Wanted to mention Diana Walstad. I follow her method in my tanks, it's all about recreating the natural ecosystem the plants and fish live in. Low tech, low maintenance. She even has a book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. All I ever have to do is add more water and trim the plants, it takes care of itself! Perfect for your setup, no chemicals, all natural.
Love the pond! Just a suggestion, Next time you add fish, definitely spend more time acclimating the fish. Add little bits of your pond water to the bag. That will help increase the chances of the little fellas survival in their new home. Also, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big deal in a pond of that size but I would be careful about adding the petco water into the pond as with aquariums I’ve had issues with diseases being Introduced from pet store waters. Can’t wait to see more pond updates!
@@epichomesteading another suggest could be duckweed, frogbit, and red root floaters, they are easy beautiful cheap and grow really really fast. I love them for my fish tank and the koi will eat them too so it’s a source of food for them :)
Hey Kevin! Just FYI since you are a garden channel, and it looks like you intend to have plants in your pond, just know as the koi mature they will eat the roots of your plants killing them over time. Having kept koi in my backyard pond for years (and yes feeding them plenty) I pretty much knew that I would have to replace any water plant yearly. After losing my koi to predators I switched to Shubunkin and comet Goldfish. They are very similar in coloration but they don’t eat the roots of plants, they don’t grow as big (about a foot at most) so you can keep way more, and they aren’t nearly as expensive. Also don’t forget to put lots of mosquito fish in there or prepare for hell come summer lol.
Eh, in a couple of years many of the plants will be too big to kill. We have many adult sized koi and they haven’t killed our huge lillies yet. But I do agree that a mix of fish is probably best for hedging bets!
I 2nd the goldfish vs koi. They get up to 8 inches full grown and would be a good size for your pond. Also they are hardy and cheap. So heaven forbid a raccoon gets them you won't be so heart broken about the price. Also check out The San Diego Koi association club. They have meetings and trade fish/plants among themselves.
Stones covering the top soil will help stop most of that just make sure they are larger than a Koi's mouth. Also snails are not an issues Koi will love to eat them.
Excellent advice. I had koi, various goldfish and a few loaches in my backyard pond for years with no issues. Raccoons & herons finally discovered my little oasis, and over the course of 2 weeks they extracted all of the koi and left bits of them all over my deck. Only the goldfish & loaches remained as they were too quick & sly for predators.
Pond is looking legit, Kevin! Get yourself a game camera pointed at the pond, so you can see all critters that show up, especially at dusk, dawn and during the night. We've lost a lot of koi in our pond to herons and raccoons, which are really very good at plucking them out of the pond and snacking on them. Hopefully your fishes stay safe.
@@ericvolkman1490 Are racoons stopped by nets? There are no racoons where I live so I know very little about them, but I am under the impression that they are very good at destroying things.
OMG such a good idea. The birds alone are very appreciative of the smaller sized fish, I’m sure. 😏 But seeing all the little visitors on the channel will be awesome!
Yay! So glad that City Farmers had a great selection of water plants for you. So cool to see them get a shout out! Thanks for continuing to share your pond journey! This is so cool to see, and we dream of having something as Epic as you have one day.
I just watched this yesterday as I’m watching through the homestead playlist, and thank god I did. My mom was gifted a potted calla lily this past Saturday, and we found that her typical watering methods, either by hand or via watering bulbs was not enough. The calla lily would run through the bulb she had in it in a day or two. Now that we know it’s an aquatic plant, we can change how we’re keeping it to make our lives easier 😊
As a fish keeper, it makes me so excited to see you getting into water plants and water pets! Fish are so much fun to watch. I don’t have much experience with ponds or anything but I’m wondering if you need to add beneficial bacteria when adding new fish the way you do for an aquarium since the current bacteria isn’t used to the suddenly increased bio load. Not 100% sure on that but I always do that for my aquariums to make sure everyone is happy and in self cleaning water! 😄
Having a pond ecosystem definitely opens you up to a whole new world in gardening. The plantings in and along the pond, wildlife, and insects... it's going to look spectacular in a few months.
The pond is such a great addition! We've had a Koi pond for years. They're fun pets. They all have personalities. You are right about Koi being jumpers. We've lost some over the years where they leapt right out of the pond. Also know they will love to eat your water plants, especially new shoots. The water lettuce is nice to provide cover for timid fish. It grows like crazy in the summer. Looking forward to see the pond develop!
Don't be in a hurry to add more plants, many of them will really fill out as they grow. You may be able to divide some of them soon (like the rushes) and get more plants to spread around.
My cousin has had a koi pond for decades. The sound of water makes her backyard so tranquil! Additional to wildlife who take the koi are also people. My cousin has had people jump her fence, taking the koi with the most orange, which are “more expensive”, so she has mostly black koi now.
