Hi everyone, (warning long post ahead)

I've really enjoyed reading about all the mishaps people have had with their ponds. Not that I enjoy hearing about fish death or pond disasters, it just makes me feel better to know that I'm not the only one who makes major mistakes when it comes to ponding. It's also good to know that even the most experienced ponders on here were once in my shoes. Plus, many of those stories have helped me from making the same mistakes myself....so thank you for always being willing to share!

So, in the spirit of newbie goof ups, I thought I'd share with you the top 3 lessons I've learned in my first 6 weeks of having a fully operational pond and koi.

Lesson 1: Always look before you step (aka sloping surfaces in a pond are slippery!) This lesson came about after I'd gotten used to walking around in the pond for minor tweeks and maintenance. I was starting to feel a bit more sure footed on the slippery liner and maybe even a bit over-confident. I was stepping down from a plant shelf to the bottom of the pond, a move I'd made dozens of times with no problems. The one time I didn't look before placing my foot, wouldn't you know it? I put my foot down on the sloping wall between the shelf and the bottom! For a moment I stood there with my arms flailing, futilely trying to regain my balance before belly flopping face first into the pond. I don't know who was more surprised: me, the fish or my fiance who - not having seen the incident, only heard the giant Ka-ploosh - yelled at me "what the heck are you doing in there??"

Lesson 2: Maintain and enforce the rule that anyone with a blood alcohol content greater than 0.8 must remain 5 feet or more away from the pond at all times. This lesson came after my fiance and his friends after a drunken boys night out decided that the pond was big enough to horse around in. (and as a disclaimer this is unusual behavior for him. I do not want to characterize him as a drunk, he rarely does this. His friend's mom has cancer and the anniversary of my fiance's mother's death from cancer is approaching and they both needed to blow off some steam). I went outside the morning after to feed the fish and found newspaper and a hat floating in the pond, a lily pot tipped over, pump pre-filters knocked off and dozens of rocks from the edges knocked to the bottom of the pond. Apparently, while horsing around one guy pushed another guy into the pond. Needless to say, right around 6 am there was a lot of yelling from me at a bunch of hungover guys! LOL Luckily nothing was permanently damaged and everything has been put back in order.

Lesson 3: A good scrub brush and some old fashioned elbow grease are an effective - and much safer - method of removing algae build up on waterfall and stream rocks. I learned this after using a product that had advertised it self as being "fish and plant safe". I had applied this fancy 'oxy' algae remover that was supposed to even add oxygen to the water to my waterfalls and stream rocks that were getting a thick coating of algae all over them. About 2 hours later the fish were at the top gasping for air and acting listless. My fiance helped me do an emergency partial water change before it got too dark to see outdoors (and thereby making up for the reason I have lesson #2). I still lost 3 koi overnight but managed to get the water quality back to rights the next day and everything is back up and running well again. I could also name this lesson "if it ain't broke, don't mess with it".

I'd love to hear from any of you if you'd care to share your hindsight is 20/20 mistakes you've made in your pond adventures!

Thanks for letting me ramble!

Jenny