Hello from me & my little pond

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Lovely pond!

 

[Stephen Noble]

Welcome Barb! That’s a pretty pond.
Stephen

 

[Lisak1]

Pretty pond! I feel like there may have been a bit of spawning behavior going on there - all that chasing.

I would honestly consider draining the pond and getting the big rocks out. Even the 3-5" rocks are larger than you want in the pond bottom. Gravel is great - rocks are problematic, especially in a pond this small. You could get your bottom cleaned up AND increase your water volume at the same time.

And yes - too many fish. Those koi are going to double in size by next year and that's just the beginning. Time to start planning your new build! haha!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Barb. Welcome. You should not have to clean your filters every day. My guess is they are picking up sludge from the bottom and need to be raised up. When you clean your filters are you using non chlorinated water? I'm wondering if your pond has cycled at all. The beneficial bacteria needs some time to work before it can synthesize the ammonia and nitrites to less harmful components and constant cleaning will not help them get started. With all the problems you are having with the sludge and rocks I would vote for cleaning the pond out and starting out new. Personally I wouldn't feed until the ammonia readings are perfect and the pond has properly cycled. The fish will survive on algae! ... oh and you need to say goodby to the Koi unless you can expand the pond by at least 1000 gallons. Good luck!

 

[MitchM]

I couldn’t wait, heck darn the dr.
I want to take care of this!

API pond kit, solutions/test tubes, these are the only tests I have.

Wide range pH tested in a slower moving area +9 (filter here needs cleaning, will do Sun.)
Fast area 7.5-8
Nitrite 0
Phosphate 2.0 not surprised. I’m sure I’m over feeding + all the organics on the bottom
Ammonia, wide range >9!!, shallower, more flow 7.5-8
KH 3^-6^ dKH, or 89.5 German scale ppm
It took 5 drops to change solution from blue to yellow, so 5 drops x 17.8, 89.5

I ought to buffer to get my Kh up some, which will stabilize pH? If I’m correct, pure baking soda works, and I would need to calculate an amount.

I was able to capture the two fish! No external signs of parasites. Gills, mouth, eyes look a normal color. No fin shredding, no sores, cuts, weird skin areas. They were/are plenty feisty.

I think you must have mixed up a few numbers, maybe if you can go over your numbers and post them again it would help.
Your ammonia and PH numbers are identical, which isn't possible.
It's good that you didn't find any parasites upon visual inspection.

Your pond doesn't actually look all that bad, other than a few large rocks that would be impeding good water flow.
I would stop feeding, there is plenty for the fish to eat in there.
I would also stop adding any more bacteria, your pond is mature enough that it's got all the bacteria it needs.
Let us know the nitrate level as well.
Were there any other tests included in the pond kit you have?

 

[Barb & her pond]

I think you must have mixed up a few numbers, maybe if you can go over your numbers and post them again it would help.
Your ammonia and PH numbers are identical, which isn't possible.
It's good that you didn't find any parasites upon visual inspection.

Your pond doesn't actually look all that bad, other than a few large rocks that would be impeding good water flow.
I would stop feeding, there is plenty for the fish to eat in there.
I would also stop adding any more bacteria, your pond is mature enough that it's got all the bacteria it needs.
Let us know the nitrate level as well.
Were there any other tests included in the pond kit you have?

You’re right! I was hurrying and copied wrong. The pH numbers were correct.

Ammonia fell between .25 - 0ppm so there’s some, and I know zero is best.
Those are the only tests in the kit. I know I need nitrate. What others would you recommend?
GH?

Will do on no more microbe lift, and stop feeding.

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum, Barb!

