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I don't have any crazy expensive koi. The most expensive koi I have was $150 that I got when he was 6". He's now 20" and probably worth $500-$1000. All of the other koi were purchased at about the same length or smaller. They grow very fast. I have a lot of inexpensive American koi and mutts. Nothing showy other than that one I mentioned. I'm not really interested in the expensive showy fish. There are lots of pretty koi out there that are reasonably priced. I also have various goldfish, Sarasa, comets, Shubunkins, etc.. |
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My big water gardening experiment this year is trying to grow blue Nile River water lilies and water lotus from seed :surprise: Last year I did manage to grow a water lotus from seed and get a few leaves from the seed. However, I made the mistake of placing them in the pond too soon and the fish at them :( </pansy> |
Nice Pond! I've been working on my backyard oasis for last couple years and I'm getting really close to completing it. Thanks for the info, I've been wondering what to do with my fish over winter and you've answered a few questions for me. I'll post my pics when I'm all finished.
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Here's an update on one of my water gardening experiements. I'm attempting to grow out a batch of Water Lotus from seed. The seeds I ordered on-line from Thailand.
Here's one of the seeds which I nicked to prepare it. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_001.jpg I have 4 colours, Red, Pink, Light Pink and white varieties. After nicking the seeds I then plunked them into small plastic containers with water. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_002.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_003.jpg I put them on a window sill and performed daily water changes. About a week later they started to sprout. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110802_004.jpg and sprout.. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110806_007.jpg and sprout.. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110809_010.jpg and we have our first leaf! http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110809_009.jpg If a mod happens upon this could you move this to the Freshwater forum? Please and thank you! :-D |
I personally feel that cup is far too small for 4 seedlings. Beyond that it's an interesting project.
Everyone please do your research before trying this yourself. |
You may not have noticed but once they sprouted they left the cup for a yogurt container. This weekend they'll be going into Instant Ocean buckets. (see what I just did there?? Still saltwater related).
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Koi feeding frenzy.
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"nom nom" LOL LOL LOL |
Love the Koi shots Kien. :biggrin:
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Well, the season is about to wind down. Spent the good part of the summer rejuvenating the pond. Last year weeds had over taken the landscape around the pond and there were a few other things that required maintenance which kept me fairly busy. Here she is in the prime of her season this year. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_001.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_003.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_004.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_005.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_006.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_007.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_008.jpg |
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beautiful landscape and pond. So peaceful it seems
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Just beautiful. Very good work. Even the pics look relaxing.
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So ridiculously jealous of the outdoor sectional..... If it goes missing... I swear it wasn't me...
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Ya I do love the sectional too. Its nice and confy! I could sit there for hours.. if I wasn't getting roasted by the sun LOL. Next up on my to-do list is to throw up a gazebo over the sectional. Well, maybe not an traditional gazebo but at least a roof with maybe screen walls/doors. |
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Looks great tho. |
Wow absolutely gorgeous. Love that platinum butterfly! I'm on the search for one myself at the moment, told my bf its my only birthday wish lol!! Your pond is just beautiful. I really like the modern look to it... Makes me want to convert my "naturally looking" pond to one like yours! Uh oh.
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After looking at this entire thread I noticed I have a number of koi and one shubunkin that look almost identical to some of yours !! I'll have to post some pics :)
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The platinum butterfly is definitely one of my favourites as well. They are hard to come by. |
Looks stellar as always Kien! Any problems with fish snatchers this year?
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Actually I have a lot of fry right now as the koi went all 50 shades of gray on me this past spring. |
Not on *me* personally.. although.. Oh nevermind!
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Whats the filtration system you use on the pond? Is it hidden under the deck?
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2013 Pond Season!
So this year I decided to renovate the pond a bit. Nothing too dramatic. I'm planning to just add 2 feet in length and 6" in depth and re-cut some ledges for plants.
Right now the fish are living in a trough and the pond has been prepped for the re-dig! Weeeeeeeeeeee!! http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...psbaefd4d9.jpg |
The pond must have a closed loop I would imagine since you love them so much. :twised:
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if I se all this, I miss my baby's
before immigrating I left my 10.000 gal koi pond, with about 40 kois in the 24 to 34 inch range + some in the 10 to 15 range. my dad whom is getting older cant keep up with them (as it was al mine) is pumping the pond as we speak. trucks are coming next week to fill her up. all fish are donated to a zoo, as no one wanted to spend a dollar on it, and now he at least gets some annual entrance passes for it. to bad, but I do miss it. I would do it over right away, but have to wait for the lotto, as I cant keep that size of fish in the open here, so thy have to be in a out house/ greenhouse, or in a sunroom |
Progress!
