Netvines new small pond on the blocks

[netvine]

In addition to the 8 Anoxic Baskets in my upflow bog, I added today a simple diffuser in the fishless middle tank to stack some more of these BCB's on the bottom. Running the Periha 16000 now @60watts. Bucket test has about 900 gph through the waterfall and 1800 gph through the bog. Still testing Under 0.25ppm Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate, no evidence its cycled yet after 5 weeks, however the walls are turning a nice slippery green with algae.

Finally started to warm up, a hot day here this time of year is around 62 and very windy. Did lose one a few day back, his/her tail fin was partly missing but otherwise looked ok, did not look like ich to us. Remaining shubunkins seem very healthy(NEXTDAYKOI) added May 11-12?. learning a lot thanks to you all!

 

[Mgessert]

Could it be that your pond is cycling slowly due to the low temps, and the plants are taking up any nitrate produced?

 

[netvine]

Could it be that your pond is cycling slowly due to the low temps, and the plants are taking up any nitrate produced?

Sounds logical to me

 

[netvine]

I have now had a couple of small successful upgrades after a trail of failures and mistakes. the stock tank pond worked out better than we thought at first.

The sides of the stock tanks and Parrots feather got covered in algae and died off when pond cycled a week or two ago…. I had a ton of this algae just before my first visibible nitrate readings. long strands of it (string algae) and some other detritus clogged up the manifold pictured previously I put in the middle tank with anoxic baskets. This caused catastrophic failure so I took everything out.

I also added a bunch of little hornwort that I probably should have washed off first or treated with PP or bleach from playitkoi, just before the algae bloom. It was bad, but I was excited to finally have some nitrates… but the algae had to be manually cleaned off of the top of lilly leaves. Then the algae started to recede, but the water has been murky brown since! Visibility is only about 12”. I tried quilt batting and a few 15% water changes With no lasting effect.

I’ve done searches, and there is a lot of posts about brown water, but it does seem kinda subjective as every pond is different… anyone had any luck clearing brown water after comtainer pond cycled In a similar situation? Activated Carbon Some have written, overfeeding maybe, Am i being impatient again? Maybe my fish load is too much for current filtration…

The water never turned green, just brown So I assume I don’t need to install the uv. It’s been demoralizing a bit, as everyone here on the ranch was surprised how clear the water was before it cycled.

There does seem to be some things floating around when I do the bucket test, but it did seem that way when it was very clear as well. When I do the bucket test, (leaving it in a bucket overnight) the water still seems brown the next day… like tannins maybe? Not much settles on the bottom.

I used some polyquilt batting for a bit under the waterfall. but it didn’t really seem to do anything For clarity.

This last week I added a no niche skimmer so I’m not overwhelmed in the fall by pine needles, and a moving bed to keep up with the fish load of future additional tanks for aquaculture.

no more detectable, ammonia,nitrites or nitrates… ph seems to be steady around 7.6.

I am still learning a lot, having just set this up a couple months ago, it really is a lot of fun And very rewarding.

 

[netvine]

Fingers crossed for some first year blooms.

 

[netvine]

Do not underestimate the power of the bog!

 

[cas]

Very creative set-up! Your plants are doing great.
Did you ever get rid of the brown tint of your water? It can be caused by tannins from oak leaves, pollen, peat washed in from the yard, mulch, caterpillar dung, or from potted plants put into pond. Tannins could also be caused by barley, which is added to the pond to control algae. Pollen turns brown when it begins to decay.

 

[netvine]

Thank you cas, I think you are right it might have been from chopped up organic material and the algae bloom and death when it cycled. Its clear(er) again now but not quite like bottled water anymore.

I think What finally cleared it up was installing a no niche skimmer. The bulk of suspended stuff gets pulled into the skimmer, which I did not expect. The main 2” bulkhead that feeds the pump wasnt enough i guess. At least placed where it was midway on the back side, it did not seem to pull in all of the suspended solids.

String algae is still a big issue and when i remove it the water turns brown again All of the suspended stuff and surface stuff finds it way in the skimmer (you can visually see it) now. The media in the bog seems to trap most of the fines within 6-8 hours after it clouds up from using a toilet brush to remove the string algae.

Always build a bigger bog!

 

[netvine]

pic for clarity

 

[netvine]

 

[GBBUDD]

coming along nicely. seems your buddy likes the fishy water

 

[cas]

String algae is still a big issue and when i remove it the water turns brown again

I've not had it, but I have heard there is some suspended algae that is brown in color and not green. That could be what you are dealing with. When you are getting rid of the string algae, the suspended algae takes its place removing the excess nutrients.

 

[netvine]

I've not had it, but I have heard there is some suspended algae that is brown in color and not green. That could be what you are dealing with. When you are getting rid of the string algae, the suspended algae takes its place removing the excess nutrients.

That really does make sense. The brown stuff covers the hornwort, which doesnt seem to mind but doesnt look as good as the green beneath when i shake it off. When the brown algae first arrived it killed all the parrots feather.

The other thing that really got the brown water under control was taking GBBUDDs advice and we got a lot more conservative about feedings. Which supports the excess nutrient being the culprit. We save the “cheeseburgers” for special occasions like picture day and just use hikari sinking baby pellets in small amounts.

If/when i go in-ground, the bog is going to be at least half the surface area and volume of the pond itself! I cant help but think if i planned a 300 gallon bog instead of a 100 gallon excess nutrients might be less of an issue.

 

[Lisak1]

That's a lot of good sized fish for that volume of water - even if you aren't feeding as heavily, they are still producing waste through breathing.

 

[netvine]

That's a lot of good sized fish for that volume of water - even if you aren't feeding as heavily, they are still producing waste through breathing.

I hear ya, I know we’re pushing it, If safety becomes an issue for the goldfish we will have to add another 300 stock tank or go in ground….

…I dont want anyone to think we would risk the safety of pets. there is 4 cu ft of k2 boiling over 40lpm air in the moving bed filter(barrel with red top). Its flowing 550-600gph now. It draws half the water off the middle tank via gravity. Total of about 450-475 gallons total water volume (depending on how thirsty the horse has been). This size of a filter was probably overkill, but was fun to make.