• Amused
  • Angry
  • Annoyed
  • Awesome
  • Bemused
  • Cocky
  • Cool
  • Crazy
  • Crying
  • Depressed
  • Down
  • Drunk
  • Embarrased
  • Enraged
  • Friendly
  • Geeky
  • Godly
  • Happy
  • Hateful
  • Hungry
  • Innocent
  • Meh
  • Piratey
  • Poorly
  • Sad
  • Secret
  • Shy
  • Sneaky
  • Tired
  • Results 1 to 9 of 9

    Thread: Hi all, new guy with small Goldfish pond

    1. #1
      JohnnyB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Southern CA, Hi Desert
      Posts
      305

      Smile Hi all, new guy with small Goldfish pond

      I was looking for information on pond filters and stumbled upon this site. I’ve had had several small above ground ponds over the past 15 years using several filter designs including my own home built filters, but from the looks of the KOI ponds on this site, I’m not sure I want it anymore.

      I ended up with goldfish after my daughter came home from Girl Scouts with a goldfish. She was supposed to keep it alive for a week if I remember correctly, but it died the first night. She was in tears so I went out to buy another fish and of course I had to buy one for each of my 3 kids. I had an old aquarium stored in the garage from when I used to have tropical fish many years ago before the kids were born.
      All was well until I took the aquarium outside to clean. While washing it I set it down on a very small pebble and it cracked the glass immediately. It just so happened that there was a little child’s plastic pool in the back yard, so I through them in it until I could fix the broken glass. Well it was a little more difficult to fix then I thought so I figured I would just buy another aquarium.

      Days turned into weeks and so on, but the fish were doing really well in the aquarium and then I noticed that they were jumping out of the water eating mosquitoes. I asked the kid if they were feeding the fish and each thought the other was feeding them. Well soon it was fall then winter with below freezing temps and I just assumed that they all died because I saw ice on top of the water.

      We bought a new home that spring and as I was cleaning the place up to move I discovered that the fish were still alive, so bought a small plastic pond with a filter and built an above ground pond with landscape blocks. Everyone loved it and then I noticed that the fish were multiplying. Soon I had more fish then I wanted.



      That was over 15 years ago and they are still surviving, although I don’t know how many are from the original pond. Anyway I'm now trying to decide what the future is for these fish.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    2. #2
      gatorlover's Avatar
      gatorlover is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Sep 2008
      Location
      Ft. White, Fl
      Posts
      6,638
      Oh, I hope you are going to dig a BIG Hole and Line it and make them a nice home. They will enjoy it, but you and your family wll enjoy it even more. Hope to see many more pics. And I am glad that you stumbled onto the Koiphen Site. We are family here and love it when we get new members to share with.
      Glenda





      Only GOD can turn a MESS into a MESSage, a TEST into a TESTimony, a TRIal into a TRIumph, a VICTim into a VICTory. GOD is GOOD... all the time!

      Lord when you build my cabin in the corner of Glory-Land, Please be sure to include a fish pond. Thanks

      God closes doors no man can open and God opens doors no man can close.

    3. #3
      JohnnyB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Southern CA, Hi Desert
      Posts
      305
      Thanks Glenda, I did make a larger pond because the fish were getting too big, but wanted another above ground pond so I can maintain it easily. I have bad knees and I can’t kneel down anymore so the above ground pond works very well for me. I ended up with another pre-molded pond although It was never exactly what I wanted, but I got such a good 75% clearance price that I couldn’t refuse.



      The culvert in the background is a den for my desert tortoise. I used to have the den under the fish pond to keep the frost out during the winter months, but the tortoise got too big and I actually had to chisel out the blocks last spring because it could not get out after hibernation.


    4. #4
      jrlaubin's Avatar
      jrlaubin is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2011
      Location
      northern California
      Posts
      1,133
      Look at the tetra 4000 ( ebay 370616370327 ) its a small bead filter..no messy pads to clean, just back flush.. it does require a 4200 gallon pump for propper back washing.. Filters with mats and pads are a royal pain to clean some say backwash, dont believe it.. I also recomend the tetra 4000 not the smaller units,,they stretch the truth on pond sizes..pondmaster 400 is also a good unit , but pricey

    5. #5
      JohnnyB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Southern CA, Hi Desert
      Posts
      305
      Quote Originally Posted by jrlaubin View Post
      Look at the tetra 4000 ( ebay 370616370327 ) its a small bead filter..no messy pads to clean, just back flush.. it does require a 4200 gallon pump for propper back washing.. Filters with mats and pads are a royal pain to clean some say backwash, dont believe it.. I also recomend the tetra 4000 not the smaller units,,they stretch the truth on pond sizes..pondmaster 400 is also a good unit , but pricey
      Thanks for the reply and the recommendation. I was starting to wonder if anybody read these things.

