• 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
  • Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
    Results 1 to 20 of 37

    Thread: New contest - worst pond mistake -something give away, an old thread but active

    1. #1
      cindy's Avatar
      cindy is offline Administrator
      is Loving retirement
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Mt. Wash. KY - 7 miles outside Louisville
      Posts
      59,503

      New contest - worst pond mistake -something give away, an old thread but active

      Tell me your worst pond mistake - coaster give away contest # 2

      Feeling extremely blessed today.




      If you didn't win on the first thread, you can post again for a 2nd chance. If you only have one mistake post it again

      This is an old thread that got bumped but I'll give something away if you all want to play.
      Last edited by cindy; 12-27-2016 at 12:55 PM.

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

         

    2. #2
      cindy's Avatar
      cindy is offline Administrator
      is Loving retirement
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Mt. Wash. KY - 7 miles outside Louisville
      Posts
      59,503
      No more mistakes?

    3. #3
      NN-Tampa's Avatar
      NN-Tampa is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Tampa, Florida
      Posts
      439
      I guess I will start on this second round..... keeping koi for about 6 years now and I try to remember some of the mistake that I made.

      #1 – First year, I started up with 125 gal plastic pond from Lowe's, added rock in the pond and kept 6 koi (10” to 14”) in it. Not for long they started to have issue since I couldn't keep up with the water change, lost a few. But didn't stop me to bring home more fish.....

      #2 – First cold month, two of the fish were getting sick didn't know what to treat so I moved them in the garage to bring up the water temperature and to add salt. It was late at night so I used warm water from the house for a quick change in temperature, only found out in a few hours later that they didn't make it b/c they were shocked.

      #3 – Another mistake when I moved a fish into the garage for treatment, I was in a hurry to go out for dinner with some friends and forgot to put a cover on the tank. When I got back few hours later I found the fish on the floor.

      #4 – After I got my first pond build, I didn't want to move my bigger fish in to the new pond yet so I went and bought 4 small koi to test the water and system. Well, three of them were slowly disappeared and nowhere to be found for days. A week went by, when I cleaned the pump basket and found them all there. 1st pond don't have bottom drain, just have the above ground pump with 2” pipe extend to the bottom.

      #5 – With the first pond, I hired a pond guy to help with laying the rock around the pond. When I got home from work I was upset b/c all the rock with sharp edge were pointed into the pond. Didn't have time to fix this issue right the way so I let it go for few months and when the fish spawn they cut themselves, thank God no one was infected.

      #6 – One time I did a PP treatment and didn't add extra air pump, I almost kill the fish since two of them started to roll over on their side. Didn't use PP again since.

      #7 – Had the water pump and air pump hooked up in a same circuit and when the circuit break went out (don't know how long) I found all my fish struggling for air when I got home from work. I have them plug into two different circuit now.

      #8 – Doing water change one day on a 600 qt with submersible pump and forgot to turn off the release valve when I had a surprise visit from my neighbor. When the visit over, I realized I was in the middle of water change and the valve still on, ran out side and the qt was empty... fish were laying around but were still breathing. I felt horrible.

      Those are what I remember at this moment.... After 6 years in this hobby, I still make mistake but here to learn …..
      Last edited by NN-Tampa; 01-14-2015 at 11:05 PM.

    4. #4
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      You reminded me of some of my mistakes,
      When I first had my pond, I put about 200 lbs of black river stones on the bottom. We all know what happened after awhile. Boy, what a stinking mess to clean up. Surprised the fish survived, but they did.

      I also ordered some fish online, and put them in a stock tank. Did not cover, figured I had left the water line low enough so that they couldn't jump that high. Lost one jumper.

      I now know that koi can jump several feet in the air. They are aquatic acrobats.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    5. #5
      cindy's Avatar
      cindy is offline Administrator
      is Loving retirement
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Mt. Wash. KY - 7 miles outside Louisville
      Posts
      59,503
      Quote Originally Posted by NN-Tampa View Post
      I guess I will start on this second round..... keeping koi for about 6 years now and I try to remember some of the mistake that I made.

