Never happy?????

Is it just me, or are you ever happy with your pond water condition? I know we've had a lot of rain, but my once great looking water is now (again) kind of muddy looking. I know the upper pond is probably to blame because it was not built with a berm. It was built before ponds "were cool" and I didn't know anything about it except dig a hole and throw in a liner. It leaves me frustrated never the less. We talk every Spring about re-doing it, but never seem to get it done. We've been doing weekly water changes but still the water remains somewhat murky. I don't have a good way to get out the micro particles in pond. I need a "fines" filter. I recently purchased a large swimming pool filter which I hope to retrofit into doing just that. I need something. What I got, I believe does pretty good with removing the big stuff and does the bio conversion I need for my large family of koi, but the fines elude me. I have 7 air stones total in the ponds that seem to constantly keep things stirred up, so they can't settle out and allow the bottom drains and settling chambers to work. Well at least not fast enough to make me happy. So I have to figure out what to put in the filter. I'm thinking either sand, small pebbles, or beads of some sort. I'm thinking some sort of floating beads would be the easiest to clean or back flush. But, as always, sand and rock are cheaper. Story of my life. I'm always trying to do things as inexpensively as possible and then down the road end up retrofitting things to make them better. Constantly experimenting with material and resources.

Another line of thinking is, it may not be dirt at all but dissolved fish poo.. We've been feeding heavy this past couple months and have changed foods too. So maybe, just maybe it's the food. Perhaps the fish aren't digesting as much and so their waste is up. Maybe its the food that is causing the water to cloud up. Suppose I should either change foods again to see if the water clears or reduce feeding. Either way, if its the food I should see a difference, right? I could turn off the air for a day or two to see if not stirring it all up will help it settle out, but the weather has been so warm, I hate to do that too. About the only think I don't have is algae. Knock on wood.

We're headed to the Upper Midwest Koi Club's Koi Show this weekend in Minneapolis. Always enjoy going into the city and the really really cool nursery that they hold this at. I'm already suggesting we take the truck and Harry is again giving me the eye. Along with nursery stock they also have a nice stone yard. Harry likes rock...so I suggested perhaps picking up a pretty piece of stone to use as a coffee(wink..wink...totty) table out beside the pond where we sit and feed and watch the fish. I could see him roll his eyes, but kind of agreeing too... I know after the trip to Nashville he's thinking I'll fill it up again if we take it. Bachman's nursery also has a restaurant and a home interior store, so it's a really cool place. This year's Koi Show will also feature a tour of the AKCA "Pond of the Year" which is nearby, I guess. So am also looking forward to seeing that also. I'll also be taking up the EIPS 2010 Friendship Award. It's an award the club gives to a koi or our choosing at the show. This year's award is a really cool black marble tile that has a koi engraved on it. Good thing I didn't know Michelle (the lady that made it) when I tiled my bathroom floor with this black marble. I'd of probably had to have koi all over it. Ohhh, wonder how easy it is to "pop" a tile up???