The Francis Pond Grosse Pointe Park, MI
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Small Pond - Built in 2000. Approx. 9 ft. X 4 ft. 2 feet deep, 600 gallons. We had talked about putting in a pond for several years and one day I came home from work to find a large hole in the backyard. We had not joined the Club yet, so we made all the usual mistakes: too small, too shallow, not enough filtration, no skimmer, built in plant shelves etc. Over the years we have added the stream which seems to connect to the top of the waterfall of the large pond, a skimmer, and a large waterfall biological filter. This pond contains many potted water lilies, flag iris, and other assorted plants. We sink all the pots to the bottom for the winter. This pond only contains goldfish.
Large Pond - Built in 2003 by Crista's Ponds. 12 ft. X 19 ft. 30 in. deep 2600 gallons. This Koi pond has uses the largest waterfall biological filter available. The stones used are Picture Rock. The largest stone in the waterfall is 4 tons. We had a bog built in on one end which is about 6-8 inches deep filled with pea gravel. The bog contains various hardy and tropical plantings including yellow flag iris, canna, hibiscus, elephant ear, taro etc. I take in the tropicals each winter. The water lilies are supported on supports made of bricks which also provide areas for the koi to swim through and hide.
The Mitschke Pond Sterling Heights, MI
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Built in 2007 by Christa's Ponds. Measures about 12 ft. X 28 ft. and 24 in. deep 5000 gallons. This Koi pond has one skimmer 2 ft. X 3.5 ft. and two 3 ft. X 3 ft. large waterfall biological filter. The water falls a total of 3 ft. in thee separate steps. The stream from the fall to the pond is about 12 ft.long and a various width of 1 ft. to 5 ft. wide. A 4500 gallon per hour Sequence Pump drives the skimming, filtering and waterfalls. The stones are gray and blue Michigan lime stone. Some of the stones in the waterfall and the blue feeding rock are about 3 to 4 tons each. The limestone makes the water very hard. The Koi are doing well in this water. A bog built in on one end which is about 4-6 inches deep filled with pea gravel. The bog contains various hardy and tropical plantings including white flag iris, papyrus etc.
In the winter I use a submersible pump to keep an open area. The maximum ice on the pond both years was about 12 inches. I had a huge number (many thousands) of fry the in June 2007. I have reduced the number by giving them to everyone that would take them and am now down to about sixty fish. These fish have grown to about 10 to13 inches in two years. Eventually the fish population will need to be reduced.