the rocks in the pond. I hope someday to have a nice pond when I get a house with a yard. (condo right now)

Maybe swap out the koi for mbuna then having the rocks will be okay?

Not a fan of koi myself, I live in Hawaii and I get tired of mostly seeing koi in ponds all over, maybe I should start seeding them with cichlids hehehe...but I like your pond a lot.

[BottomFeeder]

I really like it. I hope to have a nice pond out back one of these years, but with the hard clay it is a bear to dig it down deep enough. That is about the size I would like to try.