[MWG] Today's Pond Q&A
------------------------------- Today's Pond Q&A In this issue: - COVERING THE POND - FISH COMMITTING SUICIDE - PLANTS IN THE KOI POND? - HOW DO YOU KEEP THE KOI FROM KNOCKING THEM OVER? ----------------------------- Question> I live in New Hampshire and have an 1100 gal 8' x 10' oval KOI pond varying in depth from 16" to 30". Over the winter, I bring my fish in. We have a walk-out basement, and I set up a 300 gal Rubbermaid stock tank in one corner with windows. I keep a filter w/UV lite on full time. The water temp drops to 45 F and the fish do fine. I did have a few fingerlings that I missed in clearing the pond late last Fall, and they survived the winter outside. the inside tank will need to be covered with a net or lattice work to keep the fish from jumping out (lesson learned the hard way). - Dave Skidmore _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Pond Filters, Pumps, UV's and More... Discount Prices at Our Online Store! http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Answer> Thanks for sharing that with us, David. Yes, the choice to bring fish in or leave them out is an individual choice, but there is no choice as to covering the tank. Koi will jump. Sorry you had to learn the hard way. There are other variables that determine a fish's capacity to remain outside- depth of the pond is just one. The surrounding area and some sort of buffer from the wind is a great help to many ponds. Those in open spaces do not do as well as those enclosed in some way by either buildings, rocks or close trees/woods on the north side. When your fish become too large to transport to the basement, you may wish to think about constructing either a larger, deeper pond, a protective shelter, or heating the pond. PS- the smaller fish seem to jump farther and quicker than the big, fat old ladies and gents of around 30-35". - Carolyn == Question> Dear Carolyn: Your answer was music to my ears, and something I have been considering for several years, but since my pond was an aquascape designer I was very reluctant to do what you have advised. Your entire explanation makes an enormous amount of sense. I spend hours just keeping the pond clean. One additional question if you got time. I have numerous water plants in my pond. How do I anchor these plants so the Koi don't knock them over, or the pond soil in the pots don't come out of the pots? I now have them anchored with rocks, but of course dirt and algae grow on these rocks. but not real bad. I try to keep at least 60% of my pond in plants, and that appears to keep the pond pretty clean and clear. Thank you for your advice and your time. I will continue to buy my products from Macarthur supplies. - Ed. Williams == Answer> Thanks for the feedback. In an Aquascape system, there is place for floating plants in the waterfall which can take care of the nitrate load. But these ponds were made to look natural and that can't happen without plants. My suggestion is to put your plants in the floating island planters and Pond'Toons that use hydroponics rather than dirt to support the root systems. MicrobeLift makes a planting medium that is soil less also and would not contribute to the dirt in the pond. Koi will be koi and they will upturn plants that are not protected either by a fence or securely fastened. They will reach up out of the water to eat the plants and this will topple over the best prepared pots. My suggestion is not to use soil in any pots that go into a koi pond. Any of the soil less mixture that lands on the bottom can be vacuumed up without polluting the water. - Carolyn == Happy Pondkeeping! Brett Fogle MacArthur Water Gardens www.macarthurwatergardens.com © MacArthur Water Gardens 1698 SW 16th ST Boca Raton, FL 33486 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This email is never sent without permission. You (or someone using your email address) bought something from MacArthur Water Gardens, or signed up for our newsletter, affiliate program, mini-course or requested a fr^e report.. The information we have on file is Your name: Friend Your email: If you wish to be removed from this list, simply click once on the link below.
Message Added: September 17th, 2005 at 9:30 am
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