      #1 – First year, I started up with 125 gal plastic pond from Lowe's, added rock in the pond and kept 6 koi (10” to 14”) in it. Not for long they started to have issue since I couldn't keep up with the water change, lost a few. But didn't stop me to bring home more fish.....

      #2 – First cold month, two of the fish were getting sick didn't know what to treat so I moved them in the garage to bring up the water temperature and to add salt. It was late at night so I used warm water from the house for a quick change in temperature, only found out in a few hours later that they didn't make it b/c they were shocked.

      #3 – Another mistake when I moved a fish into the garage for treatment, I was in a hurry to go out for dinner with some friends and forgot to put a cover on the tank. When I got back few hours later I found the fish on the floor.

      #4 – After I got my first pond build, I didn't want to move my bigger fish in to the new pond yet so I went and bought 4 small koi to test the water and system. Well, three of them were slowly disappeared and nowhere to be found for days. A week went by, when I cleaned the pump basket and found them all there. 1st pond don't have bottom drain, just have the above ground pump with 2” pipe extend to the bottom.

      #5 – With the first pond, I hired a pond guy to help with laying the rock around the pond. When I got home from work I was upset b/c all the rock with sharp edge were pointed into the pond. Didn't have time to fix this issue right the way so I let it go for few months and when the fish spawn they cut themselves, thank God no one was infected.

      #6 – One time I did a PP treatment and didn't add extra air pump, I almost kill the fish since two of them started to roll over on their side. Didn't use PP again since.

      #7 – Had the water pump and air pump hooked up in a same circuit and when the circuit break went out (don't know how long) I found all my fish struggling for air when I got home from work. I have them plug into two different circuit now.

      #8 – Doing water change one day on a 600 qt with submersible pump and forgot to turn off the release valve when I had a surprise visit from my neighbor. When the visit over, I realized I was in the middle of water change and the valve still on, ran out side and the qt was empty... fish were laying around but were still breathing. I felt horrible.

      Those are what I remember at this moment.... After 6 years in this hobby, I still make mistake but here to learn …..

      Yay! 8 chances and thanks Nancy

      If you didn't win on the first thread, you can post again for a 2nd chance. If you only have one mistake post it again

    6. #6
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      they are beautiful still!

      Quote Originally Posted by cindy View Post
      I made a mistake on the coasters. Used Liquid Nail for the cork. Still smells like it.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    7. #7
      LadysSolo is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Sep 2013
      Location
      Northern Ohio
      Posts
      520
      Okay, second big mistake. Ordered koi on-line, arrived beautiful and healthy, covered the quarantine tank with Rubbermaid shelves (1/2" wide spacing between wires.) Koi were 6"-7"long, figured the spacing was close enough that they couldn't jump out. True, they couldn't get out, but they got their heads through and got hung up on their gills on the way back down. Found them all hanging, dried up, suspended by their gills. Went with window screen after that. Was just sick when I found them. Stupid, stupid, stupid......

    8. #8
      Cheryl's Avatar
      Cheryl is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2012
      Location
      Kent, WA
      Posts
      2,846
      One of my many pond mistakes was putting a fish spitter on the edge of the pond, during the night when the raccoons came for their visit, they knocked it down and it continued to empty out the pond, luckily the hose to the little pump that was hooked up to it was short and didn't reach the bottom of the pond so I had about 10" of water left in the morning and a burned out pump.

