NoobtoSalt

 

 

 

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So I wasn't going to get fish before my trip to San Diego but found a deal on Craigslist. They were asking $60 with no pics of the fish. I decided to try my luck and drove out to aloha to get them this morning. I get there and all 3 fish are over 15". I felt bad and even though they were asking $60 I feel like I stole them and gave them an extra $20.

 

 

 

 

 

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Well this is a disappointing thread..... Where's the PICS!!! From someone that's camera happy this is crazy!!!  How do you expect me to live through you guys owning a reef if there are no pics?

You could buy one of those timers for the hose and set it for an amount of time each evening. One like this:

 

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Single-Dial-Timer-62024/204463078/[/quote

 

Had no idea what they were called but figured there was something out there like it. Thanks for the link bud

 

 

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Still haven't bought any fish. Figured I'd give it another week or two. But in the mean time I know with this hot weather I'm going to have to top off a lot of water each day. I don't have a sprinkler system and I'm guessing I'm topping off at least 50 gallons per day at this point. Any suggestions on how to setup a top off to a hose or something? I haven't seen anything like that online yet

 

 

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I got the invite but don't think I'm going to make it. Sounds like lots of fun.

 

 

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No he did say that the "premium" koi were in the front. We were just looking at all the barn sale stuff and the huge ponds. Found it on gmaps...yeah...those are big ponds LOL

 

If I were you Jesse I'd check it out, selection is insane in the membrane.

 

Sweet thanks. The 3 I got yesterday were only about 4-5" and I have 10 more in order that will be 6"-8" but want a few larger ones and don't want to pay $100 plus per fish.

 

 

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We stumbled upon a "barn sale" up in Battleground a month or so ago and they also had TONS of Koi in a huge pond and several holding tanks. Water was literally churning with them. They had some that were not premium by their definition for as low as $35 for some larger 8+ inch ones. Price was all about how premium they were. I'll have to try and find it again, not a store front or anything but the owners are into it. Probably wouldn't mind someone dropping by on an afternoon weekend.

I may have stumbled across them on Facebook. Looked like some pond plants and koi.

 

 

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Added 3 koi today but all very small about 4-5" or so. Also bought 4 water lily bulbs to grow.

 

Anyone know of a reasonable place to buy a few larger koi without breaking the bank?

 

 

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It was a fantastic trip. Gotta say walking about 10 miles each day and getting home and finding out I didn't even sweat out a few pounds was a bit disappointing..lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Just got back with the family at Disney world and thought I would post a few pics of their reefs and tanks here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Softies but that's about it

 

 

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So I capped off the return and the intake that was plumbed prior. I added the pump inside the skimmer and had to add a ball valve to turn the pump down a lot. Bought some plants today to jazz it up a bit and will buy some koi for it in a few weeks once things settle in a bit. I may need to find a pond forum since i spent so much money on this I might not be able to do a reef or fowlr for awhile..lol

 

 

 

 

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I have a uv filter that I may add inline to this but haven't decided yet. As far as the plumbing is concerned if I wanted to just do a single pump would I be better off caping off both the hole in the bottom of the pond as well as the side and allow the return to be the waterfall? Also is the hole in the center something I could potentially add a water feature to add additional oxygen to the pond?

 

 

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So this is how it's plumbed at the moment. It appears that the waterfall had a separate pump prior. Any suggestions on if I should continue to use the central intake or should I plug it up?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A resource for your pond fun.

 

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/ClearPond.html

I didn't even think to check out your website. Thanks for the link. I just got done completely draining it and will post pics of my findings in awhile. Need some ideas on how to plumb it. [emoji3]

 

 

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With that much flow you might have to frequently change out the skimmer box filter so the pump doesn't drain the pump well faster than the water can flow back into it. You will find this especially true when you have trees with falling leaves around.

 

You could just T some line off for an extra water feature or circulation if that is the case.

I was planning on a possible extra feature and figured why not. Plus I will add a ball valve of some sort to adjust the flow.

 

 

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When I worked for Petsmart we would refuse to sell even the feeders if we found out that they would go to these types of events.

 

 

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I went ahead and ordered a pump tonight. It's a mag drive style pump called an alpine cyclone. Went with a 6550 gph so in case I decide to split it off for something else I have that option. Also ordered 25ft of 2" no kink tubing. Should get me started for now.

 

 

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cool, what's a good day to come look it over? I don't have my new house for a few weeks, can you store it there? I have a place I could store it but hate to move that much glass 2x, since I have to ask others to help, I sure can't lift that

Good to see you getting back into the hobby Kate. You had some amazing tanks

 

 

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Koi are beautiful, So would an Oregon coast tide pool pond... Just saying

I have thought about it. Just not practical with the weather like it is right now.

 

 

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Very impressive pond. I'm going to hold off on buying anything until I get it drained and see what I'm working with. Thanks for all the ideas so far

 

 

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The model you listed should work but I would make sure it has an easy to clean prefilter to it, like I said it really depends on the flow you want. Many people will run a pump for the filter and one for the water all, many right, and wrong, ways to do things just like any aquatics hobby.

 

Cool.  I will order this one for now and if I need another pump I can always add another one to the setup

That used to be a garden pond.  Do you want to restore it back to garden pond or make it to koi pond?

 

Have no idea what a garden pond is but I do plan on adding fish and plants to the pond.  Something else for me to research I guess.  

So not just a Danner pump but get the Mag pump to run it all?  I've had Mag's over the years with my reef tanks but was looking at something stronger then the 2400 gph to run the pond.    I appreciate all the info on this.  Once this is all done I hope to get my fowlr going too.

I am a big fan of Danner Magdrive pumps. Like Robert says, they are very nice and easy to find replacement parts for. I am currently running them on ever system in my warehouse and several systems in my shop. I have slowly been switching to all matching Mag 24's so that I can keep replacement parts and pumps in that all match up. Very versatile pumps with many applications. You have what looks like a very good start to what will surely become an amazing pond!

So this one looks like a decent pump at a reasonable cost.  The guy at tranquility pond supply suggested to get rid of the spa flex and replace all the plumbing with pond plumbing.  Looks like I can get a lot of this online at a much larger discount then local.  Hate to do it but if it's going to save me a couple hundred I'm going to buy online.  

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1O44E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

The pond is still draining but will be turning the pump off here in a few hours so it doesn't run dry when I head to bed.  Then the kids can clean out the rest of the leaves and debris so we can see the bottom of the liner.  

Any fish still in the pond? It looks like it may need an overhaul of the water and debris that has accumulated over time, having trees overhead can make for some major clean up at times. It look like you already have a pond skimmer box installed so that is good, there is probably a small pump well behind and inside that? From there is usually the "return line" that feeds the filter or water fall. This is usually accommodated by some form of polyfiber sheet to catch debris but not always. Do you have any pics of the filter itself? If you want to run a new pump I have always loved the Danner Mag Drive models\Pond Master. They take a licking and keep on ticking and even if something was to break they are not like the cheap fire and forget models that are impossible to fix. These guys carry a whole line of replaceable parts from O rings to impeller covers. The Mag drives have an impressive head height without GPH loss and can be fully submersible. They also are able to deal with a decent particle load without choking out. Depending on what kind of flow oyu are wanting I would just grab a 2400 and you can always T some off for a UV sterilizer or smaller water feature. Pondmaster makes a number of water fall pumps that have higher GPH but it is all up to you.