ua hua's 5,000 gal. water garden(pics of spring 2017 last page)
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Thank you and that fish is definitely one of my favorites too. I did the spring cleaning a couple of weeks ago and removed a bunch of bullrush and sweetflag that was getting out of control. I will try to get some new pictures put up here soon,Awesomethat white butterfly is my favorite!
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Thanks. I do have corcksrew rush in there also. I like how it stays alot smaller than some of the other rush varieties.
Not as much as my aquarium that is for sure. Once a year in the spring I take all the fish out and put them in 3 seperate stock tanks and drain the pond completely and get all the dead leaves that fall from the trees in the fall out and completely flush out the waterfall and skimmer box. After that intial cleaning all there is to do is clean the skimmer box foam weekly and the waterfall foam every 3-4 months. I haven't had any fish spawn the last 3 years so last spring I tried things differently and left the fish in and just vaccumed the bottom and did a 70-80% water change hoping to see if they would spawn if I didn't drain the whole thing and they didn't. I'm hoping to have a successful spawn this year even though I don't plan on keeping any of the babies unless I see some that have unique markings. It's pretty neat seeing all the different colors you can get from a spawn. Several of the fish that are in there are from spawns 4-5 years ago.
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might be natures way of saying where to croweded may be introduce a new gene pool
{no pun intended}
{no pun intended}
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I know its pretty crowded even for the large volume of water but I have grown really attached to the ones that are in there as I have had 3 of them for 13 years now and last year I sold 5 of the koi that didn't have the best markings. I may try introducing some new blood but I don't just buy any koi that I see. They have to be some nice looking fish before I will add them. It really isn't that big of a deal if they spawn because that just means I have more to find homes for and on top of that I always ended up keeping the ones I thought would end up looking like good fish when full grown.
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Wow that looks like my dream pond! It's gorgeous!
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Really beautiful pond and Koi. I love the different plants and the way everything has filled in. I am sure it is a source of relaxation!
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Well it's that time of year again for the back breaking task of spring cleaning on the pond. The plan is to try to get it done sometime next weekend(weather permitting). I will be removing more of the sweetflag and bullrush as that stuff would take over the entire pond if I didn't remove a majority of it every year. Last summer I had to take a saw to some of it as the roots went down about 3 feet to the bottom of the pond and were jammed in amongst some huge stones.
I have been looking for some Ludwigia sediodes to put in here this summer and hopefully can find some from a member here or else I have found an online source but would rather spend my money with people here.
I may try to put some plants from my tank in there if I can figure out a way to keep the koi away from them otherwise they will become food rather quickly. I put a 2 gallon bucket of duckweed in there last year and the next morning you could barely see any, except some that got right up next to the edge of the pond that they couldn't reach. I will try to post some pictures as soon as the clean up is done.
I have been looking for some Ludwigia sediodes to put in here this summer and hopefully can find some from a member here or else I have found an online source but would rather spend my money with people here.
I may try to put some plants from my tank in there if I can figure out a way to keep the koi away from them otherwise they will become food rather quickly. I put a 2 gallon bucket of duckweed in there last year and the next morning you could barely see any, except some that got right up next to the edge of the pond that they couldn't reach. I will try to post some pictures as soon as the clean up is done.
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Beautiful pond! I think I could sit there and look at that one for hours.
Since koi live so long, are you interested in more spawning? Do you sell koi?
Since koi live so long, are you interested in more spawning? Do you sell koi?
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Watching this pond every summer is one of the most cool things on Planted Tank.
Can't wait to see how it develops this season!
Can't wait to see how it develops this season!
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The 2 oldest ones in the pond have to be 16-17 years old as I have had them in this pond for 12 years and they were in a small preformed pond that I had before this for 2-3 years. They were 3-4" fish when I bought them. I would love them to spawn again but I guess nature has a way of telling you that your at max capacity. I guess I will see what happens this year. I have sold hundreds of juvenile koi in the first 5 or 6 years after I installed this pond. I always kept a few that I thought would turn out to be nice looking koi when full grown but what one looks like when 3" can change drastically when they reach 10"+. I had a few that had really nice markings when smaller that ended up looking rather average when they became older. There is still a few that I have kept that don't have the best colors/markings but when you have them so long that they take food out of your hands you become attached to them.
Thanks for the comments. I will try to post some pictures of the pond after maintenance as it is a little dirty right now, nothing terrible just the crap that accumulates at the bottom from one year to the next. Here's a few pics of some of the fish.
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Wow! Super amazing! How many gallons is it?
I have some goldfish and koi outside in a pond. Been there for a couple years at least. They won't take any prepared food though?
I have some goldfish and koi outside in a pond. Been there for a couple years at least. They won't take any prepared food though?
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It is somewhere between 4,900-5,200 gallons or about 1,000 trips w/ 5 gallon buckets. :hihi: J/K
Your fish might not take prepared food because of the supply of food available to them from insect larvae to algae that is in the pond. I feed my fish several different kinds of prepared food but mostly they get pellet food which I get from a fish hatchery that is close to me. It's cheap and I can buy it in huge quantities. A small bag or can of pond fish food would be gone in 2 days. I also dump in buckets of duckweed which they can polish off in one day.
Very nice. This is the thing that impresses me the most:
roud:
What great hobby success story!
roud:
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Really nice pond n fish!
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Stunning pond! Beautiful fish!
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