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How do water changes for Ponds work?

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biofish

biofish

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So my sister is building a pond in our backyard with the goal of eventually getting Koi Fish for it… (she’s got all the filters and pumps for it to house fish and it’s got a waterfall attached) and we were wondering how water changes would work with fish. Could we fill it up with normal water before dosing it with the conditioner? Or would we have to take the koi fish out every time? Filling the pond with a bucket is kinda outta of the question because that would take years.

Edit: do we need a heater for it? We live near the beach so while it gets a little chilly it doesn’t ever go into freezing territory and most of the time it’s not bad at all. The pond is under a wooden deck so it’s constantly shaded and never has direct sun.

This is it so far:
9C7B6D0E-807F-412F-83DA-11B974ACCF55.jpeg
 
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Koi are cold water fish that do not need a heater. If the water freezes (unlikely in California), then the fish die but unless they are turned into an ice block, they will be fine.

You can pump or drain out 1/3 of the pond water and refill it with tap water. Add enough dechlorinator to treat the entire pond and then start filling it. If you use a garden hose to fill the pond, turn the tap on and let water run through the hose for a few minutes before filling the pond. Garden hoses have a softening agent in them that is poisonous to all life forms and flushing water through the hose for a few minutes removes any that might have leached out.

If you can, spray the water into the pond or use a sprinkler to try and aerate the water while it's being added.

Make sure there are no sharp edges in the pond because the fish can injure themselves on sharp rocks.

If you want to grow water lilies, they need full sun.
 
Most ponds, both manmade and natural, get their water refreshed naturally by rainfall and, where it occurs, melting snow/ice.

To prevent freezing in winter months on a manmade pond you can use tennis balls...just float them and they will ensure an air supply is always there by virtue that they move with the breeze and when stationary they keep a portion of the surface ice free - the fish like to play with them too, often pushing the balls with their noses or thwacking them with their tails.
 
wasmewasntit said:
Most ponds, both manmade and natural, get their water refreshed naturally by rainfall and, where it occurs, melting snow/ice.

To prevent freezing in winter months on a manmade pond you can use tennis balls...just float them and they will ensure an air supply is always there by virtue that they move with the breeze and when stationary they keep a portion of the surface ice free - the fish like to play with them too, often pushing the balls with their noses or thwacking them with their tails.
Click to expand...
🤣🤣🤣 I would personally love to see fish swatting around a tennis ball.

Unfortunately I live in a coastal city in California so neither rain nor melting snow are viable options. It rains only a scant handful of times here in winter and practically never any other time.

So my trusty garden hose will have to do.
 
biofish said:
So my sister is building a pond in our backyard with the goal of eventually getting Koi Fish for it… (she’s got all the filters and pumps for it to house fish and it’s got a waterfall attached) and we were wondering how water changes would work with fish. Could we fill it up with normal water before dosing it with the conditioner? Or would we have to take the koi fish out every time? Filling the pond with a bucket is kinda outta of the question because that would take years.

Edit: do we need a heater for it? We live near the beach so while it gets a little chilly it doesn’t ever go into freezing territory and most of the time it’s not bad at all. The pond is under a wooden deck so it’s constantly shaded and never has direct sun.

This is it so far:View attachment 153218
Click to expand...
FF5C7721-2F02-4481-B2F3-429F0D75CAB2.jpeg

Redid the waterfall
 
So what kind of critters can live in a pond? We were already considering koi fish but like what else would be good for it? Turtles? Frogs? Some sort of algae eater? The water is a smidge too cold for Koi fish so we are also planning on getting a heater for it too! We were even thinking of putting our extra mass-producing guppies in there too 😂 that would be chaos

And what about plants? It’s shaded heavily but we are are planning on getting light fixtures to shine above it but I don’t think that will be enough for lily pads.

For now though the pond is officially starting its cycling process!!

Edit: I didn’t realize mosquitofish were different than guppies. They’re just plain Jane bigger guppies. I think those will probably find a home in our pond because we had a mosquito problem BEFORE the pond.
 
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Big Mosquito Fish I hope. The little Mosquito Fish in my 15G won’t have much of a visual impact in a pond that size.
 
How many gallons is it? What are your water parameters? You say it’s too cold for koi, what temp is it? It’s beautiful!
 
Last edited:
OliveFish05 said:
How many gallons is it? What are your water parameters? You say it’s too cold for koi, what temp is it? It’s beautiful!
Click to expand...
I don’t know exactly how many gallons but here’s the dimensions:
10CAD5F2-D20D-4419-B38D-3DBF2E30ED7F.jpeg


Water parameters are currently unknown and the temp I clocked it to be at about 2 pm was 60° F

Edit: I used the aquarium calculator this site provides and this ended up being the result
09DD0C83-FBED-42CD-A41B-628C718CA167.jpeg

351 gallons
 
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You've worked so hard!
Love the waterfall, and the hanging plants!
 
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