Cleaned the Skippy

[fish]

Well I cleaned the skippy today. Took all of the pad out and washed them. The pads were covered with a material that resembled mud. Water would have had a hard time circulating around the pads if they weren't cleaned. So cleaning them was a must. There were a few little snails in the bottom and I found a little bit of gritty material like sand. I examined the grit and determined it was ground up snail shells that must have been broken up as the water swirled in the bottom.

 

[addy1]

Great fish!

What ever happened with the fish disappearing problems you had, was it a river otter?

Anybody planning a stream, look up pictures of his, it is beautiful, saw it when I went to pick up some rocks he did not need anymore.

 

[fish]

addi1 - We never solved the fish disapperig problem so we have restocked with fifteen goldies and seven koi. Built a cave with openings so small that we hope the fish will be safe if something tries to get at them. This is the fifth year for the pond. Opening the pond at the beginning of the second year all fish were OK (fifteen goldies and seven koi). Opening the third year two of the three year old koi were dead. Opening the fourth year a goldie and a koi jumped out of the holding tank I was using while cleaning the pond. And of course as you know all the fish were taken by some critter last Summer.

 

[addy1]

Well good luck fish, your set up is so pretty, hope it is better for you this year.

I have either 5 fish or 4 or 3 or 2 lol, did see two recently lol they hide very well, just little goldies and two shubunkins.

 

[marla]

yucky job to clean but it is good you got it done, those mats can only filter out so much before they are gunked and the water starts circulating up around the edges and not through the mats.

 

[scooter7728]

when you clean a filter that size do you use pond water to clean the media to try not to kill the bacteria?

 

[addy1]

when you clean a filter that size do you use pond water to clean the media to try not to kill the bacteria?

Depends if you are on city water or well water, we are on a well so no chlorine.

 

[fishin4cars]

Main thing is Don't clean them with chlorinated water, clean with well water or pond water, a easy way to clean with pond water is wash out the media using a submersible pump and as small a diamater hose as possible to get a strong jet of water into the media, This will clean the muck out, keep a good starter culture of bacteria and do a water change all in one task.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Oh crud...your saying dont use city water? That's all I have in my pond and I didn't think about the chlorine they add in there...will city water affect any fish I put in?

 

[j.w]

Yes it can kill them. Get some de-chlorinator and follow the directions from now on when adding water. Hopefully yours will be ok.

 

[addy1]

Oh crud...your saying dont use city water? That's all I have in my pond and I didn't think about the chlorine they add in there...will city water affect any fish I put in?

If you have no fish, you can let the water sit and cycle, the chlorine levels will decrease, if you have fish you must treat any water you put into your pond.

You need to test for levels, if fishless, before adding fish.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

ok...add chlorine to our hot tub and take it out of the pond...got cha

 

[forgottenalarm]

hey fish, can i have a link to your pics? toss in a couple more md people and there could be a chapter.

 

[addy1]

hey fish, can i have a link to your pics? toss in a couple more md people and there could be a chapter.

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/pond-7-falls-t5500.html

Here is his pond, it is very nice.

 

[forgottenalarm]

wow that is sweet. looks natural!