I live in Germany (NE of Munich) and we have long, hot Summers (+35 °C) and long, bitterly cold Winters (-28° C). My pond is in ground, kidney-shaped, 7 m long, 3 m wide and 1,5 m deep, using 1,3 mm liner and stone capping. I have an Aquamax 8000 pump at the deepest point pushing water through a Bitron 25 UV unit into two Biotec10 mechanical/biological filters – all from Oase. Gravity return to pond is via 70 mm pushfit drainpiping. I have a second pump to a waterfall where the upper pool (2 m² surfacearea) is filled with watercress to provide a vegetable filter. During the hot weather I have two aerators to maintain the oxygen level.
I had a problem with the neighbours’ cats mauling my fish and had to net the pond while looking for a long term solution. Eventually I purchased a “Heron Scarer“ for 60 Euros and have had no problems since. It is basically an impulse lawn sprinkler with a motion detector built in, giving a 5 second burst of spray – the noise and spray not only keep the cats away, but I’ve been able to remove the wire fence that kept our Bombay runners out of the pond too. I can thoroughly recommend this piece of kit!
Last Winter I took my 4 koi into a 400 litre water tank in the heated greenhouse (with pump and filter) and they survived in fine fettle. This year they have grown considerably, bred prolifically and we have added 5 more new fish – total koi weight now 6-7 kg). For this Winter I am looking at covering the pond with two chopped down garden pavillons and installing solar panels for heating (it’s usually bright and sunny when it’s coldest). Does anyone out there have experience with solar heating for koi ponds?
Posted on Jul 17, 2003, 11:59 AM
from IP address 217.235.192.208
Posted on Oct 30, 2007, 8:54 PM from IP address 81.158.189.115