Koi Fish Information Centre

I really appreciate Lenny “GoldLenny” Vasbinder for pointing me to this group… I was on AquaticLife on Yahoo…
I have ready posts from you guys that span back to 2004 and deal with many pump, filter, skimmer topics. So, I ghout I would post what we are looking to do and see if anyone can provide advice.
Thanks!
We bought an investment property (Spring Hill, FL) where there were 8 koi (3-4″) in a junky tank outside. One died because he jumped out after we transported them to our house. Really got my wife upset.
We want to save them and give them a good home (ours in Tampa, Florida). They are already getting used to us. (Not hand feeding, but coming to us when we approach the holding tank… then swimming away to the far corner when we get “up close and personal” to feed them.)
Our budget is $1000-1200 for purchase of equipment and we want to keep the electricity to below $20 a month. Tampa Electric is 10.3 cents per kWh. We are looking only at good equality equipment that will satisfy all of the following needs: 1. Keep the water VERY clean and extremely well oxygenated and keep our fish as happy and healthy as possible. 2. VERY, VERY quiet… our neighbors will complain otherwise. (not much space between houses around here (about 10ft from the edge of our backyard to the next house, pond will be close to the end of backyard) 3. Easy maintenance. 4. Low amperage.
So, we don’t mind high up front costs if it means our electric bill will be low.
Here is what we are looking at to build the pond. (I will do it myself. I prefer to do it myself because if there is an issue later on, I have the knowledge factor to then fix it myself. I have read most of the pond building books in our library and read all of The Water Gardens website instructions. I am also pretty handy with plumbing equipment and this stuff seems pretty easy thus far.)
1. Aqua Ultraviolet’s Ultima II 2. Aqua Ultraviolet’s 15W UV / wiper 3. Sequence pump (4200SEQ12) (is this loud?) Other options? 4. Skimmer (after all of the posts I am thinking Savio would be best) 5. Waterfall (2 feet high) with 6-10″ wier (would you put the pump inside the waterfall housing or plumb to the waterfall) 6. Firestone EPDM 45mil 20′x20′ 7. Underlayment (is there a superior brand? is it worth it?) 8. Is one bottom drain better than another? (Tetra?) 9. Submersible fountain pump (small for extra aeration, not so much for ’show’) 10. Underwater aerator
So, here are the dimensions: (gallons = 8 x 4 x 4 x 7.48 = 957) Max width: 8′ Max length: 4′ Max depth: 4′ (supposedly good to keep predators away, do we need to go that deep? Can we get away with 3′?)
Horizontal and vertical distances from bottom drain through filtration to waterfall = 15-20′
We will also have a few plants (anacharis?) in the pond to help with aeration. Or is that a bad idea? I have read on here the fish will enjoy it very much…. as food!
Also, we’ll have a 3ft wide bridge across the pond so the fish have a place to hide from predators and the hot Florida sun.
Are the Aqua Ultraviolet items with the Sequence pump going to be the best for this situation? Are there other recommendations which would be quieter and still of superior quality?
Here is what I imagine the system to be like Bottom drain –> skimmer (located under the bridge) –> pump –> filter –> UV –> check valve –> split T –> 1/2 goes to waterfall and 1/2 goes to fountain
Do I need any ball or gate valves? Do I need any other check valves?
The electricity will run to a GFCI box next to the cypress wood bridge so the small submersible (for additional aeration) pump, skimmer, and bottom drain are hidden from view. For those of you concerned with those items being hard to access since it will be under a bridge, the bridge will be a suspension bridge and can be raised when needed. I will also have a separate light switch for the circuit containing the underwater lights. The suspension posts will also be light posts. (Hey, I’m Polish and Swedish, we tend to make things that have multipurposes.)
Lastly, are foggers worth while as far as a nice additional beautification feature, or are they worthless and burn out in short order?
Thanks in advance! I can’t wait to see the responses.

Category: Ponds-Koi