      I’m currently using a home built filter made out of a tool box and it has been working just fine for 6 or 7 years now, but I’m getting tired of it because it’s not exactly easy to clean. When I designed it, I was NOT thinking a whole lot about the maintenance.

      I had made some poor design choices like not installing valves in the inlet pipes. I have two bottom drains in the pond and I have to isolate the pond from the filter so I can completely drain the filter for cleaning. I use those round flat rubber bath tub drain covers to close off the drains. They work well, but it’s a pain to get into the water to place them into position over the drain and a valve next to the filter would make things so much easier.

      I usually clean it twice a year, but this year I got lazy and worked on more fun stuff instead. Needless to say it was a total mess. I did finally clean it, but I’m thinking of getting rid of it altogether. The family wants to keep it, so I’m going to give it one more try. I have to admit that I do have some great naps sitting back next to it in the afternoons


    6. #6
      gray cat's Avatar
      gray cat is offline Administrator
      is looking forward to Spring
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2004
      Location
      Winston Salem, NC. Zone 8A
      Posts
      55,427
      Hi JohnnyB & welcome to Koiphen. You may want to post your filtration questions in the Pond-Construction-and-Filtration Forum as well. You may get more replies. It is a very active forum.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumd...and-Filtration

      Love your desert tortoise too. We also have a turtle forum on Koiphen. We would love to see more pics too.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumd...2-Turtle-Forum

      Your goldfish a very pretty. We have lots of folks with goldfish only ponds.
      We love pics so please keep posting them.
      Nancy



      Koiphen 2013 Koi Person of the Year!

    7. #7
      *Ci*'s Avatar
      *Ci* is offline Administrator
      is enjoying the fall weather
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2006
      Location
      Nanaimo, BC Canada
      Posts
      2,649
      Hi Johnny. I have a 650 g. above ground pond - raised 27". Very easy to reach the plants for maintenance, no bending over at all! Filtered with a simple Birdman sand&gravel plus another small bio tank - again easy to clean both by flushing once a week with air, standing up, and not getting wet.
      I use a submersible Laguna pump (very low wattage) in a separate barrel fed by a bottom drain and no niche skimmer, so it is easy access as well.
      Anyway, my point is it's possible to set up a very nice, functional and easy to maintain smaller pond for your goldfish.



      Last edited by *Ci*; 07-04-2012 at 01:47 PM.
      ________________________________________
      Cheers,
      Ci


    8. #8
      JohnnyB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Southern CA, Hi Desert
      Posts
      305
      Quote Originally Posted by gray cat View Post
      Hi JohnnyB & welcome to Koiphen. You may want to post your filtration questions in the Pond-Construction-and-Filtration Forum as well. You may get more replies. It is a very active forum.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumd...and-Filtration

      Love your desert tortoise too. We also have a turtle forum on Koiphen. We would love to see more pics too.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumd...2-Turtle-Forum

      Your goldfish a very pretty. We have lots of folks with goldfish only ponds.
      We love pics so please keep posting them.
      Thanks for the welcome Nancy.
      Originally, my intention was to post a filter question in the Pond-Construction-and-Filtration Forum. While I was waiting to get approval for my 1st post, I read through the threads and was intimidated by all the Koi ponds. I started to realize that this was mostly a koi site and I was just about to give up when I noticed this Goldfish forum so I deleted my filter questions and just posted about my goldfish pond.

    9. #9
      JohnnyB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Southern CA, Hi Desert
      Posts
      305
      Quote Originally Posted by GoldieGirl View Post
      Hi Johnny. I have a 650 g. above ground pond - raised 27". Very easy to reach the plants for maintenance, no bending over at all! Filtered with a simple Birdman sand&gravel plus another small bio tank - again easy to clean both by flushing once a week with air, standing up, and not getting wet.
      I use a submersible Laguna pump (very low wattage) in a separate barrel fed by a bottom drain and no niche skimmer, so it is easy access as well.
      Anyway, my point is it's possible to set up a very nice, functional and easy to maintain smaller pond for your goldfish.



      Hi GoldieGirl, I love your pond and your filtration system.

      At one time my pond had plants like yours, but I lost most of them in the winter months during freezing weather. Once the top of the pond had frozen over and I found my little dog standing on top of the ice barking at the fish below, so I bought a heater that come on at temps below 40F.

      I also turn the waterfall pump off and I run a small circulating pump with an air stone during freezing temps because I think the waterfall cools off the water too fast.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •