Hi
I have explained my pond setup in my post in the introductions section titled
'new hobby, new pond'.
I will go into detail about my experiences so far so get set!
Ok so I have two main problems at the moment.
1. Water level seems to be dropping (intermittantly?)
2. I have to much algae and muck throughout.
I also have some questions that I will ask at random stages.
===============================================================
When we moved in the previous owners told us that they had been topping up the pond with the hose when it got hot and the level dropped.
We have had the pond for six weeks now, and we have had to top up the pond about 6 or 7 times in that period. At first we knew nothing so we were just filling the pond with water from the hose like the owners had been doing, but now I know I have to dechlorinate the water. Although the chlorine can't have been good for the fish, they seemed to be reasonably happy and healthy.
The previous owners told us that there were initially only 5 or 6 fish and they have bred the others, which I found hard to believe given the circumstances!
Q. Is it true that fish will only breed when they are happy with their surroundings?
Q. is it true that fish will only breed if there is enough room in their immediate enviroment for them to live?
After speaking to the local store recently, he said I should only expect to see the water level drop by 10mm max per day from water evaporation, but the water has been dropping as much as 120mm in two days. The weird thing is that the water levels only seems to drop intermittently - it has stayed up for up to 5 days but then started to reduce.
The local store advised me to fill the pond up with declorinated water and switch the pump off, and keep an eye on the water levels in both pools which I am in the process of doing (I will check again in the morning). I have a gut feeling that there might be a crack in the liner of the upper pool.
Q. How long can I leave the pump switched off without causing a problem to the filter bacteria? It has already been off for 8 hours.
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I have replaced the old pump (impeller axle and casing was worn out) with a 1200 lph model (this was not calculated - just bought it cause I needed a quick fix!) and also replaced the piping up to the filter with 1" ribbed stuff - the old pipe was only about 10mm diameter and was providing really poor flow through the filter. The new pipe has probably increased the flow by about three times so I guess this must be good.
The upper pool is a bit more like a swamp underneath those lilly pads and I even saw a large wriggly thing in there the other day which I think may have been a leach! not sure though. I had a problem where the lilly pads were growing underneath the filter output and causing the water to splash out of the side of the pond but I have now sorted that problem by putting in a metal fence to stop the lillies growing under the filter.
Q. Is it bad to have large wriggly thingy's in your pond?
The increased flow from the filter has caused alot of the black muck and green slimy algae that was sat on the watercourse to get washed down into the lower pool which has really churned up the water and added to the problem that there is too much algae all over the sides and bottom of the liner anyway!
To be perfectly honest, I feel like renovating the whole setup because every part seems to have a problem! leaks, leaches, algae and sheets of black muck. Makes me want to start again and do a real proper job!
Sorry I have wrote so much and probably bored you to tears by now, but I wanted to give all the info to give you a better picture of the circumstances.
Any help / advice for a newbie is much appreciated!
Will try to upload some photos when possible!
Thanks for reading
Xenon50
I have explained my pond setup in my post in the introductions section titled
'new hobby, new pond'.
I will go into detail about my experiences so far so get set!
Ok so I have two main problems at the moment.
1. Water level seems to be dropping (intermittantly?)
2. I have to much algae and muck throughout.
I also have some questions that I will ask at random stages.
===============================================================
When we moved in the previous owners told us that they had been topping up the pond with the hose when it got hot and the level dropped.
We have had the pond for six weeks now, and we have had to top up the pond about 6 or 7 times in that period. At first we knew nothing so we were just filling the pond with water from the hose like the owners had been doing, but now I know I have to dechlorinate the water. Although the chlorine can't have been good for the fish, they seemed to be reasonably happy and healthy.
The previous owners told us that there were initially only 5 or 6 fish and they have bred the others, which I found hard to believe given the circumstances!
Q. Is it true that fish will only breed when they are happy with their surroundings?
Q. is it true that fish will only breed if there is enough room in their immediate enviroment for them to live?
After speaking to the local store recently, he said I should only expect to see the water level drop by 10mm max per day from water evaporation, but the water has been dropping as much as 120mm in two days. The weird thing is that the water levels only seems to drop intermittently - it has stayed up for up to 5 days but then started to reduce.
The local store advised me to fill the pond up with declorinated water and switch the pump off, and keep an eye on the water levels in both pools which I am in the process of doing (I will check again in the morning). I have a gut feeling that there might be a crack in the liner of the upper pool.
Q. How long can I leave the pump switched off without causing a problem to the filter bacteria? It has already been off for 8 hours.
=================================================================
I have replaced the old pump (impeller axle and casing was worn out) with a 1200 lph model (this was not calculated - just bought it cause I needed a quick fix!) and also replaced the piping up to the filter with 1" ribbed stuff - the old pipe was only about 10mm diameter and was providing really poor flow through the filter. The new pipe has probably increased the flow by about three times so I guess this must be good.
The upper pool is a bit more like a swamp underneath those lilly pads and I even saw a large wriggly thing in there the other day which I think may have been a leach! not sure though. I had a problem where the lilly pads were growing underneath the filter output and causing the water to splash out of the side of the pond but I have now sorted that problem by putting in a metal fence to stop the lillies growing under the filter.
Q. Is it bad to have large wriggly thingy's in your pond?
The increased flow from the filter has caused alot of the black muck and green slimy algae that was sat on the watercourse to get washed down into the lower pool which has really churned up the water and added to the problem that there is too much algae all over the sides and bottom of the liner anyway!
To be perfectly honest, I feel like renovating the whole setup because every part seems to have a problem! leaks, leaches, algae and sheets of black muck. Makes me want to start again and do a real proper job!
Sorry I have wrote so much and probably bored you to tears by now, but I wanted to give all the info to give you a better picture of the circumstances.
Any help / advice for a newbie is much appreciated!
Will try to upload some photos when possible!
Thanks for reading
Xenon50