It probably doesn't look all that different but believe me, there is a mountain of dirt and clay in my back yard that says otherwise!
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ac8eae9.jpg I was going to extend the length by 2 feet but after a day of digging I decided, eff that!! My back is killing me! Man I hate clay. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...psdbf111dc.jpg I did manage to complete all of my other goals though. The ledges have been completely re-cut and the space is better utilized. It is also 6" deeper right in the middle where it gradually slopes down. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...ps226b43d3.jpg Tomorrow I hope to drop down the new liner and start filling her up. Have I mentioned that digging clay sucks goat nads?! |
Nice Kien. I'm debating renovating my front pond this year, but dread digging. I got my backyard pond up and running last weekend. I lost a few fish over the winter :(, but 35 of them survived. I found a baby that survived too!
I say you keep digging that 2 feet in length. It'll be worth it in the end. |
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Did I mention I hate digging?! I got to a point where my right forearm started to spasm and the muscle seized haha. Had to rest and massage it to loosen it up before I could continue. Ya, I have a desk job and I'm weak :-( |
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What kind of auto feeder did you use? I only fed mine twice a day in the evening after work.
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I hear you on the digging Kien. I don't think I'll ever put a pond in at my place as I remember every single minute of digging the post holes for the fence the tree holes.. I'm right over top of some rather interesting glacial sill, which is probably more rock than clay but definitely the right amount of both to make digging very difficult. For the fence, I ran out of steam for the post holes with only two terminal holes left, I hired a bobcat to do the two holes and he broke his auger. He tells me afterwards "I am soooo raising my minimum price for any of your neighbours who hire me." :lol:
Anyhow so how do you battle algae in these things? What's a water change like? Do you pump the outgoing water onto the grass, or what do you do with it? Can you get in trouble if you just pump it into a swail or a storm sewer? |
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How often do you change water? Or do you even change water? |
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http://blog.petsolutions.com/storage...=1331149439300 It's called a fish mate p7000. I was going to order it online but then happend to find a bunch of them stocked at my local big box pet store! It has been a god send! The first few years the fish grew fine (or so I thought) but after a whole season with the auto-feeder, wow, growth was explosive! I have it programmed to feed 3 times a day while I'm at work but I will still feed them their 4th meal in the evenings myself. It's amazing their appetites! When I feed them in the evenings they act as if they haven't been fed all day! :lol: Quote:
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Mike, I do not have a bottom drain but if you read on various pond/koi forums they will certainly always recommend you install a bottom drain into a new build. I thought about installing one in mine with the recent reno but honestly, 7 years running this pond and I never had major problems with sludge build up. Also, a lot of the sites that recommend the bottom drains are referring to people who live in much warmer climates. I fear the installation of a bottom drain in our climate because if a seal breaks down there, or if the pipe to the bottom drain cracks, you are SOL!! I would rather not risk that to be honest. Previously I just sucked up the bottom of the pond with one of them laguna pond pumps but this year I'm going to do something slightly different. I'm going to build semi-bottom drain but with the plumbing in the pond and not under the pond in the ground. I am also building myself a new above ground filter system. Previously I just used an off the shelf powerfilter (laguna). It works, but I find it high maintenance to clean so often. As for water changes, yes, every couple of weeks I do a 50% water changes. sometimes in the middle of summer because of the sun and algae I'll need to do a 50-75% every week! I've discovered the secret to keeping algae at bay though, and that is to grow floating plants like water hyacinth and water lettuce. Both will grow like weeds and out compete algae. My pond was so overgrown with floating plants I had to give and throw away bucket loads of them! |
Good to know where to get some plants this summer then! haha.
I'm thinking of using a laguna pond pump that pumps up to a custom rubbermaid filter that spits it out onto a rock waterfall. I'll probably just T the piping so that it can pump right into my swail with the turn of a couple valves. |
Well out of interest I started poking around the bylaws. Not surprisingly it's rather ambiguous...
Although not mentioned here in the FAQ: http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Page...omeowners.aspx The bylaw itself (http://www.calgary.ca/CA/city-clerks...5-Drainage.pdf) does seem to state that you can drain from a decorative pond so long as it is less than 3000 litres. However, elsewhere, it mentions that a decorative pond is defined as "an artificial body of water for ornamental purposes but does not include fish ponds". But then.... nowhere does it say that fish ponds are allowed to be drained into a swale, but neither does it state "do not". It does list that fish themselves can't be put into the drainage. But I can't find anything about water that has touched fish while in your custody. Confused as ever as to whether the city feels they can fine you for draining a pond into the swales or not. :neutral: I know they will gleefully fine you if you don't keep it clean enough or if you dare put anything close to it or over top of it. That's a rant for another day though. |
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