Oh my gosh, you are in for the ride of your life as far a gardening goes!! I love all your plants! The water hawthorn will go to seed and pretty soon you will see babies everywhere. It likes shade and goes semi dormant when water temps are high. Water lilies can go into the pont bareroot, tie a rock as an anchor with fishing line so they can go crazy and not get damaged when the grow point hits the side of the bag. So much great stuff! Have fun!
You have such a beautiful pond. I have had several ponds in my life. They were all in partial shade and without a pump. I had no problems with algae because of oxygenating plants . Milfoil is the one I use, but googling it , it may be a no no. Full sun ponds are prone to algae, so you may want to try. Also, you may want to shade a section of the pond to help cool the water. Your fish will appreciate it. A cheat to get your eco system hopping is to get a pale of water from another creek or pond. The water bugs and pond skaters are some of the best pond entertainment.
Kevin, your excitement reminded me of Laura’s (Garden Answer) excitement when she got her Heartly. How can anyone not smile watching you and the GH pick out and place plants.🌿
This is amazing. My Brother has spent the last eight months designing and installing a 3600 gallon pond at Sumter correctional in central Florida. They started with six Koi, and now have over 200 because they had babies! They have had difficulty with string algae due to the presence of lime in their water, but I just ordered the aquascape 5000 UV sanitizer to donate to the program so I’m really hoping that it helps them get it under control! Can’t wait to watch the progress of your pond.
I just went hiking along the nearby river with my dog through calf deep snow.! This is so amazing to see. I'm counting the days till I can afford an indoor fish tank to go alongside my closet-sized "garden." An entire pond ecosystem would truly be a dream come true! I look forward to learning all about aqua plants from you in the coming months
Sweet pond you go there! The floater is water lettuce/Pistia, and grows/spreads very fast. Hornwort could be a good addition, they are good oxygenators and grow fast, but will float so you have to weigh them down. Those snails will reproduce like crazy, and most are asexual and will reproduce by themselves. You can get assassin snails to control the population. Nerite snails are great for algae, very hearty, and need brackish water to reproduce.
Water lettuce as annuals??!! o_O My mom has a larger "toddler pool" in her back yard that she refers to as her "pond." She has water lettuce and parrot feather in there (both of which have gone gangbusters!). While they had had time to get established, they BOTH survived the early 2021 "polar vortex" that came through (zone 6a here in mid-MO). She was even surprised that they survived. So, if what you have survives, I don't think you'll have to worry about it not being able to handle the weather there. :) Good luck! I'm excited to see how things develop.
Greetings from Romania! Nice looking waterfall and pond! With a bit of luck, in a few months will be there a full ecosystem with bacteria and all. To speed this up you can search at the fish stores for beneficial bacteria conditioners. There are some special products for ponds that need to be use from time to time, the bacteria conditioners are the best to avoid high levels of ammonia and nitrites that kills the fish. That Koi fishes require a lot of food to get bigger and stronger. There are special food for them, usually pellets, but from my experience it is not always enough if you don't have already a well established environment with a bit of algae, insects, a bit of detritus on the bottom etc. So a few days per week I feed the fishes with frozen food like red and white mosquito larvae. Also once per week I use mashed frozen peas, without peels. From now on you are stepping on the fields of ichthyology and biochemistry.
So excited I finally got to watch the pond videos... will be taking a ride down to this nursery and do some shopping in the coming months... my pond needs more plants!! Really love that you're in our general area and I can run down and shop at places you like - makes it much easier figuring out where to go to shop!!
That’s got to be a great feeling; taking fish from a tiny tank and releasing them into your beautiful new pond! Can you imagine how much their quality of life just changed?
Hi Kevin, love the pond. As you may be near some waterways in SD, please look into ways to prevent predatory birds from visiting the buffet and giving good hiding places for the koi. A California Great Blue Heron discovered our pond and chowed down every fish under a certain size before the protective netting could go up.
Hey Kevin! This is Angela and Isabella. We have been so inspired doing our own garden, and wanted to thank you for your videos. We really love watching them! We were also wondering if you’re thinking of getting a few turtles, it’s always so cool to watch them swim around, and perch on rocks. Thanks again for these awesome videos! 🐢🪴🍆
Hey Kevin, just a few little tips - now because the fish are pretty young and from what looks like a basic amateur fish store - they aren't usually in the best condition. What I'm saying is you just need to feed them really well so their growth doesn't get stunted. Don't be afraid to get them nice and fat. Also harsh truth - don't get TOO attached to your fish - of course you need to take good care of them but sometimes it just happens in outdoor ponds that a bird or a raccoon or anything like that just snatches your fish during the night and you notice you're missing a fish in the morning. I'm not saying this to discourage you from keeping fish (in fact I'd love the exact opposite), I'm saying that this just happens sometimes. Also fun fact: Peace lilies grow well in a half-submerged environment too. Have fun and enjoy the pond!
