I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me.
Last year my son started digging a hole in the ground and got carried away and now it is a concrete circular pond with an island deck in the middle and capable of holding 3000 gallons. We have made lots of mistakes partly because i stupidly assumed the builder who did it knew what he was doing. I have more recently read a lot of stuff on koi ponds and have a basic understanding as well as quite a sick feeling that most things about it are wrong!
My main problem at the moment is what to do about filter. I stupidly bought last year a hozelock bioforce 1800. From this, the builder put 3 pipe holes into the side of the pond but they are only 4cm diameter. the side of the pond they are on would be convenient for electrics.
Someone who knew about koi ponds came round and said it was not up to the job. He suggested I site the filter on the other side of the pond where i could place the pump on the highest shelf of the pond so it could wash down in both directions to the deepest part.
My problem with this is it would involve having the pipes going over the wall of the pond (it is raised about 30 cms) as well as more complications to get the electrics there and the big space required by the box filter. It would be ok if i could hide the pipe with plants but I understand plants and koi don't mix very well.
Is there any way I could get away with using the bioforce filter if I only had a few koi. My son has been given 6 of about 30cms long which are waiting in another pond. If we had a few goldfish in addition would the filter be able to cope? It came with a titan pump. Will this just mush up the waste so its harder to treat?
My other concern is that the pond was built with blocks and given a scratch coat and then rendered with sharp sand. the man who came round said that it needed to be rendered with soft sand to provide a smooth enough surface for G4. The plasterer is not turning up and i just wondered if it was necessary or whether we can't just put the G4 onto the existing render?
If you have even got to the end of this rambling account im amazed. Any info on the above gratefully received. and what filter recommended? Thanks
frances
ps I live in england
Posted on Aug 26, 2006, 3:27 PM from IP address 62.253.128.14