Not too long after the setup of the 3 ponds had been established Marco struggles to keep the water temperature down and algae are taking over, all the rocks and the walls of the ponds are turning green.
The fish are doing very well though, the 2-inch Kois we got only a few weeks earlier are growing and some of them have already tripled in size!
The guests love the ponds and David is thinking of going bigger. He and Marco start looking on the internet what the next bigger pond could look like and what technology and equipment would be needed. They start dreaming big and lining out ponds with a rope in the courtyard and a couple days later David places the order for a rubber liner which is 40×50 feet (12×15 meter) and a kit that includes 2 skimmers, waterfalls, two pumps, and three UV lights!
The digging starts: the first 2 feet are done with the little bobcat, but the rest we have to do manually, we dig down to 6 feet (1,8 Meter) and shape the pond with ledges at different levels – we move tons of dirt!
The digging doesn’t go without surprises: we find old copper pipes, drainage pipes, electrical wires and concrete walls from the old pool. All obstacles that take some time and effort to be removed but they don’t stop us.
At the end we stabilize all the critical walls with a layer of cement, then a layer of fabric is laid out and eventually the rubber liner. Luckily we have external help for the finishing as the liner is over 600 pounds (270 kg).
Our job is now done and we are watching the team of three strong men as they decorate the pond with rocks. They are moving 16 tons of rocks in 2 days – a backbreaking task, especially in this heat.
Before the fish can move in, the whole area needs to be fenced and only then the water can be filled in and then the eco system needs to run for at least a week or two to establish a stable environment.
We are all looking forward to seeing the finished pond – a luxury home with approximately 15,000 gallons of water (56,800 liter) for about 25 Koi and a bunch of small fish.