Yes I’d love to see more Ollas and olla content. I’ve made my own out of terracotta pots, and they work great but the shape isn’t the greatest for burying.
Red melon sword is also an aquarium plant. It can grow under the water as well. I actually just got one for my fish tank. Also, in my limited experience, water lilies like a lot of fertilizer to bloom. I used pond fertilizer tabs.
I hope you see this. :) as a going on 10 year pondscape owner. Little advice. Your water lettuce will actually do good for you and the pond if you float it up in the deep part of your bio falls. Also the size of your lily pads will change with depth. The deeper the plant the bigger the pads . 3 get some pebbles for your plants when you place them permanently. Koi are Carp and notorious for digging up plant soil and eating roots. The pebbles will grow algi and the koi will nibble and suck on them instead Great plant selection
From another pond keeper and plant grower in Southern California, watch out for birds and racoons. Once a great blue heron stopped by the pond, and took a few fish (also it pecked one of my dogs and now they fear birds). Another time a racoon stopped by the pond, and though none of the fish went missing, the lily pad plant was shredded to bits. I know that, for this reason a lot of the koi fish owners around me either cover their ponds directly with some kind of mesh or create a covered area with shade cloth for their koi ponds. Also watch out for koi fish digging through the soil of the fully submerged plants. A good idea would be to cover the soil with gravel like you have with the bottom of the pond. Otherwise, I look forward to see how this goes. Good Luck!!
So excited to see you get a pond from Aquascape! Love Ed the Pond Professor, Greg Wittstock, and all the others from Team Aquascape. They really do an amazing job. Enjoy!!!
Great pond! I actually maintain ponds for a living up in the Bay Area and one of my biggest pieces of advice is not too get too many fish- you will be surprised at how many you will have without trying (especially the little ones). My other piece of advice would be not to use small rocks on the bottom, but it's too late! They get sucked up in the vacuum too easily... Your plants look great (of course)- it is cool to open a whole new category of plants. The hawthorne smells great this time of year! Great work!
The pond is looking fantastic. I've had water lettuce in a small pond I had a few years ago. It was my experience that is multiples like crazy and it took over my little pond. We get really cold winters here in 5b so had to discard at end of season when I emptied the pond for winter. Love your enthusiasm for the fish and plants!
Hi! Your pond looks amazing. Just wanted to say be careful with that taro, as many kinds are toxic, and the one you picked seems to be one of those. The leaves may need specific preparation before becoming edible so I'd avise you to consult with someone who's very familiar with this plant before consuming it.😄Good luck with your pond!
i have a waterfall, landing on a two step area, of pond. mostly lilies don't care as much as others... but some plants do not do well, near other types. AND, the snails and fish are Awesome as part of the ecosystem
And definitely put a net over your pond to keep birds etc from fishing out your fish. The more shallow the pond the more this will happen, the deeper the pond the less loosing fish to predators.
My mom's koi pond has a black plastic ring thingy where you feed the fish. You have probably heard of that already. Very cool pond, can't wait to see the plants fill in and watch the fish grow.
As someone with fish tanks, sword plants can be fully submerged. It will go through a period of die back aka 'melting' where all the old leaves die and the plant produces new leaves. but often times, the underwater growth is better looking than the emerged growth in my opinion (but that's cause i'm used to the being completely underwater). They do best in full sun, so you could possibly split the plant you bought with some being fully submerged and the other being immersed to see both types of growth patterns. Swords spread by runners so they may end up submerging themselves to be honest! Can't wait to see how the pond matures, definitely jealous and want to upgrade from my mini 'patio pond'
The pond is looking great! Some underwater lighting would make the pond look next level at nighttime! along with that, a fixed camera underwater would be cool to see what the fish are up to when you feed them and such!
I'm excited for the red melon sword, it's one of my favorites for aquariums, they can be grown completely underwater so that might be something to look into for the future!
Love the pond. I have a calla that gets huge every spring and fall. It dies back a bit in the super hot summers and loses most of its leaves in the freezing winter. The pond only freezes maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch on top, so the calla comes back beautifully every year.
At 5:48 the captions say "Sort of a nice like reedy-ass looking plant" instead of Reedy-esque and I laughed so hard I had to spit out my water 🤣 I wasn't expecting it but it was hilarious.
My experience with Papyrus has been that it can grow very big and very wide, even when inside a pot. Keep pruning it so it does not get too out of control.
