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my Zen Water Garden and Koi Pond
Some pics of my other aquatic hobby.
Last edited by kien; 07-14-2011 at 03:27 AM. |
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Do you bring your koi in or have a heater outside or do you just leave them to fend for themselves? Everyone I talk to does something different so im interested
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Beautiful pond Kien! Congrats!!!!! |
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The hoop house was a bit of a pain to set up and take down every year so the second and third year I skipped the hoop house and just ran more powerful pumps to keep the water flowing enough to prevent the entire pond from freezing solid. This worked out well too. The pond did freeze over more than it did when it had the hoop house though. Probably a couple of inches of ice on top, while the rest remained unfrozen with the help of the water movement. The key here is to buy a deicer which is a device that floats on top and keeps a 6 inch hole in the ice at all times to allow gas to escape. If you keep the fish outside the important thing is not to feed them once the water temperature drops below 15 degrees and don't feed them again until it is at least 15 degrees for a few days straight. Typically they won't eat in these temperatures anyway as their metabolism drops to nothing and they go into a state of hibernation. For safety reasons (I have young kids), my pond is only 2 feet deep at its deepest so it surely would freeze solid if it were not for the waterflow. I have a couple of levels, a 1 foot deep shelf and and then another foot to the bottom. If my son falls in (which he has, LOL), he can stand up just fine. Anyway, I keep the pumps (kinda like pond powerheads), at the 1 foot ledge and try not to disturb the bottom of the pond where the fish hibernate. My parents still have the pond that I built there but their fish come to hibernate in my pond over the winter, and they just drain their pond. When my kids are older I will probably dig it out and dig it out another foot or two. I will admit, it is kind of scary thinking of the fish outside when it is minus 30 below but they're fine. I have not lost any of my larger fish this way. I have lost a few smaller comets but none of my koi. Last edited by kien; 07-10-2011 at 05:29 AM. |
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Very nice pond Kien, now I know who to talk to for pointers when my wife decides that I have to build her pond.
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Feed the bear goodies, make a new friend, don't feed the bear............... 8' - 165gal Reef DIY LED's Build 2012 Nano Contest Winner Febuary 2013 POTM Winner 300 gal + 60 gal Complete DIY Build |
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Cool pic.'s and interesting to know about outdoor care for them.
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One more fish should be ok?, right!!! - Laurie |
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WOW. So you're good at ponds, too!
Thanks for sharing the pics and the over-wintering. Hard to imagine that the fish actually survive in our Alberta Winter!! As I was reading, I was thinking to myself:" wonder how deep his pond would have to be for it not to freeze over?" Then I read further and was amazed that it is only two feet deep! But you do have to over-winter the lilies and pond plant indoors, right? Great statues, too! Lenny. |
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very impressive! do you have critters such as raccoons to deal with?
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Water lillies are perennials and go dormant in the winter as well. In the fall you cut off their stems once they have died off and keep the root ball/rhizome damp. I used to bring the root ball/rhizome indoors and store it in the garage through the winter as I thought the pond was way too cold for it, but last year I experimented with one of them and overwintered it in the pond with the fish and it came back in the spring just as strong. Now everyone will be overwintering outside. I don't have any critters attacking my pond (or at least I haven't seen any yet). I do have a a friend who has a pond that has had cranes clear out their pond |