Well I have been suspecting for a couple days that I have a leak in the liner :( I am so gosh darn peed off right now! It must have happened somehow when I drained the pond and refilled it?? I don't know but the level is dropping about 1/2 inch a day and that is quite a bit of water. I am so stressed out I could scream. I KNEW I should have used a better liner, but at that size I couldn't afford the 3500$ for a proper one. Now I am in a pickle. Just talked to the hubby who is away working and told him I am going to get a whole new pond :D Yup, if I am going to have to drain that sucker and get in there a catch all those fish and have that big of headache, then we can fill that big cavernous hole right up with dirt and start over. Now I am starting to worry about what to do with the fish while I am building the new pond??? I have the 120 gallon stock tank and the 180 gallon one as well. Guess I will have to set them up with pumps and filters and house the fish in there for awhile. WHAT A MESS!!! Thank goodness I have two new pumps and filters for just those tanks, but what a heartache this is! And...then there is the whole thing of what to do with my filter material while I drain the pond and rebuild. I could use some of it in the little filters I will use for the stock tanks, I don't KNOW!! I guess I will have to think of the plus side of all this and that is a whole new pond! Not that I wanted one a year after the first new pond, LOL, but I would like to make so many changes so now I have my excuse!

KK, sorry for your additional problems! I hope your new pond is better!

KK, I'm thinking we really need to get your life on film! ;)

Ya right Derrick....that would be called a Horror Film!

I have been pricing liners today (instead of tearing up the pond) $2000 is the cheapest I can find so far :( I don't know what the heck to do. Thankfully, the water is seeping slowly so that is buying me some time so I don't make a hasty decision. The worst part is the pond is really close to the septic field so the DH is worried the water will seep in there and flood the field! Maybe with that hanging over his head he will buck up the big bucks for the new liner ;)

Thats too bad KK.
Is it a option to try and patch the leak.
I know the hardest part is finding it.

I hope you can get your new liner or get it fixed!

Good luck as I think you could use some of that.

KK for that much money I would try to find the leak. Is this liner PVC ? If you let it drop till it stops provided it's not too far down it should not be too hard to find. What kind of liner are you thinking to use as a replacement? On vacation so not much time right now.

Fm3

I am letting it drop to see if I can find the leak :blink: So far it is down about 14" so it isn't the biggest deal ever, I still have time to decide what I am doing. My Dad had an idea of putting some air (with a compressor) in behind the liner and turning off the pump and aerator and see if and where any bubbles come out. I had this vision of the whole liner dissinigrating, LOL, so I am not up for that idea, LOL.

Hubby says he's not footing the bill for the new liner :( :angry: so far my idea is to fill it in and make the pond a bit smaller so the liner is cheaper ??? I thought of keeping the current frame there and building inside it, make it like a little garden setting. Unfortunately I am going to have to put the big Koi back out in the clay pond. Most of the fish will have to go out there I guess. I will connect the two large stock tanks and keep as many of the smaller fish in there as I can until the new pond gets built. I am sick to my stomach to put the koi into the clay pond. I know thats where they were before, but I have such a worry of it drying up and of them not wintering well in there. UGH the stress is killing me right now. I am busy drawing ponds on paper, worst part is all the equipment I have from the big pond will just sit there! Pees me off that I just bought another large pump as a back up!

KK, are you positive that it is leaking? 1/2" a day doesn't sound like too much. Are there any other signs of leakage?

PG

Hi PG, It's actually over an inch a day. I started measuring it properly now, lol. There are no "signs" of a leak other than the water drop. The water never dropped hardly at all last summer and it was hot here for two months straight. I am so sick about it I never slept last night. My biggest thing I am stressed about is getting down in that hole to catch the fish (creepy) and putting my beloved fish back out in the clay pond where they will miss me, LOL. This sucks so bad. I am trying to be upbeat about building a new pond, but with waiting for back surgery and supposed to be on bed rest, lol, it is kind of hard to get the new pond built :blink: I am trying to do a pond plan of about 2500 gallons, now it's choosing the shape and depth and on and on and on, LOL :blink:

I wonder if you could set up some fencing within your clay pond to create a coral for the big koi, a smaller area. That way, when your new pond is ready, it would be pretty easy to find those guys and move them. If you could build a netted area, I also suggest netting the top as predators will get them more easily in a smaller area. You could jam some rebar into the muck and hook some fencing on to it. I don't know if it would be escape proof.

Hi Robyn! That is a great idea! I never thought of anything like that before :blink: Right now the clay pond is just too deep for that to work. It has pretty steep banks and is up to 17 feet deep right now. I just have to put them out there and quit being a baby about it. Last year when I caught them and put them in the new pond I felt sorry for them and now it is the other way around. I just need to toughen up! They love it in there anyhow. Hubby says we can buy an aerator for it by wintertime :D (guess I did enough whining) Now I just have to pray the water level stays up. Hubby also says we can truck water in for it if we have too :D (queen of whining) I'll keep you all posted. I hope to do a video clip of them being released into the clay pond. I'll have to turn the sound off though or duct tape my mouth. I am sure I will have a huge freak out when the time comes. I want to let the three biggest Koi go at the same time cause they are buddies and I don't want them to get lost in there and not find each other for awhile (yes, I know that is dumb, LOL)