You could add a couple rocks to hide the pots of your plants once you figured their permanent resting place... stack a couple rocks around the pot and add some smaller ones in the pot to make it disappear in the rocky background
The pond looks amazing, super happy for you. I've kept many of those plants in my aquariums, if you like the floating plants, you should check out some water hyacinths they can give pretty purple flowers. Typically, if there isn't enough beneficial bacteria established there may be an algae bloom which could turn your water greenish, but with the few fish you have, you may be able to avoid that. All the best in your pond endeavors.
Beautiful pond. Can't wait to see what you do with it and the rest of the yard. By the way, in the pond and aquarium hobby there are a lot plants sold by different names that you can get way cheaper if you get them at a home improvement store or wherever you get your common household plants. A Peace Lilly is sold as a Brazilian Sword.
you should look into live aquarium plants, also if you're worried about algae you should grab a few common plecos since your pond is large. looks good!
My older brother lives in Eugene Oregon close to the university.. That is what I was there for, to work for a week at the University to learn breeding technects of giant danios
Cool stuff dude. If you can, you should plumb your pond to your garden beds. Our whole channel is about how we use our fish tanks to fertilize/water all of our plants especially our outdoor food garden.
So excited for your koi pond! You might consider some fully submerged plants & hat shelter to let the koi hide in the deep when they need to, raccoons got a lot of my koi when I was young, which was hard because I named them all
I have two preform pawns totally love the hobby I also use horse troughs floating rafts back into the pond to grow all kinds of seeds start in the spring I’m amazed with how fast they grow the Coy’s did give me a little trouble they were eating roots ofMy plants
Those are ramshorn snails! I've got a whole crew of those guys in with my goldfish and they keep the algae to a minimum. Otherwise I really love freshwater shrimp as algae cleanup but they're way more munchable. Also, I started my plant keeping journey with aquatic plants and I'm so excited to see how your pond develops!
Hi Kevin, looks great! Some tips for next time. Spend more time acclimating the fish and also add a cup of water from your pond to the fish bag every 15 minutes or so, for about an hour. You can use a rock at the bottom of the bag and leave it in a shallow spot. Then you don't have to reclose the bags everytime :). Then dont add the water from the bag to your pond. Take the fish out with a net or your hands carefully and throw away the water from the store. Best of luck buddy! I'm jealous of your garden :)
To see the FULL pond install from start to finish, check out this video: th-cam.com/video/UNFofvXbpTE/w-d-xo.html
Wanted to mention Diana Walstad. I follow her method in my tanks, it's all about recreating the natural ecosystem the plants and fish live in. Low tech, low maintenance. She even has a book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. All I ever have to do is add more water and trim the plants, it takes care of itself! Perfect for your setup, no chemicals, all natural.
I love giant papyrus but the miniature papyrus is super easy to propagate you just pull off te pompom part and sit in water to grow a new plant.
The water lettuce is really great for when fish breed, there eggs can attach to the roots
Have a look I'm sure she will be able to bring your pond experience forward. >> th-cam.com/users/RachelOLearyabout
😅😅😊
Love the pond! Just a suggestion, Next time you add fish, definitely spend more time acclimating the fish. Add little bits of your pond water to the bag. That will help increase the chances of the little fellas survival in their new home. Also, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big deal in a pond of that size but I would be careful about adding the petco water into the pond as with aquariums I’ve had issues with diseases being Introduced from pet store waters. Can’t wait to see more pond updates!
Thanks for this tip!
@@epichomesteading another suggest could be duckweed, frogbit, and red root floaters, they are easy beautiful cheap and grow really really fast. I love them for my fish tank and the koi will eat them too so it’s a source of food for them :)
I would say no to duckweed it’s sooo invasive you would spend your entire life trying to get it out
@@ericvolkman1490 @12:33 it looks to me like there might've been some duckweed volunteers coming along with the water lettuce anyway
@@ericvolkman1490 ha, duckweed is the worst , nightmare from elm street
Hey Kevin! Just FYI since you are a garden channel, and it looks like you intend to have plants in your pond, just know as the koi mature they will eat the roots of your plants killing them over time. Having kept koi in my backyard pond for years (and yes feeding them plenty) I pretty much knew that I would have to replace any water plant yearly. After losing my koi to predators I switched to Shubunkin and comet Goldfish. They are very similar in coloration but they don’t eat the roots of plants, they don’t grow as big (about a foot at most) so you can keep way more, and they aren’t nearly as expensive. Also don’t forget to put lots of mosquito fish in there or prepare for hell come summer lol.
Very good info to know, thank you!
Eh, in a couple of years many of the plants will be too big to kill. We have many adult sized koi and they haven’t killed our huge lillies yet. But I do agree that a mix of fish is probably best for hedging bets!
I 2nd the goldfish vs koi. They get up to 8 inches full grown and would be a good size for your pond. Also they are hardy and cheap. So heaven forbid a raccoon gets them you won't be so heart broken about the price.
