Fixing Old Pond in Tennessee - Need Help?

[Zbbal]

My dad just bought a property with a pond on it. The pond is about 13ft long, 5ft wide, and ranges between 2.5 and 4 ft deep. The property was a four year old foreclosure, so the pond is very dirty and overgrown. Today we started pulling up ivy and other plants in search of finding the bottom of the pond. We found the pond liner, which thankfully is in pristine condition with only very, very tiny tears. However, we also found that the people who built the pond lined it with about six inches of dirt and also placed huge flat rocks across it. We began removing the rocks and dirt only to find tons of mold towards the bottom. My dad has asked me to remove EVERYTHING from the pond except for the liner, clean it, and start again fresh. So I have a few questions:

1) Is the pond deep enough to sustain fish life, considering we live up in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee? We are willing to buy heaters and take ice prevention measures.

2) Do we have to have dirt as a substrate or can we just use the rocks across the bottom and then put plants in pond planters?

3) What fish would you recommend?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[carolinyens]

Personally I think 4ft is really shallow but thats just my perspective. I feel that if it gets hot enough your fish wont be able to get in to a comfortable part of the water column aka thermocline. Im not sure what applications you want to go with but If you had been thinking about bluegill, crappie or any other sunfish you might be able to get away with it, maybe. Koi might work. If your having troubles with plants that you just cant seem to get rid of then you should think about investing in a white amur(carp). These dont reproduce, so they wont take over your pond. Take my advise with a grain of salt. I dont have a pond but do go fishing in them so Ive done research on our areas fish. Koi, topwater minnows, maybe bluegill and possibly a white amur if your trying to eradicate some pesky plants. Whatever you do decide make sure that you dont put just one type of fish in the pond unless you just want koi and if you decide to go with a native setup youll have to cull the panfish out every so often since bass wont be able to get big enough to control the population.

 

[garyfla]

Hi
Probably the first thing to decide is what you want to keep?? What are your winters like?? I have no experience with snow and ice and that's what really complicates ponds lol Definitely clean out everything refill and see if it maintains water for at least a week Do you have any equipment with it (filters skimmers whatever.) If not decide on the methods for what you want to keep. Is it under trees particularly deciduous trees??
There are gazillions of types of plants ,fish what ever to wade through . A good way to decide if the pond is deep enough for the winter is the local frost line. Usually a foot below that is enough . okay end of my advice ubtil you decide what too keep!!! gary.

 

[Zbbal]

We already have two young Koi fish, so that's what we will be keeping. A distant family member was keeping them in a 10 gallon and I saved them, so we'll see how this goes. Can I add more Koi to the pond?

The pond is completely above ground on the side of a hill and is walled in by a foot and a half stone wall. While we are in the mountains, it's very unlikely that it will remain cold enough in the winter for the water to freeze. Winters here might include, tops, about two or three days of snow and about two weeks of possibly icy conditions. Also, the pond is mostly shaded by a very tall willow-like tree, but the tree will have to be removed before it breaks the stone wall. My dad thinks that planting several Japanese Maples around the pond should provide decent shade.

We have a very large water pump to use for the fountain in the pond, but will we need more equipment?

 

[garyfla]

Hi
Ah ,Youve already made up your mind lol Koi are very nice but do have a few drawbacks . First is probably size they easily get over two feet and are really tough on plants. Probably best to keep them in a pond of their own with goold filtration and circulation. You can make this as elaborate or simple as you choose ., there are dozens on the market but I think DIY are better and cheaper . Check out sites on Koi ponds for suggestions of methods.
Will also give much info on choices of plants and planting methods compatible with Koi.
The surrounding landscape of a pond is a really tough call . First most aquatic plants require direct sun for several hours per day. Second is deciduous trees all the leaves will end up in the pond lol. Much depends on you climate zone
naturally . For example I' can't grow J. maples (too hot) so have no experience with them.
Do some searching of the web or visit some ponds in your area . They are many KOi clubs around
Hope I was at least a little bit of help??? gary

 

[cutie_monster]

i live in tazewell, tn, which is about an hour & 1/2 north of the Smokies. my pond is 20' X 25' and also 4' deep in the middle. it has a mud bottom and holds water just fine. i keep goldfish & koi with no problems at all through the winter. i feed april 1- nov 1; spring/fall mix for months of april & nov, and regular maintenance food called pond sticks for the rest of time. they dont require food during the winter months because they "hibernate". i dont know the exact name but their metabolism goes very slow. you can use a pond gallons calculator online to get a fair idea of what your gallons are to aid with stocking of your pond.

 

[cutie_monster]

sorry, i also forgot to add that i dont have any plants in that gf/koi pond. but i know ppl who have pond plants with koi & they keep waterlillies and frogbit with success.

 

[cutie_monster]

spring/fall mix for months of april & nov.

sorry again, spring/fall mix for april and october, then i stop feeding nov 1. after the water temp drops below 55 F , i do not feed again until the weather gets warmer

 

[StarSapphire22]

I would probably stay away from adding more koi since they get sooooooo big, but you could put in some single-tailed varieties of goldfish like comets or shubunkins. Just make sure your added stock are of a comparable size to the old one...a one or 2 inch comet could easily become a meal for a foot long koi. Do NOT add any of the fancy varieties. They are more fragile and will not be able to compete with koi and single-tailed varieties. Depending on how cold your winters get, those fish could stay out there year round as long as the whole pond doesn't get frozen solid, or you could bring them inside and put them in a big tank for the winter. goldfish like to scavenge in the substrate in aquariums, I don't know about ponds, but that's why I have sand in my tank. They find all the extra tidbits in my sand, and it keeps them active and happy. A dirt bottom or something like that would probably be good in a pond, but I have no pond experience, so I'm not sure. As far as eating plants, that's a touch an go thing. It just depends on your fish and the plants in there....every fish is different. I know some goldie keepers whose plants are devoured constantly (and maybe you want them in there as a food source, so that would be ok) and some goldies who completely ignore certain plants. That'd be something you have to research, or maybe someone on here can recommend one for you.

Best of luck, would love to see pictures when it's done!!!

 

[cutie_monster]

i agree, they get huge-mongous. i only have 5 in my pond with about 20 or so comet gf

I would probably stay away from adding more koi since they get sooooooo big, but you could put in some single-tailed varieties of goldfish like comets or shubunkins. Just make sure your added stock are of a comparable size to the old one...a one or 2 inch comet could easily become a meal for a foot long koi. Do NOT add any of the fancy varieties. They are more fragile and will not be able to compete with koi and single-tailed varieties. Depending on how cold your winters get, those fish could stay out there year round as long as the whole pond doesn't get frozen solid, or you could bring them inside and put them in a big tank for the winter. goldfish like to scavenge in the substrate in aquariums, I don't know about ponds, but that's why I have sand in my tank. They find all the extra tidbits in my sand, and it keeps them active and happy. A dirt bottom or something like that would probably be good in a pond, but I have no pond experience, so I'm not sure. As far as eating plants, that's a touch an go thing. It just depends on your fish and the plants in there....every fish is different. I know some goldie keepers whose plants are devoured constantly (and maybe you want them in there as a food source, so that would be ok) and some goldies who completely ignore certain plants. That'd be something you have to research, or maybe someone on here can recommend one for you.

Best of luck, would love to see pictures when it's done!!!