      Cheryl

    9. #9
      Snake's Avatar
      Snake is offline Super Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Waynesboro, PA
      Posts
      848
      Probably the first or second year (late 90's) I had koi I kept the filter running well into Dec. and the temp was 9* when my daughter went to work on a Sat. I looked out the kitchen window and something looked different with the pond. I walked outside and to my surprise was no water in pond and the koi were laying on the rocks on the bottom, still alive. I poured hot water around a filter pipe in the goldfish pond and all the koi were put in there. The ice was around 3" thick and stuck to the liner like a ceiling and with the underwater lights on it gave off a light fog effect under the ice and it looked cool. I decided to remove the ice before it fell and tears the liner, so I got a hand saw and cut the ice into squares and tossed them into the yard. I looked around for a wet spot trying to see where the water went when I noticed the copper pipes from the filter going to the pond were froze solid and the water ran down the sides of the sterlite container I used as a filter was buried. I bought some more dechlor and refilled the pond and returned the koi with no losses and no more filter running in the winter.
      I now have a larger pond that is covered for the winter and the filters are kept running all year.
      No One Is Ever Gone
      As Long As There Is Someone That Remembers






    10. #10
      Leekinneykoi's Avatar
      Leekinneykoi is offline Supporting Member
      is 17 years and still working on
      the 2 week pond
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2005
      Location
      Colerain, Ohio (Belmont Co.)
      Posts
      14,442
      Worst Pond Mistake??? Starting one (my case anyways)
      My favorite Quotes:

      The person who makes no mistakes usually does not make anything.
      Everything starts as somebody's daydream
      Experience is a dear teacher, but fools will learn from no other


      Proud Annual Charter Member # 3

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

         

    11. #11
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      That's for sure!

      Another mistake I made (one of the stupidest), was to try to keep my water hyacinths in one location by tying them down using fishing line. I used clear monofilament, which I guess the koi can't see well. My matsuba swam through it, then backed up, and it got caught in her gills. I just happened to be walking by and noticed her thrashing. I laid down, held her and started screaming like. Ray for help. My new neighbor who had just. Over into the house behind me, heard me screaming, and came over with pair of scissors (I was screaming for them too!). We were able to cut the fishing line and remove it from her gills. I found out she was female, as she dropped all of her eggs on my new friend that day! She survived, and the scar has pretty much faded (it was all the way around her head).

      Tip: never use fishing line in the pond unless you plan on catching something.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    12. #12
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      I get sad when I read the stories of fish losses. Sorry that you lost your fish.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    13. #13
      DBibbins's Avatar
      DBibbins is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jan 2014
      Location
      Charlotte, NC
      Posts
      838
      BIG mistake.....
      Putting 2 goldfish (came from neighbor when they moved) in my water garden pond (that was fishless). The following spring I had hundreds of them. I couldnt give them away fast enough, everytime I thought it was under control they would spawn again. Next step...
      Give away the parents FIRST! then give away all the kids. It took 2.5 years to get back to a fishless water garden.

      Lesson Learned... Survival rate is a lot higher in a pond full of plants (hiding places). At least I new what to expect when I built my koi pond.
      Happiness is adopting a mutt and my pond is FULL of Happiness....
      Deb

      My pond
      https://youtu.be/PR3Q2MInsQg

    14. #14
      nwrunner's Avatar
      nwrunner is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2011
      Location
      Portland
      Posts
      325
      One more: Adding salt when my fish were stressed during an extreme cold snap not realizing the salt would dissolve the elements in the bucket heaters almost immediately.

    15. #15
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      Wow, never heard that one. I never use salt in my pond anyway, but I do have bucket heaters. Will keep that in mind if I ever need to use it.
      Quote Originally Posted by nwrunner View Post
      One more: Adding salt when my fish were stressed during an extreme cold snap not realizing the salt would dissolve the elements in the bucket heaters almost immediately.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    16. #16
      nmtsaki's Avatar
      nmtsaki is offline Moderator ~ WWKC Secretary
      is hanging in there, waiting for
      warmer weather
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Oak Park, MI
      Posts
      17,433
      I must be the only person with goldfish that don't breed, I've had up to 12 in my stock tank, 7 in the pond, and never had any babies, until the koi were put in. Must be lucky enough to get all females. Last year, I had 70 koi babies survive in my tiny pond. Got rid of 55, still have to get rid of the rest before they reach parent size!