Also check out The San Diego Koi association club. They have meetings and trade fish/plants among themselves.
Stones covering the top soil will help stop most of that just make sure they are larger than a Koi's mouth. Also snails are not an issues Koi will love to eat them.
Excellent advice. I had koi, various goldfish and a few loaches in my backyard pond for years with no issues. Raccoons & herons finally discovered my little oasis, and over the course of 2 weeks they extracted all of the koi and left bits of them all over my deck. Only the goldfish & loaches remained as they were too quick & sly for predators.
Pond is looking legit, Kevin! Get yourself a game camera pointed at the pond, so you can see all critters that show up, especially at dusk, dawn and during the night. We've lost a lot of koi in our pond to herons and raccoons, which are really very good at plucking them out of the pond and snacking on them. Hopefully your fishes stay safe.
Definitely getting a camera!
Uber great epic idea!
Another option is a tented net to keep critters out
@@ericvolkman1490 Are racoons stopped by nets? There are no racoons where I live so I know very little about them, but I am under the impression that they are very good at destroying things.
OMG such a good idea. The birds alone are very appreciative of the smaller sized fish, I’m sure. 😏 But seeing all the little visitors on the channel will be awesome!
I'm looking out my window at 12" of snow ❄️ so seeing this beautiful pond is a welcome escape. Those plants are going to fill in nicely. 🐠🌿
Yay! So glad that City Farmers had a great selection of water plants for you. So cool to see them get a shout out! Thanks for continuing to share your pond journey! This is so cool to see, and we dream of having something as Epic as you have one day.
Yup, they're an incredible place to shop!
I just watched this yesterday as I’m watching through the homestead playlist, and thank god I did. My mom was gifted a potted calla lily this past Saturday, and we found that her typical watering methods, either by hand or via watering bulbs was not enough. The calla lily would run through the bulb she had in it in a day or two. Now that we know it’s an aquatic plant, we can change how we’re keeping it to make our lives easier 😊
As a fish keeper, it makes me so excited to see you getting into water plants and water pets! Fish are so much fun to watch. I don’t have much experience with ponds or anything but I’m wondering if you need to add beneficial bacteria when adding new fish the way you do for an aquarium since the current bacteria isn’t used to the suddenly increased bio load. Not 100% sure on that but I always do that for my aquariums to make sure everyone is happy and in self cleaning water! 😄
Yes, I am adding beneficials in weekly!
Having a pond ecosystem definitely opens you up to a whole new world in gardening. The plantings in and along the pond, wildlife, and insects... it's going to look spectacular in a few months.
The pond is such a great addition! We've had a Koi pond for years. They're fun pets. They all have personalities. You are right about Koi being jumpers. We've lost some over the years where they leapt right out of the pond. Also know they will love to eat your water plants, especially new shoots. The water lettuce is nice to provide cover for timid fish. It grows like crazy in the summer. Looking forward to see the pond develop!
Jumpers could be reacting to an ammonia spike , just a thought.
Don't be in a hurry to add more plants, many of them will really fill out as they grow. You may be able to divide some of them soon (like the rushes) and get more plants to spread around.
My cousin has had a koi pond for decades. The sound of water makes her backyard so tranquil! Additional to wildlife who take the koi are also people. My cousin has had people jump her fence, taking the koi with the most orange, which are “more expensive”, so she has mostly black koi now.
Oh my gosh, you are in for the ride of your life as far a gardening goes!! I love all your plants! The water hawthorn will go to seed and pretty soon you will see babies everywhere. It likes shade and goes semi dormant when water temps are high. Water lilies can go into the pont bareroot, tie a rock as an anchor with fishing line so they can go crazy and not get damaged when the grow point hits the side of the bag.
So much great stuff! Have fun!
You have such a beautiful pond. I have had several ponds in my life. They were all in partial shade and without a pump. I had no problems with algae because of oxygenating plants . Milfoil is the one I use, but googling it , it may be a no no. Full sun ponds are prone to algae, so you may want to try. Also, you may want to shade a section of the pond to help cool the water. Your fish will appreciate it. A cheat to get your eco system hopping is to get a pale of water from another creek or pond. The water bugs and pond skaters are some of the best pond entertainment.
Kevin, your excitement reminded me of Laura’s (Garden Answer) excitement when she got her Heartly. How can anyone not smile watching you and the GH pick out and place plants.🌿
I was thinking the same thing… lol
I enjoy watching Kevin go plant shopping. He gets so excited.
The pond is looking nice with a few plants. It will look better as you add more.
Currently binge watching all of Epic Homestead from the beginning & BOY WOW! So much fun watching it come along!
My first thought when I saw the pond was, “koi!!!” Glad you could oblige.