 

[Barb & her pond]

Hi Barb. Welcome. You should not have to clean your filters every day. My guess is they are picking up sludge from the bottom and need to be raised up. When you clean your filters are you using non chlorinated water? I'm wondering if your pond has cycled at all. The beneficial bacteria needs some time to work before it can synthesize the ammonia and nitrites to less harmful components and constant cleaning will not help them get started. With all the problems you are having with the sludge and rocks I would vote for cleaning the pond out and starting out new. Personally I wouldn't feed until the ammonia readings are perfect and the pond has properly cycled. The fish will survive on algae! ... oh and you need to say goodby to the Koi unless you can expand the pond by at least 1000 gallons. Good luck!

Hi CometKeith!
Filters are def picking up sludge from the bottom. I use bucketed pond water to rinse the sponges, and I have lava rock in them that I don’t rinse. As soon as I pull them to clean the water is murkified, and it intensifies when I put them back. Heck, anytime I do anything in there it gets stirred up.
As MitchM pointed out, my ammonia test numbers were way off as I miscopied them..ammonia fell between .25 - 0ppm, so while not perfect it’s not as alarming as the extremely high results I posted

 

[Mmathis]

I’m confused about how the readings (pH and ammonia) can be different in different parts of the pond. Can someone explain this to me?

 

[Lisak1]

I wondered the same thing @Mmathis - if I had to guess I would say it's not an accurate test.

 

[Barb & her pond]

I wondered the same thing @Mmathis - if I had to guess I would say it's not an accurate test.

The ammonia test color fell in-between the color for .25 and 0 on the test color chart. That is straight forward.

The high pH reading was at the end of the pond that gets mid-late afternoon sun.
The lower reading was at the shadier end.

Probably not a good test. Pond ph is way different than reefing ph!

 

[Lisak1]

Probably not a good test

That's my guess, too. Your pH will vary from morning to evening, but I've never heard any report it being that different in two ends of the pond! (And that would be especially true of a pond as small as yours.)

 

[MitchM]

I wouldn't worry too much about the PH variances. Bring up your KH by adding baking soda. You can determine how much baking soda you need by using this calculator:
http://www.koiphen.com/forums/koicalcs.php?do=calckh
The calculator can be a little tricky to use, so let us know if you want some assistance with it.
Don't raise your KH by more than 20 ppm per day. Bring it up to about 120 - 160 ppm.
Check the KH after it's at the proper level every couple of weeks, more often if you're doing water changes. If you are doing water changes, test your source water for all the parameters as well.

As long as your ammonia is between 0 and 0.25, you're fine. As ammonia comes available the bacteria population will rise and fall, and so will the ammonia level.

You should have a nitrate kit and a GH kit in addition to what you're already got. The GH is rarely used, but it's still a good number to know.

.

 

[Mmathis]

But @MitchM, please explain how readings can be different when taken from different places within a pond. I understand how readings can differ if taken at different times, but shouldn’t ammonia and pH read the same if sampled from different places? I’m just confused.,...

 

[Barb & her pond]

I wouldn't worry too much about the PH variances. Bring up your KH by adding baking soda. You can determine how much baking soda you need by using this calculator:
http://www.koiphen.com/forums/koicalcs.php?do=calckh
The calculator can be a little tricky to use, so let us know if you want some assistance with it.
Don't raise your KH by more than 20 ppm per day. Bring it up to about 120 - 160 ppm.
Check the KH after it's at the proper level every couple of weeks, more often if you're doing water changes. If you are doing water changes, test your source water for all the parameters as well.

As long as your ammonia is between 0 and 0.25, you're fine. As ammonia comes available the bacteria population will rise and fall, and so will the ammonia level.

You should have a nitrate kit and a GH kit in addition to what you're already got. The GH is rarely used, but it's still a good number to know.

.

Great calculator! I used similar calculators with my reefs to figure out kalkwasser amounts, calcium, etc. for my corals.
I need to add a bit more than 3ozs baking soda, twice.
Ammonia tested the same as yesterday.
Ph was lower at about 7.5, tested once at the spot that gave me the 9 reading yesterday.

Thanks for your help, it’s definitely appreciated!