Just curious as to who else on here has a koi pond. Here is my recent experience.  Would love to hear about similar experiences in Thailand. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/DD82K4K.gifv

 

https://i.imgur.com/Sst9GCD.gifv

 

My house has a concrete pond built in pond and 3 months ago returning from stint in the Phils I decided to get koi. 

 

 

Anyways my pond is quite old, has not been drained in over 10 years and just sat there with guppies to keep mosquito larvae in check and some plants. No circulation or filters at all. Topped up regularly by rains and by hose when necessary. With no fish silt sat on bottom and water was generally clear.  

 

but my koi are new, given as a surprise gift after I mentioned I was thinking about converting the pond to a koi pond. A cruel kindness before I was prepared and unable to drain and clean.  The moment koi were added they churned the bottom layer and pond became a brown cloudy cesspit. 

 

The pond was however well established, so I hoped the beneficial bacterial colonies were already somewhat in place. 

 

I immediately added filtration and so far so good. It has been 8 or 9 weeks and what was a filthy unfiltered mud bog has turned around significantly.

 

Bottom silt seems to have been filtered out and koi seem to be happy. I certainly am. 

 

Images here if you are curious. 

 

Original vids. 

Bkk pond before after https://imgur.com/gallery/IuKgs03

 

Pond is 305cm x 180 cm by 33 to 35 cm deep. Depth is not ideal, but it is what it is. Volume between 1600 and 1800l. 1. 2 x 1.8 meters of pond is under the patio, so fish can hide from predators. Pond receives very little direct sun. 

 

Filters are one 60l container, top feed with a bottom draw to gravity drain at top. Contains primarily bio balls with a couple of 2cm Ac filter pads cut to fit. Pump is 3500l/h. Main bio filter.

 

A second 40l  filter was purchased lazada online but realized on arrival that it was not of great design for biofiltering. Top feed with bottom outflow, I suspect media is not uniformly in contact with water which essentially runs through it as fast as it enters so this is being used to house multiple (6 or 7) Ac filter pads and some river stones to act as a mechanical filter-- any biological effect is bonus. Pump is 3000l/h.

 

A trip to the local hardware store and I will convert it to a bottom feed with a top drain to improve its biological function, but for now it is doing an amazing job of simply polishing the water. 

 

The pond seems to mysteriously drain once it reaches 32 cm, so water changes are done either by the daily hour of  torrential rain, or by simply placing a garden hose by one of the filter out pipes, and raising the water level by 3 or so cm which then self corrects to the normal level. 

 

Mains water here is stored in a 8000l underground tank, and chlorine seems to gas off significant tly before it reaches the pond, incremental changes mean mean that chlorine levels are low to none after a change.

 

The local water authority has confirmed chloramine here is not used, thankfully. 

 

There is a website that shows outbound chlorine levels at our nearby water station, and those numbers are fairly low to begin with.

 

As a reference, the DIY style filters are available here premade for about 650 baht via lazada, but better to go direct to chatuchak and talk to someone who actually knows their stuff. 

 

Koi, filters, filter media, pumps and various other necessities probably cost around 3k total, certainly not much more. 

 

A combination of fish stirring the silt and the filters circulating the pond about 3 times per hour seem to have worked quite well.

 

Filters now go 2-4 weeks plus without changing. Initially they stilted up almost daily. Water is clear, bottom is completely clean of the fine silt that was easily 5cm deep. 

 

No sign of a spike in ammonia, no hints of new pond syndrome. Thus far...., but I'm not actually testing water. 

 

the koi population, 1  x 25cm, 4 X 10-15cm and 4 X 5-10cm seem to be thriving..... 

 

Any comments on improving the setup appreciated.  I am contemplating adding another pump around 1500l/h and small bog filter of about 2 or 3 sqm surface area. Also converting the mechanical filter to bottom feed with top outflow to improve retention and get more biological filtration. 

 

 

Both filters are still flowing well at about 6 weeks with limited intervention, water is still crystal, all silt is gone. Very happy with the way it turned out, though miss having to actually do something other than feed and drink coffee with the lads in the morning.

Edited November 14, 20196 yr by metempsychotic

Don't worry, your Algae Bloom is coming, and you will have plenty of additional work to do, if you want to continue to see your babies 

 

I would suggest this product once the Bloom disappears, (and it will, the microbes cannibalize themselves) to prevent it from coming back .  Made for aquariums, but works fine in ponds 

 

                                        

 

 

Had a small one built ten years ago and needs minimal maintenance. There is a pump that cycles the water through the big pot that has layers of volcanic rock, charcoal and fibreglass. Only have two large Koi left, others have got one disease or another and died.

In case you get bored watching the fish, 
you could consider to use an aquaponic growth bed for cleaning the water ?

 

Go to the big fish store in Kam Tien market behind TESCO on Super Highway........they can answer all your questions.

 

Proper design and adequate sizing of filtration will save u lots of headaches.

That store has the cleanes fish tanks I have seen anywhere in the world.

 

You need a sump in the pond and a sloped bottom so all the bottom sediment will run to it and it is the suction to the filtration