The pond is looking epic Kevin. Keep up the good work. We can’t wait to see more as your backyard progresses.
Yes! Ollas at your store, please
Love your pond! I’m learning so much from you
City Farmers is a community treasure. RIP, Farmer Bill. 🙌🏾
This is amazing. My Brother has spent the last eight months designing and installing a 3600 gallon pond at Sumter correctional in central Florida. They started with six Koi, and now have over 200 because they had babies! They have had difficulty with string algae due to the presence of lime in their water, but I just ordered the aquascape 5000 UV sanitizer to donate to the program so I’m really hoping that it helps them get it under control! Can’t wait to watch the progress of your pond.
Also, I can’t wait to see the epic chickens drinking out of the pond! 🐔🐓🐔
That's really awesome you and your brother are doing things like that!
I just went hiking along the nearby river with my dog through calf deep snow.! This is so amazing to see. I'm counting the days till I can afford an indoor fish tank to go alongside my closet-sized "garden." An entire pond ecosystem would truly be a dream come true! I look forward to learning all about aqua plants from you in the coming months
WILL YOU BE GETTING A TURTLE???
Sweet pond you go there! The floater is water lettuce/Pistia, and grows/spreads very fast. Hornwort could be a good addition, they are good oxygenators and grow fast, but will float so you have to weigh them down. Those snails will reproduce like crazy, and most are asexual and will reproduce by themselves. You can get assassin snails to control the population. Nerite snails are great for algae, very hearty, and need brackish water to reproduce.
You don't need to worry about snails with goldfish or koi in the water. They will eat them and keep their numbers in check.
@@CoffeeGyrl666 I have heard this as well, I don't have any in my tanks though. I appreciate your insight!
Water lettuce as annuals??!! o_O My mom has a larger "toddler pool" in her back yard that she refers to as her "pond." She has water lettuce and parrot feather in there (both of which have gone gangbusters!). While they had had time to get established, they BOTH survived the early 2021 "polar vortex" that came through (zone 6a here in mid-MO). She was even surprised that they survived. So, if what you have survives, I don't think you'll have to worry about it not being able to handle the weather there. :) Good luck! I'm excited to see how things develop.
Greetings from Romania! Nice looking waterfall and pond! With a bit of luck, in a few months will be there a full ecosystem with bacteria and all. To speed this up you can search at the fish stores for beneficial bacteria conditioners. There are some special products for ponds that need to be use from time to time, the bacteria conditioners are the best to avoid high levels of ammonia and nitrites that kills the fish. That Koi fishes require a lot of food to get bigger and stronger. There are special food for them, usually pellets, but from my experience it is not always enough if you don't have already a well established environment with a bit of algae, insects, a bit of detritus on the bottom etc. So a few days per week I feed the fishes with frozen food like red and white mosquito larvae. Also once per week I use mashed frozen peas, without peels. From now on you are stepping on the fields of ichthyology and biochemistry.
So excited I finally got to watch the pond videos... will be taking a ride down to this nursery and do some shopping in the coming months... my pond needs more plants!! Really love that you're in our general area and I can run down and shop at places you like - makes it much easier figuring out where to go to shop!!
So cool to see you returning to your hydroponic roots through aquaponics. You’re on your way to a more symbiotic and organic garden
The pandemic and wfh gave me some much spare time so I got into fish keeping and gardening
So having a pond has become a life dream
That’s got to be a great feeling; taking fish from a tiny tank and releasing them into your beautiful new pond! Can you imagine how much their quality of life just changed?
Everything will be so gorgeous once its all put in.
This is one of the best TH-cam cannels in the word. Keep it up!👍
Honored you'd say that
Hi Kevin, love the pond. As you may be near some waterways in SD, please look into ways to prevent predatory birds from visiting the buffet and giving good hiding places for the koi. A California Great Blue Heron discovered our pond and chowed down every fish under a certain size before the protective netting could go up.
Fascinating. I know nothing about pond plants so I’m glad you shared your shopping experience.
Jacques peeping into the pot towards the beginning is a vibe he is like ahhh I can’t wait anymore i’m looking😂
Hey Kevin! This is Angela and Isabella. We have been so inspired doing our own garden, and wanted to thank you for your videos. We really love watching them! We were also wondering if you’re thinking of getting a few turtles, it’s always so cool to watch them swim around, and perch on rocks. Thanks again for these awesome videos! 🐢🪴🍆
Hey Kevin, just a few little tips - now because the fish are pretty young and from what looks like a basic amateur fish store - they aren't usually in the best condition. What I'm saying is you just need to feed them really well so their growth doesn't get stunted. Don't be afraid to get them nice and fat. Also harsh truth - don't get TOO attached to your fish - of course you need to take good care of them but sometimes it just happens in outdoor ponds that a bird or a raccoon or anything like that just snatches your fish during the night and you notice you're missing a fish in the morning. I'm not saying this to discourage you from keeping fish (in fact I'd love the exact opposite), I'm saying that this just happens sometimes. Also fun fact: Peace lilies grow well in a half-submerged environment too. Have fun and enjoy the pond!
