I have two ponds now.
Not because I enjoy the back breaking labor of digging out a huge pit (3 feet at the deepest, 8 by 8 in area), Nor am I particularly fond of fish.
Thing is that we started with two (that number again) Koi, now we have, well perhaps hundreds of little Koi.
The original pond was built in 1930-something. It is nothing much more than a cement pond. I cleaned it out Two (yep 2) years ago (the owner claims the last time that was done was in 1980-something) and along with the two koi, was about 2 feet of sludge. Yes, the water was terrible, and the two koi must have been very unhappy.
My bad, I should have left well enough alone. By the end of summer the pond was almost jumping with fish. Little 2 inch long (again that number) baby koi.
I went to several nurseries, even traveled the 20 (again a two, disguised this time) miles to a water garden place.
Here is what they told me: Koi eat their own young (when they are less than once inch long) and they never over breed their area.
Yeah, right....
Mind this is the same people who told me that they must have clear water to live, that they must be fed a special '$24.99 per bottle (less than a months supply) food, and that these guys were difficult to raise.
I gave baby koi away for holidays and birthdays, and still had enough in that pond to make me worry. They were creating a very, very big mess. Worse, there were more of them, real small babies.
Late last year (the majority of the new ones survived and were about 2 inches long) I decided to make another pond, and break up the two big koi (the ones we started with) In hopes that I could prevent them from being fruitful and multiplying.
But, much to my chagrin, I find that this spring I now have two ponds with lots, and lots of koi.
Too much fish.
I only feed them twice a week, a couple of shakes of their food. It's sweet, all the little buggers come running when we approach the pond (The water garden specialist told us to feed them twice a week, that way they will think we are food and will be friendly - Today I am somewhat conscious of this counsel and wonder what would happen if one of us fell into the pond).
The water quality is 'poor' due to the amount of koi. I flush it out regularly. Though the new one has a pump to recirculate the water, I found that by spring it was all green, I had to purge the water, running a hose and letting it over flow until the water got clear (that's when I discovered just how big my multiplication problem really is).
None of the sites I find appear to be very informative about the life habits of the koi. They all either want to sell me more koi (as if I do not have enough) or sell me expensive pond equipment.
Is there any way to keep these guys from, well, multiplying to ecological disaster?
Short of spending $799.99 for a UV filter (to kill the algae) what can I do to prevent algae growth in the first place - What does mother nature do to prevent it?
Though I can run power to the new pond, there is no way to get power to the old one. Thus I have two ponds with algae issues.
The mini lily pads we got last year were fruitful and did multiply as well, I find that I am going to have to divide them this year. The Water Pond specialist told me that these were difficult to maintain through winter.
The water hyacinths (which are so abundant in the rivers here that they pose a threat to the ecology) died in the ponds. The Water Garden Specialist informed me that these would take over my pond.
(Note the contradiction my 'Specialists' made? - Our most recent trip last weekend lead to a small arguement about the depth of water koi need to survive - I based my depth (18-24 inches) on expereince, I wonder what he based his depth (3 to 5 feet) on? Perhaps the idea of selling me 3 times the amount of rubber????)
Short of playing God and pulling out little fish and letting them die, what can I do with them? none of the nurseries or pet shops round here wants them - I can't even give them away (Interesting considering that they can run $1,250 for one that is 22-24 inches in length (the smaller ones around 2-3 inches are worth 4-24 dollars).
So any ideas would be greatly appreciated - 'cause I am fresh out, and I am too big of a heart to just murder the little guys. But on the same page, I do not feel up to building a fish pond bigger than my home.
Sorry for the long post, but I am certain the whole story adds to the question
Cheers
David
