Part 7 of Marco’s pond
The patio has been laid and compacted and the pond has been filled. It is the last milestone before the Koi can be placed back. The pond is Koi-ready. Finally….
What does Koi-ready mean to me? The filter is running, the pond is filled, and I am prepared for possibly a cold winter, which as it stands is staying out. What remains is finishing and making the pond as user-friendly as possible. Whereas my previous pond and especially filter was very laborious, now I wanted as many conveniences as possible. Low maintenance and ease of use become the goal. Within a certain budget, of course. So what is left in articles about building my pond might well be incoherent. It is the loose ends that are tied together.
By the way, I have already had to take the first dive myself. A forced swim, the temperature at 11 degrees Celsius was too cold to make it a relaxing swim. Stupid to drop something out of your hands over the pond…. After a splash, I saw the stone disappear into the depths and land on the bottom.
But now about getting my Koi home. Catching and transporting is an exciting event. Although it doesn’t make me nervous. As a consultant, I do catch koi regularly and am quite adept at it. I’m not going to post all the Koi at once, by the way. The transport is spread over six days and in three phases. It is now October 21. It is dry and an ideal day to bring home the first Koi. These first two fish are from the quarantine tank that was at my parents’ house.
Two days later the other two followed, and finally the three larger ones that had been swimming in a large swimming pond for several months. Fortunately, catching, bowling and transporting the Koi went smoothly. Even in the 100-square cube swimming pond, it did not disappoint. I was afraid because of the size of the swimming pond and its shape that I would have to work with a trawl. However, with a total of three Koinets, the Koi could go no other way than the Koisok. From there into the box and back home.
The winter cover now closes the pond for a period of dormancy and daily water quality monitoring has begun. Hopefully the nitrogen cycle will pick up a bit before nature goes into hibernation. That will help me in the spring.
When the Koi swim, everything works. Some things have been made temporarily functional. The first improvements are being pieced together. Again, I collect various materials and start selling materials I no longer need. The quarantine tank was in the way of my parents’ house tremendously. Fortunately, I had sold that one quickly. Unfortunately, this was another hefty task. The fence had to be dismantled again and so on and so forth. As for the pace of the job, I am taking a big step back. It was also necessary. Virtually nothing happened on the pond for a few weeks really. Other jobs outside the hobby moved higher on the priority list for a while.
By the way, I also had an additional task for the coming period, namely, the water quality had to be monitored. Daily I measured ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia I have never measured at this starting stage, nitrite however, has. From then on, I also started monitoring the KH. This remained 6 at all times. I added an additional 20 liters of carrier material in my moving bed for housing bacteria. This had no legitimate reason other than a little color in a moving bed 😉
The first improvement to the overall system takes place at the holding tank. The submersible pump was connected through a stiff hose. The hose has been replaced with PVC. In addition, there is a backup for when the submersible pump fails. Or if the submersible pump would break down, power would go out or the pipe would become clogged. Therefore, I also connect the holding tank to the dug hole of the trampoline. If the submersible pump fails, the water does not drain back into the pond, but the hole of the trampoline is then the emergency collection of the dirty water.
Once the sprinkler system is dug in and then the grass is laid, we finally get some idea of a garden. The enjoyment can begin. Although, of course, it is still winter.
The next job will be a floor in the gazebo. Then everything in the gazebo gets its place.
To be continued!