Feel like going to the nursery with you two would be a lot of fun and also expensive. Congrats on the pond!
LOL, it's very true
I would love to see the ollas in your shop! I would love to try one out.
Now Waiting for the epic coop.
Yes I’d love to see more Ollas and olla content. I’ve made my own out of terracotta pots, and they work great but the shape isn’t the greatest for burying.
Red melon sword is also an aquarium plant. It can grow under the water as well. I actually just got one for my fish tank. Also, in my limited experience, water lilies like a lot of fertilizer to bloom. I used pond fertilizer tabs.
I love your pond, especially the waterfall features. Super excited to see more transformations to your garden!
THIS IS SO FRICKING BEAUTIFUL, LITERALLY MY DREAM POND
It’s fun seeing you learn these new plants. I can from aquariums and then gardening so all the aquarium plants can grow marginally
Love how the pond is coming along.
The pond is coming along beautifully!
Water lettuce is wild. I had a small pond and it covered the whole thing super quick. It grows like crazy!
I hope you see this. :) as a going on 10 year pondscape owner. Little advice. Your water lettuce will actually do good for you and the pond if you float it up in the deep part of your bio falls. Also the size of your lily pads will change with depth. The deeper the plant the bigger the pads . 3 get some pebbles for your plants when you place them permanently. Koi are Carp and notorious for digging up plant soil and eating roots. The pebbles will grow algi and the koi will nibble and suck on them instead
Great plant selection
Wow the water was so clear
From another pond keeper and plant grower in Southern California, watch out for birds and racoons. Once a great blue heron stopped by the pond, and took a few fish (also it pecked one of my dogs and now they fear birds). Another time a racoon stopped by the pond, and though none of the fish went missing, the lily pad plant was shredded to bits. I know that, for this reason a lot of the koi fish owners around me either cover their ponds directly with some kind of mesh or create a covered area with shade cloth for their koi ponds. Also watch out for koi fish digging through the soil of the fully submerged plants. A good idea would be to cover the soil with gravel like you have with the bottom of the pond. Otherwise, I look forward to see how this goes. Good Luck!!
So excited to see you get a pond from Aquascape! Love Ed the Pond Professor, Greg Wittstock, and all the others from Team Aquascape. They really do an amazing job. Enjoy!!!
Really beautiful. I see baby turtles looking at the gorgeous chocolate snowflake leaves. ♥️
Love the pond & koi! As I m staying in an apartment, this is not possible but will continue to adore!
This pond is life goals for me. I would do anything to have a water feature in my yard. Hopefully I can start to collect materials soon.
Great pond! I actually maintain ponds for a living up in the Bay Area and one of my biggest pieces of advice is not too get too many fish- you will be surprised at how many you will have without trying (especially the little ones). My other piece of advice would be not to use small rocks on the bottom, but it's too late! They get sucked up in the vacuum too easily...
Your plants look great (of course)- it is cool to open a whole new category of plants. The hawthorne smells great this time of year! Great work!
The pond is looking fantastic. I've had water lettuce in a small pond I had a few years ago. It was my experience that is multiples like crazy and it took over my little pond. We get really cold winters here in 5b so had to discard at end of season when I emptied the pond for winter. Love your enthusiasm for the fish and plants!
So excited about the Epic Pond!
Hi! Your pond looks amazing. Just wanted to say be careful with that taro, as many kinds are toxic, and the one you picked seems to be one of those. The leaves may need specific preparation before becoming edible so I'd avise you to consult with someone who's very familiar with this plant before consuming it.😄Good luck with your pond!
Pond is looking fab
VERY exciting!
Next, is to start seeing how they do near and next to each other. That can make all the difference in the world on their survival.
i have a waterfall, landing on a two step area, of pond. mostly lilies don't care as much as others... but some plants do not do well, near other types. AND, the snails and fish are Awesome as part of the ecosystem
And definitely put a net over your pond to keep birds etc from fishing out your fish. The more shallow the pond the more this will happen, the deeper the pond the less loosing fish to predators.
My mom's koi pond has a black plastic ring thingy where you feed the fish. You have probably heard of that already. Very cool pond, can't wait to see the plants fill in and watch the fish grow.
I’d buy a olla in a heartbeat. I love drinking water out of them.
I'm so happy you decided to show water plants 😇 🌹🎋 it looks beautiful
The koi will go crazy for the water lettuce roots!
