Thread: Temporary Pond advice please

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum.

I'm looking for advice on the size of a temporary koi tank/potentially quarantine tank in future. I plan to use it before moving (for a week or two) to have time to hopefully sell the fiberglass pond that I have atm and fill up the hole.
I have only one koi. I believe its a lady, around 12”-13”, 3.5 years old. I had 2 koi but the anxious buddy decided to jump out of the pond this year and I kept myself from buying a friend or investing in the pond because of relocation to the EU this year.

I used a dog poole for cleaning time before, 130*30cm. It was ok for half of the day but I guess it’s too shallow?

I want to make a foldable/portable tank using Aquarium Pool PVC Canvas (PHLEPS) from amazon and pvc pipes to build a bracket. The liner supposedly can be ordered in custom size in a thickness of 0.5mm.

Could you please advise possible dimensions of the tank that would be enough for 1-2 fish to stay for a week or two with an air pump (2 stones) but without filtration? I could do partial water changes I guess.

The other question, what diameter of the pvc pipe would you recommend to use?

Any recommendations based on your experience would be highly appreciated.

Thank you!
Maria.

Thank you for the reply. I checked the kids' paddling pools again and couldn't find anything humble but over 30cm deep. There was one 40 cm for under £10 but the diameter goes to 2m, which is too huge to keep in the house. Besides, nothing inflatable has my trust…

The important thing is that you reminded me about feeding. I will have to stop feeding the fish for at least a week before travelling anyways and the water may be even too cold to feed. It's 14C right now. It gives me much more flexibility.
However! It looks like the fish will have to overwinter in my setup in the house in Germany, so I can't get away with my dog pool.

So considering all the above and after more research I’ve decided to make a wooden frame using 47mm timber and OSB boards.

I have some leftovers that I can use to make a box 50cm deep, 130cm long by 70cm wide.

I found SealEco EDPM pond liner sold by metre locally and 2m by 2.6m will be £60. I’ve decided I better fold this one than buy suspicious stuff from amazon.

Hopefully it will be enough to spend 3-4 relatively cold months, probably without filtration. (I hope I will talk my husband into taking at least some of the pebbles from the pond to relocate some of the good bacteria )

I will make a frame with mesh to go over the box, no question.

At the moment I use random amounts of Tetra AquaSafe to dechlorinate the water. (No clue how much water holds my current pond, bought second hand and all ways of calculation give way too approx measurements)
I plan to get some other water conditioner to neutralise ammonia during transportation, maybe I could use it from time to time in winter? In between partial water changes maybe?

P.S. My fish actually jumped out when there was a mesh already installed, but I didn't cover the corner with plants in baskets(( After heavy rain the pond was overflowing and I guess he (the fish) was trying to reach the food stuck in plants, panicked and accidentally kicked himself out. There is no way back in the pond because it is 20 cm elevated. It was very sad because it was his second attempt to die. First time I had no mesh (totally my fault) and decided to try a "feeder" made out of a floating bicycle inner tube. He took it for the rim of an imaginary basket and “escaped”. I found him covered in dry mud in the shade, he only moved a bit when touched. I managed to reanimate him and watched him doing the same trick again just a few hours later, jumping straight through the circle. No feeder for me. I made an ugly frame with mesh the same day. I guess some things were meant to happen.

Just to close the topic, we ended up buying a plastic tub Laguna at a local shop for £184. It has approximately the same dimensions as the box I planned to build, 130x80x46cm.
Expensive, but I call it an investment and an upcoming birthday present