My 25,000 litre tropical pond

[chrism55]

Thought I'd share some photos of one of my ponds here in Thailand. Constructed from concrete, when full it holds around 25,000 litres. Occupants include Koi Carp, Siam Carp, Giant Gourami (2), Tilapia, Pleco, Barbs.







It features an island in the middle with a tea house. Depths vary between 12 inches and 48 inches.







This is one of my Giant Gourami, photo taken at dusk after heavy rainfall. They each eat 6 bananas, 4 shrimp fishcakes and a load of sticky rice each day.







Pond maintenance is a daily effort. Filters and pumps are cleaned weekly. The pond is 2 years old. Koi were purchased locally, Gourami were a gift and the rest of the fish were netted in local lakes.

I'm still planting around the edges to make it look more natural.

 

[Rbishop]

Very nice looking pond and GG!

 

[FallenAngel]

Amazing & Stunning Pond. Great job!

Strange question but have you ever seen a wild Siamese fighter in Thailand?

 

[chrism55]

Amazing & Stunning Pond. Great job!

Strange question but have you ever seen a wild Siamese fighter in Thailand?

Hi FallenAngel - thanks for the comment. As for Fighters, yes I've seen many of them in this area. In fact, they live in the dirtiest of water and are quite easy to net. The aquaria shops sell them for about 50c - however, Thais don't generally buy them to look at, they buy them to fight. The kids will buy 2 with their pocket money and put them in a bottle of water, then gamble on the outcome. Different culture etc etc

 

[chrism55]

Very nice looking pond and GG!

Thanks for the comments Bob. It took a lot of work to build but I'm happy with the result. Early next year, I'll be putting wild water lillies in it again. They get eaten fairly quickly - especially by the carp. Chris

 

[FallenAngel]

Cruel but yes I can understand, with different cultures, my step-grandma is Thai and Buddhist so a bit of a mix of culture shock, Are the fighters very colourful or more of a brownish wild-type?

And how much is 50c in Thai Baht?

 

[Cerianthus]

Nice! Anyne care to jump in on hot Summer days? LOL

Water temp steady thru out the yr?

What kind of Tilapia? No problems with some Koi?

WOndeing why some pics with clear water and some bit murky?

I am sure with some vegetation, you should ses some populatio increase with time!

 

[chrism55]

Cruel but yes I can understand, with different cultures, my step-grandma is Thai and Buddhist so a bit of a mix of culture shock, Are the fighters very colourful or more of a brownish wild-type?

And how much is 50c in Thai Baht?

Most of the wild ones I've seen are maroon or deep red in colour but I have seen pinkish-white ones too. 50 cents is around 15 baht.

 

[chrism55]

Nice! Anyne care to jump in on hot Summer days? LOL

Water temp steady thru out the yr?

What kind of Tilapia? No problems with some Koi?

WOndeing why some pics with clear water and some bit murky?

I am sure with some vegetation, you should ses some populatio increase with time!

Hi Cerianthus, the water temp varies by about 5 degree or so. Black Tilapia now. I did have some Red Tilapia but they got too aggressive.

After heavy rain I get a soil runoff into the pond. The soil here is very heavy and sinks to the bottom within a few hours. Also I have occasional battle with algae - I have 3 filters (2 are running through UVs) and after a few days after an algae bloom, the water is clear again.

As for vegetation, I have an endless supply of water hyacinth but they get eaten quickly. Same with lillies. I replant twice a year with lillies taken from local ponds.

Population increase: the Tilapia breed twice a year and the fry are eaten by my Giant Gourami. The Koi have not bred yet but if they did, I guess the eggs or fry would quickly be eaten. Plecos have bred once - 5 babies survived and I moved them to another smaller pond.