There's a frog in my bog!! (load warning)

[Conner]

how much did u spend on the whole pond?

Well, if you don't count labor, since my friend helped me do all the digging for a couple of beers, I figure I've got about $700 in it. That includes:

Skimmer box
3,500gph pump
15'x25' 45mil pond liner (i think? maybe 20'x25')
10'x12' 20mil pond liner (for the bog filter)
~$75 for the plumbing supplies, including a check valve
2"x10" boards for bog filter frame
1"x6" trim boards for the bog filter
~$30 for the pea gravel in the bog, water fall, and little bit on the bottom of the pond.

For fish, I just threw in about 100 feeders last fall, and I'd bet 80-90 of them survived the winter. I just added my first 3 koi last weekend. I also added a bunch of water hyacinth ($40), 2 zebra tails ($30), and 2 umbrella plants ($30). I got native minnows that came in as eggs on the plants, as well as snails. And I added 10 bullfrog tadpoles to the pond about 2 months ago as well, and I finally saw one that had turned into a frog this past week.

Not too bad for a 3,500g pond. Maybe its not the most professional looking pond in the world, but I like it and I did it myself. There are probably a few things I'd change if I had to do it over again though.

 

[alexx-w]

your pond looks so good

 

[Yanbbrox]

By doing the 80 % changes you will have knocked the plants back as you'll have taken out everything they were feeding on

Still congrats on a good job done

 

[Conner]

By doing the 80 % changes you will have knocked the plants back as you'll have taken out everything they were feeding on

Still congrats on a good job done

I don't think that's what it is, I think they got dehydrated or something. A few of them were left completely out of the water for about an hour at the end of draining/beginning of filling. I only had a 1800gph pump, which was running against about 4' of head, so it wasn't the fastest process in the world.

I'm not too worried about the plants, since there are so many of them and they grow like weeds at this point. I'm just glad all the fish seem to be doing fine so far. I've seen all 3 koi feed at this point, although 1 of them is definitely more visible than the other 2, and 1 of them is downright invisible. He's mostly black, so he really blends in with the bottom and is hard to see.

I actually think the hyacinth may have liked the water change, as I haven't had a bloom from them in about 2 weeks. I got home from work today, and I counted 28 different flowers . The most I've ever counted at once before was about 10 .

Both of the umbrella plants have 3 blooms each as well.

I did get to see another frog during the water change. Apparently he thought I'd think he was a rock, as he sat completely still while i picked him up. All he did was blink at me. When I sat him down, he turned towards the water, but didn't jump in.

Some of the feeder comets are starting to get BIG! I've been feeding regularly since I added the koi, and I think a couple of the comets have doubled in size since then (only about 2 weeks). I'm going to have to either net some out and start using them as feeders, or add a couple of my gar to the pond for the summer to thin out the school... I don't want to end up with 50 6-8" comets by the end of the summer.

 

[Crispy]

Very nice setup! looks great!

 

[Conner]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Here's some new pics of the pond. Like I said, there were at least 28 hyacinth blooms yesterday morning. The water is clearer, just not as clear as I'd like it to be. My fiance said she likes it the way it is, it makes it look more natural. And we can see the fish, just not as clearly as I'd like to.

Oh, yah, can anyone ID the minnow in the first 3 pics? They came in as eggs on some plants I bought, so I have no idea what they are...

Pic's!

 

[Muske]

minnow looks like a fathead.

 

[Alhazred]

The water color is good I think it allows you to see the fish yet hides the liner a bit.

Also perhaps a translation from girl speak to English. Depending on context the statement about liking the way it is now may mean stop fidgeting with it for a bit and give me more attention.

Lol. Just my .02$

 

[benzjamin13]

Looks really good!

 

[Conner]

Thanks guys! I did stop fidgeting with it, other than to feed the fish regularly. And its gotten even clearer with me just leaving it alone. I can see the entire bottom except the very deep end right in front of the skimmer. That's still a green-black hole. But I can see the fish very well, which is all that I wanted to be able to do.

I still need to get some large rock to line the edge of the pond closest to the sidewalk, and then put down some gravel and mulch, but this thing is nearly done!