I know our pond was discussed in detail on some koi forums, it was bought up by Roddy Conrad (many years ago) he discussed how we manage to successfully maintain clean and healthy pond practices with aggressive water exchanges and a separate biological pond. I read many of the posts with Roddy but unfortunately missed yours. Water changes and flow thru systems have of course been a cornerstone of fish keeping, from fish farms and hatcheries to backyard ponds forever. Many of the Japanese growers seem to have flow thru systems, but most of us don't have a stream/river in our back yards for that so we have to make due with water changes. Up until the last few years most of the discussion in Koi Ponds has been about how frequency relates to keeping fish alive. In the last few years it's changed by a very few people to frequency relating to other things like clear water. algae control, and increasing fish growth. It's new so interesting to me. What surprised me is that you are already basically doing the 24/7 drip thing except once a day instead of 24/7 and hose instead of drip. Your volume is right in the range of 10-70% per week (varies by goals). And you've been doing it for a really long time so that's good data. Not sure how long Andy Moo has been doing 24/7, he's been around a long time too. And of course you're also using your hose as a TPR and basically the same as vacuum. Whether dirt is pushed to suction or suction is moved to dirt the result is the same. And you're doing it often. Pretty much all the people I've dealt with who wanted a bottom system as a option (not required for fish load) wanted it solely as a convenience. They just want a pond for looking at fish after work and don't want to pick up a hose. I do not belong to any of these forums, ( I did try briefly, however they were beyond snobby) as they have very expensive Japanese koi and they have sterile ponds, (meaning no rocks on the edges) also their filtration systems cost many thousands of dollars and they are quite snobby about their koi and ponds. Hell they don't even consider butterfly koi to be koi. Every forum seems to have a single specific type of pond that the 20-40 dominating posters have. Every forum says they accept all kinds of ponds but that sure isn't true. They'll say "all ponds are different, and that's great" and then launch into telling people why their pond is all wrong. But that's forums, protecting their little world. I most read pond forums that sometimes have good info but I don't find much reason to post very often. I've learned a lot about that I might be able to adapt to other ponds and more importantly so I understand these systems. Aquarium forums are even better for learning but I never post in those since I've never even had an aquarium or are interested in one. But those folks sure know there stuff, lots of test data. I think the hard it is to keep fish alive the better the forum because they have to take everything more serious. Fish farming forums are good too. If it don't pay they don't use it. However, the main reason I won't frequent these koi forums is because with all their expensive and super elaborate filter systems -- many of them they still use PP to help clear their ponds. I don't get it, why subject your fish to dangerous chemicals? If you systems are so wonderful why do they need chemicals and uv lights? You can see the amount of trouble I could get myself into frequenting these forums. :) Besides, my koi are mutts. I haven't seen much in those forums about PP use for general maintenance in several years. Occasional use by few for a specific reason. Or maybe they just don't talk about it. There's been better filters developed since Roddy was talking about PP and way easier to use, and pretty cheap, oxidizers have become available since then too. They need those things because they keep a different kind of pond than you do. For example for me to do the kind of water changes in San Jose would have added about $80 per month to my water bill since they use a tried system. While $960 a year isn't a lot I kept the water clear enough for me using other cheaper means. It's just a choice thing. For my next pond I can design a pond specifically to include 24/7 drip so I can reuse the waste water for landscaping. Here in Phoenix we water the landscape all year, and use a lot of water for that. So the water from the 24/7 drip will be basically free. Free and completely automated me likes. I know Dr. Roddy Conrad from another forum that we were both members of. We got along well,( but I did disagree with his PP practices.) He knew our set-up that why he was able to explain to the koi forum members our set up and aggressive water exchanges. "Successful pond husbantry practices " he called it. I don't remember if the other forum members agreed with him. Probably not. The Doctor that lost all the koi in his pond (twice) was that from on overdose of PP? I don't think I've ever posted directly with Roddy but have reads hundreds of his posts. He may have taught me more about ponds than maybe anyone else, especially when I was first learning about koi keeping. I've just been interested in learning different techniques and don't really have an opinion on whether it's good or bad. Just a tool. A hammer is good for driving a nail, not good for opening eggs. The tool itself is neither good or bad to me. I don't find a lot applications for PP but when needed and useful it works fine. But I'm sure happy Roddy took the time to teach me how to use PP, it's effects, and it's downsides through his posts. I'd be happy to buy him dinner any day. Plus his explaining, experimenting and providing lots of early data on Trickle Towers was very important to the hobby imo. And he took a lot of crap from the peanut gallery to boot which taught me a lot about forums which has helped me in developing software. TT popularity may have been short lived in the Koi Pond world but lead to even better filters. So I take what I can from those forums and just try and stay out of the crap...as best I can.

