Thread: Northants Newbie

Hello people.
Thought I best join up to lean on you experts for advice after I inherited the koi pond I always wanted when I purchased a new home in Northants.
While I'm no pond expert I do know a thing or two about carp having been a keen angler for nearly 30 years.
I spent a couple of months researching koi pond maintenance on YouTube during the sale so understand the basics. I'm also aware of how quickly things can go downhill if I get it wrong.... which is where you lot come in.
Looking forward to chatting about all things koi.

Originally Posted by yonny

Hello people.
Thought I best join up to lean on you experts for advice after I inherited the koi pond I always wanted when I purchased a new home in Northants.
While I'm no pond expert I do know a thing or two about carp having been a keen angler for nearly 30 years.
I spent a couple of months researching koi pond maintenance on YouTube during the sale so understand the basics. I'm also aware of how quickly things can go downhill if I get it wrong.... which is where you lot come in.
Looking forward to chatting about all things koi.

Welcome to the forum you will get some great advice and some not so

Welcome Yonny.

Welcome to the forum Yonny!!

SO, are you going to share some photos of what you will be starting with then?

Originally Posted by dbs

Welcome to the forum Yonny!!

SO, are you going to share some photos of what you will be starting with then?

20250915_130700[1].jpg
Hopefully the photo upload works. It's a 2m X 6m X 2m outdoor pond so ~24k litres + filtration/pipework. It's gravity fed with the filter house on the left holding a Nexus 310 with 75W UV. It has a skimmer system that goes through a veg filter but this is currently blocked off due to a leak (I'll deal with this early next year). I've just added an additional air pump with a couple of air stones.

It contains 12 koi from 30 to 70cm, 4 ghost koi from 40 to 60 cm, and an albino grass carp at 70 cm.

My first problem is leaves. We have lots of trees and with autumn arriving, and no skimmer, this will be an issue if I don't address it. For this year I've just bought a fine mesh net to protect the pond. Next year I'll be digging the skimmer system out to fix the leak.

Originally Posted by yonny

20250915_130700[1].jpg
Hopefully the photo upload works. It's a 2m X 6m X 2m outdoor pond so ~24k litres + filtration/pipework. It's gravity fed with the filter house on the left holding a Nexus 310 with 75W UV. It has a skimmer system that goes through a veg filter but this is currently blocked off due to a leak (I'll deal with this early next year). I've just added an additional air pump with a couple of air stones.

It contains 12 koi from 30 to 70cm, 4 ghost koi from 40 to 60 cm, and an albino grass carp at 70 cm.

My first problem is leaves. We have lots of trees and with autumn arriving, and no skimmer, this will be an issue if I don't address it. For this year I've just bought a fine mesh net to protect the pond. Next year I'll be digging the skimmer system out to fix the leak.

That is a lovely size Pond Yonny, and I like the sound of the plans you have, it is also nice to hear you have action points for the leaves, looking forward to seeing what you do with your pond!!

Oh, sounds a nice collection you have started with too, very exciting for you!!

Originally Posted by dbs

very exciting for you!!

Needless to say, I'm absolutely buzzing with it. I've wanted a pond for ages so it's awesome to finally have one. The water looks decent and the fish are happy so I don't want to make any big changes at this point. I basically want to give the whole thing a good service as we head towards winter. I've noticed the agitation of K1 in the bio filter isn't great so this weekend will see a clean of the air rings. Also replacing the bulb in the UV. Every one of these little jobs is a "first-time" for me so I'm treading carefully!

Originally Posted by yonny

Needless to say, I'm absolutely buzzing with it. I've wanted a pond for ages so it's awesome to finally have one. The water looks decent and the fish are happy so I don't want to make any big changes at this point. I basically want to give the whole thing a good service as we head towards winter. I've noticed the agitation of K1 in the bio filter isn't great so this weekend will see a clean of the air rings. Also replacing the bulb in the UV. Every one of these little jobs is a "first-time" for me so I'm treading carefully!

I bet you are too, and that is very sensible... be very careful taking out the UV's, the area mine was in was a bit tight to pull them out, and I have broken the quartz sleeves twice, I have now moved it slightly to make the task easier, as it only took the slightest of pressure at the wrong angle, what a tit I was

Originally Posted by dbs

the area mine was in was a bit tight to pull them out, and I have broken the quartz sleeves twice

It's tight in mine too and, thinking about it, I can't see how I'd get the bulb out without unmounting the whole unit.

There's a pond specialist in the next village who's done most of the maintenance work here. I might even ask him to do it first time... with me observing/learning.

Originally Posted by yonny

It's tight in mine too and, thinking about it, I can't see how I'd get the bulb out without unmounting the whole unit.

There's a pond specialist in the next village who's done most of the maintenance work here. I might even ask him to do it first time... with me observing/learning.

Yes that could be worth doing at first, it is always good to have somebody local you can call on too if ever needed going forward, so that could be a good introduction... let him know you plan to do it yourself and build up the repour for the odd callout or query going forward even