      Quote Originally Posted by DBibbins View Post
      BIG mistake.....
      Putting 2 goldfish (came from neighbor when they moved) in my water garden pond (that was fishless). The following spring I had hundreds of them. I couldnt give them away fast enough, everytime I thought it was under control they would spawn again. Next step...
      Give away the parents FIRST! then give away all the kids. It took 2.5 years to get back to a fishless water garden.

      Lesson Learned... Survival rate is a lot higher in a pond full of plants (hiding places). At least I new what to expect when I built my koi pond.







      Favorite Quotes:
      The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too. -- Samuel Butler.

      My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet. -- Edith Wharton.

      I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. -- Gilda Radner

      Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement. -- Snoopy

    17. #17
      Bill_in_PDX is offline Supporting Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2005
      Location
      Oregon
      Posts
      387
      My first pond was 1200 gallons, no bottom drain, just a submersible pump that fed a barrel filter. I had a bypass on the line so I could fo water changes by diverting the water out into my yard.

      One day I started a partial water change then left to take my wife and mom to the traveling Olympic Ice Skaters show. Must have been in 1995. Well as I was sitting watching the show, all of a sudden it dawned on me that I left the pond water draining. I had to finish the show because there was no way I was getting my wife and mother to leave early.

      After the show, I drove home like a mad man to find no water left in the pond, just dead and dying fish. I quickly got water in it and pulled the dead fidh out. I lost 6 out if 15 koi pets that night

      My current pond is designed so it can only drain 1/3's the way before gravity will stop feeding the filtration system. A couple burned up pumps are less to replace than a couple of my pets now.

    18. #18
      cindy's Avatar
      cindy is offline Administrator
      is Loving retirement
       
      Feeling:
      Happy
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Mt. Wash. KY - 7 miles outside Louisville
      Posts
      59,503
      bump

    19. #19
      marjoriekoi is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2016
      Location
      NJ
      Posts
      136
      Many mistakes:

      #1 moving large koi from small pond to large pond at end of May, with warmer water then what they were in. Fish spawned and still have 55+ juveniles

      #2 Setting up a pond without a bottom drain or retro fit drain

      #3 Running a filtration system with only a biological filter and no mechanical filter before it

      #4 Not having enough filtration material in biofilter

      #5 Not quarantining new fish properly to existing fish and introduced flukes

      #6 Not quarantining water lilies from my frog pond and ebay before putting into my koi pond and introduced
      flukes and possibly more

      #7 Having too small of a quarantine tank so 2 got hurt and again released into pond without proper
      quarantining and introduced Costia

      #8 Losing 2 new fish to jumping out of QT and 2 from large pond because I didn't lower the net

      #9 Not treating a beautiful gin rin rootbeer butterly koi fast enough for Costia and it died-
      still feel awful.

      #10 Biggest mistake- not knowing enough about: running a pond with great filtration system,
      keeping water with perfect parameters, QT, parasites, diseases ........before getting Koi in the first place!!!

    20. #20
      hafnutz67 is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2010
      Location
      Plano, IL
      Posts
      94
      I hate to admit this one.
      About 2 years ago when I was doing a water change in the basement, I forgot that I was draining the water and we left to run to the store. As soon as we walked in the house I heard a "sucking" sound and panicked as I realized what I had just done.
      I ran downstairs and saw the pond with only about and inch or so of water left in it and all of our koi were flopping around splashing. I turned the water on and screamed for Lori and our son to start bring down buckets of water. They kept filling while I was on my hands and knees in the pond moving the koi around (20+ total koi at the time ranging from 6" to 24"), splashing water on them and trying to keep the larger ones upright. It was a good 20 minutes before we even had six inches of water back in the pond. I stayed there for a couple of hours even as it filled continually helping to move the koi around and keep water running through their gills. Fortunately, all of the koi survived my carelessness. It was a hard lesson learned.

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

         

    Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    Posting Permissions

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