Building a new Pond - Water Treatments

[dscl]

Hey everyone,

After having seen my pond a neighbor is interested in building his own. He's pricing everything out and I have been able to help him to some degree, but one area I cannot is Water Treatments. While I am a pond owner the house I purchased already had it installed and I didn't have to go through the setup myself.

Reading online I can see he will need a dechlorinator, but beyond that I'm not sure. I've read about adding beneficial bacteria starters and pond salts and so on, but frankly I'm not sure whats needed or what to recommend to him.

So great Garden Pond Community can you please advise of water treatments for my neighbor? If you have specific brands as well, instead of just saying "yes use a beneficial bacteria", that would be great.

Thanks!

P.S. As a pond owner myself is there anything I should be adding to MY pond at the start of the spring season?

 

[capewind]

I see you are newer to the group yourself, so first things first, welcome

For a decholorinator, I honestly buy whatever brand the store I walk into has in stock. The one I have at present is made by Pond Care.

I dont believe in adding beneficial bacterias unless in an emergency, and even then, I would have to think about it, so will wait for other experienced with this type of product to chime in ...

As for anything else in your post, we really need more info on your (or your neighbors) pond to be of much assistance. It all depends on your set up, and if you are having any problems.

 

[koiguy1969]

dechlorinator is the only chemical usually needed to start a pond off, thats only if your on city water. if your on a well, not even that. beneficial bacteria isnt gonna hurt anything but isnt neccessary. when i start a new filter i do use "Microbe Lift" brand "PL GEL filter innocculant" this isnt added to the pond. its applied directly to clean,dry filter media, set for 2 hours then the media is put in the filter and the filter filled with pond water to set for 2 hours. then the pump is started. if you do this, do it outdoors, cuz the smell is bad! the bacteria debate is an ongoing one. strong feelings on both sides of the debate. some feel its just a waste of money,bacteria will build naturally fast enough.. some attest to its use, which is to speed up the growth, and suppliment a ponds eco system or "nitrification cycle" either way, it aint gonna hurt anything.
** MY EXPERIENCE: i used to use "pristine pond" bacteria, and had 30 6" fish in my first pond, 450 gals. all fish were added in about 2 weeks... fed several times, every day and never had bad water parameters.... could it be coincidental?

 

[sissy]

You can share some of your pond water or something from your filter to get him started since you are the instigator . :razz: :highfive:

 

[capewind]

the bacteria debate is an ongoing one. strong feelings on both sides of the debate. some feel its just a waste of money,bacteria will build naturally fast enough..

This is exactly my position on it, but like I said, in an emergency, I would consider it. An emergency would be an extreme ammonia spike that I didnt think I could get under control fast enough with water changes. Say for example that something went wrong and my filter went down, and needed to get another up and running FAST without a bacteria colony that could handle the load. In that case, the bactera in a bottle sounds very appealing to me. Otherwise, I say time and patience are good things.