Definitely not; it comes gradually, thank god; I do sometimes get surprised at my reflection, and not in a good way. I guess I feel younger inside than out, lol... I agree that maintenance is key; you want to do what you can to look your best, with what you've got. It just becomes more work when you're older. I pay more attention to makeup and hair now; also nails. I'm 54 and look my age, not older not younger.

You have a lovely house, but it seems like part of the problem may be that you're one of the most expensive houses in the neighborhood. Based on Zillow: * A lot of the not-for-sale houses immediately around you are valued in the $250,000-$350,000 range. * There are 121 houses for sale in your neighborhood. * 3 of them are priced above $600,000. * 4 of them (including you) are priced $500,000-$600,000. * 12 of them are priced $400,000-$500,000. Even though your home may be priced fairly given how nice it is, if Zillow is accurate and it's in a neighborhood of significantly less expensive homes, that fact alone may be stopping buyers from choosing it. I've been looking at houses in a particular town, and there are two that are currently on the market that I really like but haven't made an offer on. One of them is the highest-priced house in its neighborhood by a long shot. On the face of it, the other is in line with its neighborhood... but it doesn't have a finished basement and most of the other homes in its neighborhood do. If you factor in the cost of finishing the basement, it becomes one of the highest-priced homes in the neighborhood. In both cases, the price they're asking is something I would be willing to pay if the other homes in the neighborhood were in the same range. I'd also be willing to buy a house that's a little more expensive than most of the houses in a neighborhood... but I won't buy one that's a lot more expensive. It just seems like it would be asking for trouble during resale, assuming a lender would even go for it to begin with. I don't know if there's a good solution for you, and I really do have a lot of sympathy for your situation. If that's what's going on, it's crummy that the houses around you are cutting down on your options.

Thank you all for commenting! Goldenonthepond, I don't have enough to exchange of it but check with Harmon Hill Farm in Hudson, NH which would be much closer to you anyway since it's in southern NH (I would be too far north for you to travel). They have Kelsey McGhee (I've seen it there myself). Even though it's not listed on their website as for sale, ask Carl about it and see if he can spare a piece....maybe he can sell you a couple fans, if not this year than maybe in the spring. Just Google Harmon Hill daylilies; they have a website. woodsidequeen, Charmaine Rich has a beautiful garden and I am glad she remembered me coming via motorcycle....lol. That was a few years back and I hope someday to get back there. Julia, I feel that Irving Schulman is underappreciated. I never see anyone post it but it's a quality daylily in my garden. Very hardy, very healthy, multiplies fast. Bud count is about average for my garden (nothing like the counts in the south but decent), color is beautiful.....my photo of it is true. It will always live here. Maryl, Golliwog is a favorite of mine and I don't know what a golliwog is either but it is fitting! There's nothing else quite like it in my garden. Mantis, I am still waiting for Kitty Bannerman to be the 6.5 inches it's registered at. It 'may' be that if you unfurl the ruffled edges....lol. It is 6 inches here. Thank you for the comments zippity1, Sherry, Brad and Nancy!