To sand? Or not to sand? With Koi

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
S

Steveo McNello

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2010
2,009
2
53
SW Burbs of Chicago
Over the weekend I scored some awesome deals on some gorgeous koi at the midwest koi club expo in Darien. Many thanks to the Bickal koi farm of Iowa I should add.

So now that I have a few 12-14" koi in my pond, I'm noticing they like to kick up sand when they dart around. I have already put big boulders in front of my intake to prevent them from knocking the plumbing, but I'm worried about sand in the pump.

How do you guys think (if you remember what my pond looks like) it would look with just a pond liner bottom? With the occasional scrub down of the sides to keep it black. It'd be very easy to clean. If need be I can get some updated pics. My kohaku is probably 14, pushing 15" and she can do some damage lol.

Any thoughts? I don't think it would look terrible, but it IS 400 pounds of pool filter sand!
 
Well I actually found an old pic I took before the sand was in, and I don't think it'll look too bad filled with koi! Any thoughts?

IMG_5519.JPG
 
my old pond looks exactly like that. bare bottom no sand. over time algae grew all over the bottom making it look green. looked very nice and clean. and the dark color bottom brings out the koi's. i personally wouldnt add sand and leave it bare bottom. very easy to clean. and like i said the dark color brings out the colors in the koi. with sand. it will wash out the koi's depreciating the koi's color. and koi's are dirty fish they will knock sand into the intake and possibly messing it up.
 
I completely agree with that and thanks for your answer Nikon. Over 2 weeks or so I get that white build up on the pond walls but it scrubs off. Waters cloudy for a day but then it's back to normal. I have no algae problems. But I figured if its bare bottom I can siphon it daily and keep it much cleaner.
 
And well I had another thought, if I take the sand out, the bottom will start to develop the white stuff too. That's an extra 48 square feet to scrub lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom