Aeration for winter question

[addy1]

When you add water you dont put any chemicals in the pond to neutrilize the tap waters chlorine and metals?

No we are on a well

My pond in arizona I never added chemicals, that water was yuck with chlorine and hard, but I did have a float valve that trickled water in whenever it needed it. No big add of water at any one time.

 

[Dave 54]

Watching the youtube video of the AP20 its quite obvious that the guy wants to hedge his bets somewhat when it comes to this product prefaring to also run the breather alongside of it .
Its don to you what you want to do with your pond but I'd take stock about what others are saying before going ahead with things , you dont want things to go wrong now do you ?

Dave

 

[Jersey_Marine]

Watching the youtube video of the AP20 its quite obvious that the guy wants to hedge his bets somewhat when it comes to this product prefaring to also run the breather alongside of it .
Its don to you what you want to do with your pond but I'd take stock about what others are saying before going ahead with things , you dont want things to go wrong now do you ?

Dave

Im going to probably go a little overboard and use the 2 AP-20's and the pond breather. Highly doubtful but if 2 out of 3 fail Ill stilll have 1 keeping a hole in the ice till spring

 

[HARO]

@Jersey_Marine; For what it's worth, the number of beneficial bacteria that any pond can support depends on the food available to them, in this case ammonia and nitrites. As ammonia drops, nitrosomonas bacteria die back, and the same with nitrobacter when the nitrites drop. When you add bacteria to a pond with insufficient food, these excess bacteria die (starve), adding to the bio-load of the pond (ammonia) and starting yet another increase of bacteria. Thus you never really reach the state of "balance" you are trying to accomplish. Add to this the fact that living bacteria require not only food, but oxygen to survive, and you start to see why so many ponders don't think that bottled bacteria are a worthwhile expense. If the bacteria in your filters start to die within hours of being deprived of oxygen, then how can they survive in a sealed container for up to two years? If you REALLY want to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your pond, just take a 'whizz' in it every morning. A lot cheaper, too!

John

 

[Meyer Jordan]

@Jersey_Marine; For what it's worth, the number of beneficial bacteria that any pond can support depends on the food available to them, in this case ammonia and nitrites. As ammonia drops, nitrosomonas bacteria die back, and the same with nitrobacter when the nitrites drop. When you add bacteria to a pond with insufficient food, these excess bacteria die (starve), adding to the bio-load of the pond (ammonia) and starting yet another increase of bacteria. Thus you never really reach the state of "balance" you are trying to accomplish. Add to this the fact that living bacteria require not only food, but oxygen to survive, and you start to see why so many ponders don't think that bottled bacteria are a worthwhile expense. If the bacteria in your filters start to die within hours of being deprived of oxygen, then how can they survive in a sealed container for up to two years? If you REALLY want to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your pond, just take a 'whizz' in it every morning. A lot cheaper, too!

John

Amen, Brother!

 

[Jersey_Marine]

@Jersey_Marine; For what it's worth, the number of beneficial bacteria that any pond can support depends on the food available to them, in this case ammonia and nitrites. As ammonia drops, nitrosomonas bacteria die back, and the same with nitrobacter when the nitrites drop. When you add bacteria to a pond with insufficient food, these excess bacteria die (starve), adding to the bio-load of the pond (ammonia) and starting yet another increase of bacteria. Thus you never really reach the state of "balance" you are trying to accomplish. Add to this the fact that living bacteria require not only food, but oxygen to survive, and you start to see why so many ponders don't think that bottled bacteria are a worthwhile expense. If the bacteria in your filters start to die within hours of being deprived of oxygen, then how can they survive in a sealed container for up to two years? If you REALLY want to increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your pond, just take a 'whizz' in it every morning. A lot cheaper, too!

John

John. I got about 30 floating water hyacinths and 2 lillie pad plants. Is that enough alone to create enough beneficial bacteria and remove nutrients from the water?

 

[sissy]

I use a natural way to aerate besides the aerator .The waterfall pond has a water aerator and the pond also has this set up in it under the bridge and it forces water over the top of the water.I think the more you get the surface water moving the better it is .In the winter which here seems to be fe. and March I use the 1000 gph pump and have the pond heater over top of it .But my winters are mild .i remember in nj when we had snow up to the second story of our house .We all have different weather conditions and winters are never the same .I am glad ii moved to Va and don't have to deal with the really bad weather .Gosh even all well water is not the same .I have iron in my well water with a high ph and I have a little harder water .I NJ I had city water .Here I did not plant trees close to where the pond was and in NJ i had trees every where with lots of my own leaves plus the neighbors leaves .What works for one does not always work for every one .

 

[HARO]

John. I got about 30 floating water hyacinths and 2 lillie pad plants. Is that enough alone to create enough beneficial bacteria and remove nutrients from the water?

Just a quick rundown on how a pond is supposed to work. Bacteria are everywhere, even in fresh water when you first fill the pond. Once ammonia is introduced, whether by fish waste products, rotting leaves or pond plants, or by simply dumping a cup of it into the water, the nitrosomonas bacteria will rapidly multiply and "eat" the ammonia. As a waste product of this process, nitrite is produced. A second set of bacteria, nitrobacter, then multiplies, feeding on the nitrite, while the nitrosomonas die back. (Unless more ammonia is added to the water.) The waste product of the nitrobacter bacteria is nitrate, which is far less deadly to fish than ammonia or nitrite. However, there are no bacteria to break down the nitrate, so it builds up in the water UNLESS it is diluted (water changes) or used by plants as fertilizer. And "plants" includes algae, which can quickly turn your water into a green soup, as many ponders have discovered!
If you haven't fallen asleep yet, I'll get into the second part of this boring story. The beneficial bacteria live EVERYWHERE in your pond, either free-floating in the water or attached to the liner, rocks, decorations, and yes, even the plants. If you use a UV sterilizer, the free-floating BB can be killed off by going through it, just as algae can, but in practical terms this has very little effect on the pond. There are enough BB attached on every wet surface to keep the cycle going. The roots of your water hyacinths have a massive surface area, and so provide places for the BB to cling, but your plants have a far more important role to play... they use up much of the nitrate, keeping levels below the danger point for your fish. Regular testing of the water is the ONLY thing that will tell you if this cycle is working as it should. If you consistently find ammonia in the water, your fish load (bio-load) is too high, and a bio-filter should be installed in the system.
I've often heard people complain that their fish keep dieing, but their water is 'crystal-clear'. Well, guess what; so is pure ammonia! Even if you are convinced your water is perfect, only testing will tell the whole story. Hope this rather lengthy tirade has helped you (or other beginners) to understand a little more about the nitrogen cycle.
John

 

[sissy]

I could never in my life put ammonia(never used ammonia for anything ) in my pond .If i would not use it myself I would not put it in my pond .In my stock tank even that would be a stretch .I have tested my water more since rebuilding than i did when it was well established .I have never had a fish die on me so guessing it could be just luck .Had 1 eaten by a toad and had a dog injure one really bad .By the way koi clay makes a great mud mask for your face

 

[Jersey_Marine]

Just a quick rundown on how a pond is supposed to work. Bacteria are everywhere, even in fresh water when you first fill the pond. Once ammonia is introduced, whether by fish waste products, rotting leaves or pond plants, or by simply dumping a cup of it into the water, the nitrosomonas bacteria will rapidly multiply and "eat" the ammonia. As a waste product of this process, nitrite is produced. A second set of bacteria, nitrobacter, then multiplies, feeding on the nitrite, while the nitrosomonas die back. (Unless more ammonia is added to the water.) The waste product of the nitrobacter bacteria is nitrate, which is far less deadly to fish than ammonia or nitrite. However, there are no bacteria to break down the nitrate, so it builds up in the water UNLESS it is diluted (water changes) or used by plants as fertilizer. And "plants" includes algae, which can quickly turn your water into a green soup, as many ponders have discovered!
If you haven't fallen asleep yet, I'll get into the second part of this boring story. The beneficial bacteria live EVERYWHERE in your pond, either free-floating in the water or attached to the liner, rocks, decorations, and yes, even the plants. If you use a UV sterilizer, the free-floating BB can be killed off by going through it, just as algae can, but in practical terms this has very little effect on the pond. There are enough BB attached on every wet surface to keep the cycle going. The roots of your water hyacinths have a massive surface area, and so provide places for the BB to cling, but your plants have a far more important role to play... they use up much of the nitrate, keeping levels below the danger point for your fish. Regular testing of the water is the ONLY thing that will tell you if this cycle is working as it should. If you consistently find ammonia in the water, your fish load (bio-load) is too high, and a bio-filter should be installed in the system.
I've often heard people complain that their fish keep dieing, but their water is 'crystal-clear'. Well, guess what; so is pure ammonia! Even if you are convinced your water is perfect, only testing will tell the whole story. Hope this rather lengthy tirade has helped you (or other beginners) to understand a little more about the nitrogen cycle.
John

Wow thats an excellent rundown. I think this should be a sticky for sure. Thank you very much

 

[Jersey_Marine]

I could never in my life put ammonia(never used ammonia for anything ) in my pond .If i would not use it myself I would not put it in my pond .In my stock tank even that would be a stretch .I have tested my water more since rebuilding than i did when it was well established .I have never had a fish die on me so guessing it could be just luck .Had 1 eaten by a toad and had a dog injure one really bad .By the way koi clay makes a great mud mask for your face

I can almost guarantee he was being facetious about bottled ammonia being added to the water. He was speaking about the mere fact of ammonia being introduced into the pond..

 

[HARO]

I can almost guarantee he was being facetious about bottled ammonia being added to the water. He was speaking about the mere fact of ammonia being introduced into the pond..

Actually, adding ammonia to start the cycle is a common practice. It's called "fish-less cycling", and often used in aquaria in order to avoid losing fish. Never did it myself, but then I AM rather old-fashioned! (Comes with my advancing age, I guess.)
John

P.s. If you need any more long-winded explanations, just let me know. I've done 4-hour seminars on this subject.

 

[MitchM]

Fish are constantly adding ammonia to the water, through their gills.
Adding ammonia may sound counter intuitive, but fishless cycling is the humane way to cycle a pond.
That's the only way I initiate a cycle in my ponds and aquariums.
Below in my signature is a calculator for how much ammonia to add.

 

[HARO]

Thanks, Mitch! I'm pretty sure I had several people convinced I was an idiot!
John

 

[MitchM]

It baffles me why fish stores do not promote this method!