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    Thread: New Koi Pond Houston Texas

    1. #1
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      New Koi Pond Houston Texas

      Hi! We have a professional koi pond installation starting tomorrow. I would love to know the other Texas members, more specifically around Houston. Every climate offers different challenges.

      We are NOT DIY and having a professional install
      DH has a great deal of saltwater and freshwater aquarium experience, but that is it
      I tend to have a green thumb, but am finding the brutal Houston weather a challenge
      Semi-formal/natural style
      Dimensions - 16' x 10' x 3' deep
      7' long stream connecting bog system
      Waterfalls with surrounding upflow gravel bog
      bottom drain
      We plan on adding koi and some goldfish
      Houston is HOT, summer has many days straight of 100+ degree temps / rarely have freezes and even so it may just drop barely below 32 degrees for a day or two

      My big concerns:
      how to rapidly gain shade for the fish
      how to keep water cooler for the fish
      how to keep surrounding plants (for shade) thriving in this intense heat

      DH big concerns:
      Filtration. He wants bogs, bogs and more bogs

      I would like to know what advice people have if they could do it all over again. Please ask questions of anything we've left out.

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    2. #2
      icu2's Avatar
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      Welcome and thanks for joining Koiphen

      I'm going to move your thread to the Construction forum where it'll get more exposure for your questions.
      Good luck on the new build and hopefully you'll share it with us when you get started!
      Enjoy the forum!
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    3. #3
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      Welcome to the forum. There are quite a few members in Texas. If you have a drawing of your pond plan, post it so we can see exactly what's going on. Keeping the water cool has been a "hot topic" this summer. Everyone without shade struggles with it. I have put up a temporary canopy over my pond and it's keeping the water temperature in the low 80s...not ideal, but good enough.

      Bogs are not popular on Koiphen because they can be messy and are a PITA to clean. I had two small bog filters in my last pond and dreaded cleaning them out once a year. Hopefully your husband has a self cleaning design in mind. Tell us about your filtration system. Also, consider going deeper...at least 4 feet. It will really help with the hot water temperature and give your fish a lot more water to swim in.

      Good luck, and enjoy the forum.

    4. #4
      Rogue909 is offline Junior Member
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      Consider partially above grade. Whether that be directly above (IE with like a retaining wall) or berming up to the pond and grading down.

      Couple years ago construction blocked up a creek near us. The subsequent tax day floods ended up put 4" of water above our pond for 4-6 hours. All of our large Koi ended up swimming away with the flow. The new pond is partially raised and meets up to an above grade slab.

      Edit: FYI; this was in the greater Houston area.

    5. #5
      Tony&koi's Avatar
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      Hello from another Greater Houston koi hobbiest. I am in South Tomball, right next to Houston. Videos of my pond is in the link below, you are welcome to check it out. PM me.

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...-Shower-filter
      Tony

    6. #6
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      I too lost all my koi but in the Harvey flood , But new semi raised pond almost finished 12x24 by 5' deep with water garden spillway I'm north of Houston closer to Conroe . Welcome

    7. #7
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      Definitely go deeper- 4 ft or even better 5 feet. Are the bogs the only filtration ? Not sure this will work in the long run and will require lots of maintenance to keep the bogs from getting too nasty.

    8. #8
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      Suggestion joining at least one of the Houston area koi clubs. You can get worlds of hands-on advice about sun screen a pond in TX heat.

      https://www.akca.org/akca-koi-clubs/texas/

    9. #9
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      Wow. Tony&koi - love it! I like the width of your pond, although your yard is nice and wide too. Your bonsai are awesome too. Is that a bubblier or something shooting up in the middle? Is this a uniquely clear day or does your water stay that clear? (I'm referring to the filming underwater.)

    10. #10
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      In response to VPKoi:
      Yikes. We should have a flooding game plan even though we feel comfortable with our situation. Our "neighborhood" has built on top of an underground water retention pond that has a pump to shoot out water when it gets to high. I am probably not speaking in professional water planning terms, but hopefully you get the point. Even though relatively new and only a few homes were built during all of the last few years of floods, none that were completed or under construction flooded. Nor did the streets in front. Our driveways are even built up so high that you can't pull a lowrider up onto them. Anywho, we chose this innercity location because of their well-planned flooding program. Keeping the fingers crossed.

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    11. #11
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      We did decide to go to 4ft after a chat with our contractor. I am betting those bogs aren't the only filtration, but I don't know what I'm talking about. It was explained to us that there is a "door" at the back of the waterfall that will allow us to drain out all the muck from the bogs. I am the one who likes to research information and that is why I am on these boards. I could paste the whole proposal and work order to reference the filtration, but my DH is really the one who has more knowledge about how everything works. I am just looking forward to my pretty pond, my pretty new koi pets and lush plants. Ha! I am sure after I clean out that first round of bog muck I will realize this is not just for pretty.

    12. #12
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      Quote Originally Posted by msdclark View Post
      We did decide to go to 4ft after a chat with our contractor. I am betting those bogs aren't the only filtration, but I don't know what I'm talking about. It was explained to us that there is a "door" at the back of the waterfall that will allow us to drain out all the muck from the bogs. I am the one who likes to research information and that is why I am on these boards. I could paste the whole proposal and work order to reference the filtration, but my DH is really the one who has more knowledge about how everything works. I am just looking forward to my pretty pond, my pretty new koi pets and lush plants. Ha! I am sure after I clean out that first round of bog muck I will realize this is not just for pretty.
      Posting the proposal might be really helpful. Many contractors are better at building water features as
      opposed to building koi ponds.
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    13. #13
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      So Name:  Koi Pond Mod.jpg
Views: 1098
Size:  172.5 KB
      Here is the original drawing. I'll attach first day photos in a moment

    14. #14
      icu2's Avatar
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      You stated that they'll be a bottom drain in the plan but only in the lower most pond? Or where is it going?
      Besides the bogs what is the plan for filtration?
      --Steve



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    15. #15
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      Some first day photos:
      Name:  Photo Aug 12, 18 08 05small.jpg
Views: 1076
Size:  273.8 KB

      I'm trying to reduce the file size of these gigantic photos, so hopefully they aren't too small in dimension size.

    16. #16
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      Day 2 Ending Photo
      Name:  Photo Aug 13, 18 40 41small.jpg
Views: 953
Size:  232.7 KB

      Looking from end toward the stream that goes back to the fountain at the back. On back of waterfall there will be a bog cleanout access with a false bottom. The bottom drain is in the lowermost pond. DH believes in the huge bog area for filtration.

    17. #17
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      We joined Lone Star Koi Club but we haven't been to any meetings yet. I am sure we will make it a point to get to the next meeting.

    18. #18
      Tony&koi's Avatar
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      It looks like they are building a water garden type of pond, so my pond design might not work ( we focus mainly on fish, no plants -> no dirt, artificial filters as some would call to achieve clean and clear water for fish growth and quality).

      I have RDF filter which is cleaned itself every 20-25 mins automatically, so my water stays clean all year round with very mininal maintenance ( clean the screen 1-2 time a year).
      Tony

    19. #19
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      Still a little sketchy on the filtration system...What kind of pump and where will it be located ? No skimmer ? No other filtration besides the bog ?

    20. #20
      msdclark is offline Junior Member
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      stevek - no other filtration system outside of the bog filter

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