As someone with fish tanks, sword plants can be fully submerged. It will go through a period of die back aka 'melting' where all the old leaves die and the plant produces new leaves. but often times, the underwater growth is better looking than the emerged growth in my opinion (but that's cause i'm used to the being completely underwater). They do best in full sun, so you could possibly split the plant you bought with some being fully submerged and the other being immersed to see both types of growth patterns. Swords spread by runners so they may end up submerging themselves to be honest! Can't wait to see how the pond matures, definitely jealous and want to upgrade from my mini 'patio pond'
Lucky koi!!!! This was one of my favourite videos.💕❤️
The pond is looking great! Some underwater lighting would make the pond look next level at nighttime! along with that, a fixed camera underwater would be cool to see what the fish are up to when you feed them and such!
The pond is looking epic Kevin. Keep up the good work👍
So much fun to watch your progress! And I LOVE watercress. I go looking for it in our Arkansas creeks.
Beautiful pond! Love that pond plant selection!
Congrats to this beautiful pond!
That is an impressive water feature! Looks great!
The Epic Pond is looking great, good job Guys.💪💪💪
I'm excited for the red melon sword, it's one of my favorites for aquariums, they can be grown completely underwater so that might be something to look into for the future!
Love the pond. I have a calla that gets huge every spring and fall. It dies back a bit in the super hot summers and loses most of its leaves in the freezing winter. The pond only freezes maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch on top, so the calla comes back beautifully every year.
At 5:48 the captions say "Sort of a nice like reedy-ass looking plant" instead of Reedy-esque and I laughed so hard I had to spit out my water 🤣 I wasn't expecting it but it was hilarious.
My experience with Papyrus has been that it can grow very big and very wide, even when inside a pot. Keep pruning it so it does not get too out of control.
You could add a couple rocks to hide the pots of your plants once you figured their permanent resting place... stack a couple rocks around the pot and add some smaller ones in the pot to make it disappear in the rocky background
The pond looks amazing, super happy for you. I've kept many of those plants in my aquariums, if you like the floating plants, you should check out some water hyacinths they can give pretty purple flowers. Typically, if there isn't enough beneficial bacteria established there may be an algae bloom which could turn your water greenish, but with the few fish you have, you may be able to avoid that. All the best in your pond endeavors.
Beautiful pond. Can't wait to see what you do with it and the rest of the yard.
By the way, in the pond and aquarium hobby there are a lot plants sold by different names that you can get way cheaper if you get them at a home improvement store or wherever you get your common household plants.
A Peace Lilly is sold as a Brazilian Sword.
you should look into live aquarium plants, also if you're worried about algae you should grab a few common plecos since your pond is large. looks good!
My older brother lives in Eugene Oregon close to the university.. That is what I was there for, to work for a week at the University to learn breeding technects of giant danios
Cool stuff dude. If you can, you should plumb your pond to your garden beds. Our whole channel is about how we use our fish tanks to fertilize/water all of our plants especially our outdoor food garden.
loving the pond vibes!
Nice pond and love that place you got your plants from. Wish I had a place like that out by me.
So excited for your koi pond! You might consider some fully submerged plants & hat shelter to let the koi hide in the deep when they need to, raccoons got a lot of my koi when I was young, which was hard because I named them all
Nice pond kevin and the fish and plants!
loving these pond videos!
Hi there. This is nice one pond. Plants are amazing once. 😊Good for you man. 😊
Oh what fun fish & plants. Looking great!
The snowflake water lilies go crazy! I have white ones in my pond.
I have two preform pawns totally love the hobby I also use horse troughs floating rafts back into the pond to grow all kinds of seeds start in the spring I’m amazed with how fast they grow the Coy’s did give me a little trouble they were eating roots ofMy plants
I love what you’ve done so far, and I hope you add tule to your pond too. The fish would love it
Love the aquatic shopping 💞
more fishes and some turtles please!!! 🐠🐟🐡🐢🐢
I’ve always wanted a pond. So cool
Those are ramshorn snails! I've got a whole crew of those guys in with my goldfish and they keep the algae to a minimum. Otherwise I really love freshwater shrimp as algae cleanup but they're way more munchable.
Also, I started my plant keeping journey with aquatic plants and I'm so excited to see how your pond develops!
Hi Kevin, looks great! Some tips for next time. Spend more time acclimating the fish and also add a cup of water from your pond to the fish bag every 15 minutes or so, for about an hour. You can use a rock at the bottom of the bag and leave it in a shallow spot. Then you don't have to reclose the bags everytime :). Then dont add the water from the bag to your pond. Take the fish out with a net or your hands carefully and throw away the water from the store. Best of luck buddy! I'm jealous of your garden :)
You missed out you should’ve said “congrats on your first kid, looks like you are ready to goat” 😂