Koi Ponds Forum| Water Gardens Resource

[Shamoo's Keeper]

Hi! Just found this forum. Looks like I'm going to be posting lots because I have bought a house with a fish pond and know next to NOTHING about keeping it and the fish in it!

So far think I have been VERY lucky. But now to my first question:

I hired someone to drain and clean this "pond" that was more like a "ditch" in the backyard of our new house. I'm not joking - the water was like mud and you couldn't see a thing. Much to everyone's surprise there were some beautiful HEALTHY looking fish that had survived in the neglected (almost 2 years) filthy water. (The house sat empty and the fish were not fed and the pump was turned off).

All seems to be going well until now - the bottom is full of leaves and I'm wondering if I should drain it myself to clean this - or hire someone to do it again - or just leave it be and try to get most of the stuff out with a net?

Does it hurt the fish to replace all the water yearly? I think it's about a 2,000 gal. pond with a liner and UV filtration. And the water is very clear.

Thanks for any help and sorry I'm not a real "pond expert".

[koidude]

Shamoo,

I would definitely try to take the leaves out first and any other matter in the pond. The pond water is a very valuable commodity and I would keep as much of it as possible and just get the pump going and start your biological filtration.

It would be best to get this organic material out before its starts getting warmer and the bacteria getting more active, as it will tend to start decomposing and may make your fish sick.

I would not drain the pond, unless you had some place to put the fish and some of the water temporarily.

If you are going to change some of the water make sure to just change about 20% at the most and make sure to treat the water to remove the chlorine first. There are additives available at your LFS (local fish store) or Koi dealer.

I'd recommend water test kits for PH, and KH (water hardness) etc...

Congratulations on the new house and the pond.

[Shamoo's Keeper]

Thanks Koidude!

I will not drain the pond then. I'm trying to get as much of the leaves and gunk out that I can. It's starting to look better - but not as good as it did when I hired someone who drained it completely and scrubbed it all out.

(The "surprise" fish that were found during this drain/clean, stayed in a big garbage can while it was being done and seemed none the worse for ware? Think I had some beginners luck on my side).

I bought a koi magazine last night and now I'm scared witless. I have never checked the ph or anything else. Just ran the pump w/uv light and all has been fine until now except all the leaves getting in. After reading it cover to cover I see I've done pretty much everything wrong!

But the fish are beautiful and I'm gonna assume healthy because there were beautiful babies born last year and now I see about 20 new babies this year! I gave several away because I know not to have too many for the size of the pond and now will have to give these ones away also - but I'm thinking the fish are happy if they're makeing more fish!!!!

P.S. - I'm not Shammo - Shamoo is my favorite fish's name. I'm her keeper. She's about 16 inches long and really friendly. If we can put pictures on here I'll try and do it because maybe you or someone knows what kind of koi she is. I haven't seen any in books that look enough like her to know for sure. The babies from last year look just like her but the other fish in the pond are not her size - do smaller fish breed with larger fish?

Thanks again!