I need help and advice

[sissy]

my first house had to have the pipes replaced and I used copper but pex is so much easier to work with .Michigan had the water problems because of where the water came from and how they treated it .It caused all the old stuff in the older houses and older water lines to break down all the built up stuff in all the pipes and that is the main reason they had issue's.They still have the story on the internet .Same is happening here in Danville VA ,when the changed where the water came from and started to treat it and older homes had problems that had all the old pipes running to them and in them .I had a refrigerator line that was copper to my ice and water maker and the iron in my water caused small pinholes in it that damaged my floors .Thing is I had plastic line before that and lowes when I got new fridge put in the copper line and a year later it leaked .I now have braided steel on everything .From toilets to sinks and washer and dishwasher .I have a whole house water filter that cleans it's self every morning at 7 am and it was just replaced by a new one because the other one was damaged by a plumber .That is another reason I am scared of contractors .Reason I am doing my own floors also

 

[MIKES KOI]

I have never witnessed any stress to my fish from water changes. In fact, they seem to enjoy them, playing in the water splashing from the hose into the pond. I do have good well water, so nothing bad is being introduced. I realize I'm lucky that way and it's not the case for everyone.

I don't understand how giving fish some fresh water is seen as a bad thing. Some people think the beneficial bacteria lives in the water, but that is not the case. That bacteria lives in the filter media and on surfaces in the pond, not the water itself. 100% of the water could be changed with no negative effect on the cycle.

Just my opinion, and I seem to be in the minority here. This is what I was taught to do by some of the most respected fish keepers in the business. But every person has their own beliefs and practices and we all have to do what we feel works best for each of us.

you are correct, what i was trying to get across is not all tap water is the same.some contain chloramines, and of course chlorine. if people dont treat for these especially the chloramines which can last for weeks if you water conditioner dont kill them off you would be surprised what some places have for tap water, these left un treated will stress fish..i see a lot of pond keepers [new] that put tap water right in from hose...with no water filter in line...same people will do a water change by letting water out/ the add direct in pond with hose. then they add a conditioner to the whole pond. so if they drop the water say 500 gal to a 2000 gal pond, they. add the 500 back then treat the whole pond with a conditioner for 500 gal . i always recommend, a in line filter, and a separate tub so to treat the tub to remove what is needed. by treatments.before you add it to the pond..every year i hear of people who forget the hose is running and leave it in and boom you got dead fish.hope this makes sense. water changes are not bad at all, if done the right way. i get calls each year from people i can get rid of the ammonia in pond! i treat and treat still got it. they dont realize there is 2 different kinds of ammonia and it coming from the tap water.....nice to meet ya. mike

 

[j.w]

So true @MIKES KOI we went to my SIL's house for Christmas dinner and I got some water to drink from her faucet. Took one drink and that's it. It smelled and tasted like strong and I mean strong swimming pool water. Asked my nephew to taste it too and he agreed. Bad tasting stuff! We have well water and I use that for my pond w/no issues.

 

[MIKES KOI]

thanks for the kind words. well water has some issues also. i will explain . #1 cold extreme cold water, #2 ph you gotta watch it close.#3 OXYGEN every well i ever saw has none .#4 minerals . depends on where you live. these 4 things i see a lot..but it does have a lot of benefits.

 

[GBBUDD]

Looks like we are wasting our breath the author of the post has not added any further posts

 

[j.w]

That's ok @GBBUDD cuz we don't mind talking to ourselves and I know you of all people will understand @Gbbudd2

@MIKES KOI I never add any water to my pond in winter. Whenever I do add any water I raise the hose up high so it splashes and agitates so as to work up the oxygen. Never had a bad ph in all my 16 yrs or so when testing so far on our well water here. I must confess I don't test anything anymore. That doesn't mean new pond owners shouldn't test. Maybe after 10 yrs or so you'd be ok tho unless you are having fish issues.

 

[Tula]

Looks like we are wasting our breath the author of the post has not added any further posts

I noticed that too...but hey we enjoy discussing stuff amongst ourselves

 

[GBBUDD]

With 30 koi some 3 years old now if not 4 . in other words some larger koi even with my 5'-6" deep 10,000 gallons i am not willing to just shut down the pond and have a small heater to keep an air exchange open. i am running a 120 which i way over kill to two 9" rubber bladders but i do two things i feel are key . 1.1 i do not allow the bottom of the pond to be disturbed the air bladder is in a foot and a half deep. And 2 the air source in inside a walk out basement enclosure while it is not heated it is not freezing either. the o2 levels are not a concern over the 4 to 5 months it's shut down and co2 build up in mute as well.

 

[Jhn]

With 30 koi some 3 years old now if not 4 . in other words some larger koi even with my 5'-6" deep 10,000 gallons i am not willing to just shut down the pond and have a small heater to keep an air exchange open. i am running a 120 which i way over kill to two 9" rubber bladders but i do two things i feel are key . 1.1 i do not allow the bottom of the pond to be disturbed the air bladder is in a foot and a half deep. And 2 the air source in inside a walk out basement enclosure while it is not heated it is not freezing either. the o2 levels are not a concern over the 4 to 5 months it's shut down and co2 build up in mute as well.

I agree, have never shut my ponds down in all the years, I have kept a pond. Except the very first year I built my first pond roughly 30 years ago, I shut it down except for the floating heater, of course lost the couple koi I had. Why, because everyone I talked to that had more “experience” than me said you can’t leave your pumps running it will make the water too cold and kill your koi. Since then, I have never shut my ponds down and haven’t lost a koi over the winter since....Now Not taking a chance on all the fish and turtles that are in there being left to that little floating heater. Like you, I don’t have any pumps at the deep part of the pond disturbing the pond bottom.

On a side not last winter I put a pond breather in a 300 gallon above ground stock tank, with goldfish in it and the gold fish made it. The ice was thick in there and there was nothing around the pond to insulate it, so that water at the bottom of the stock tank had to be just above freezing. The goldfish where small only a few inches long, though. I remember reading the study either Meyer Jordan or MitchM posted about goldfish surviving being frozen, so I wasn’t too surprised they survived being in the stock tank.

 

[GBBUDD]

MitchM

Have not seen a post from Mitch since he finished adding bentonite to his new pond. has anyone seen anything from him?

 

[j.w]

@GBBUDD Ok so when I post this @MitchM it does not come up w/a box to choose his name like it does for everyone else. I wonder if he quit the forum or what? I just did a search, I put in pond build and then his name as for who to search and it does come up w/all his posts tho.

 

[Lisak1]

Bentonite lined pond

This thread is for the general discussion of the Item Bentonite lined pond. Please add to the discussion here.

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[Lisak1]

I still see him @j.w

 

[j.w]

@Lisak1 It's just when I type his name like this @MitchM you know how when you type the first few letters a drop down menu appears and you can choose a member? Well for me his does not appear in the list. Everyone else's does. Does it for you?

 

[mrsclem]

He hasn't posted since 6/16/2019. He may be buried in snow!