New pond build

[addy1]

looking good! I have bought cheap new carpet padding and used that, it works great.

 

[Ryan hicks]

Thanks

I know a carpet fitter so will give him a ring

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks

I know a carpet fitter so will give him a ring

How lucky can you get!!! Yes, I totally agree with carpet. I've seen where people have used straw or newspaper. That might work just fine, but since those are organic materials, they're going to break down over time -- which might not be a problem, but it would bother me.

 

[Ryan hicks]

Had a busy weekend and good progress has been made. After getting hold of my mate I managed to get a roll of 10mm carpet underlay for £20 which worked a treat. Pond liner went in and started to fill will water.

Electrics installed
Pump and filter installed.

It's now looking like this.

My main issue which I thought may happen is the pump was from my old small pond and is only 2000lph and the flow is very slow.

Also I don't like that I can see the filter as this one has to be above the level of the pond for it to flow out.

What do people recommend for pump and filters baring in mind my pond is now about 7000L.

My last question is when would be a good time to put my fish I to the new pond.

Thanks

 

[addy1]

Looking great! The pond needs to cycle it will take some time.

per

http://www.pondarmor.com/how-long-before-you-can-put-fish-in-your-pond/

Whoa! Hold it right there partner! This is a critical point in the next phase of your pond. What you do next might spell absolute success or just as easily spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. Yep, disaster. You want to add a bunch of fish, but I will tell you right now, be patient.

Let’s walk through the needs of your pond right now. Yes, you have a filter in place, but what is it doing? For the moment, pretty much nothing but passing water back into your pond. It’s missing one essential thing. Bacteria. You filter needs a bacteria colony that will break down the fish waste.

Ok, so how do you get a bacteria colony in there? Some people say that you can add water from another pond into yours as sort of a starter bacteria colony. This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons.

First, the bacteria that might be in the water you collected are not likely to survive the trip to your pond. They are fragile to a certain extent. So what you end up dumping into your water could be nothing more than someone else’s dirty water. Speaking of dirty water, what if that friend of yours does not know he water has some sort of parasite in it?

You read that correctly! Now you have effectively transferred that parasite to your water where it will wait for your fish. With as many nasty Koi diseases and parasites out there today, transferring water like that is just not a safe bet.

The best way to create a bacteria colony is to start small. Get one fish. Let that fish eat and produce waste in a quantity that the bacteria can actually handle. The colony will grow pretty quickly, but at this early stage, you do not want to over load it.

So you start with one fish. Now keep a log of when the fish was added and head out to the local pond shop and get yourself a good water test kit. The kit should include at least the following:

• Ammonia Test
• Nitrite Test
• Nitrate Test
• Ph Test

The first thing that will start to be affected in your pond will be the ammonia content of the water. Ammonia is produced after the fish eats as well as when he exhales. If the levels grow too large, the fish can be poisoned an ultimately die. So test the water regularly for the next week and log your results in your log book.

You will notice the level of ammonia increase during this time. Your job will be to keep this level as close to zero as possible. However, because you are also trying to build a bacteria colony, this may not be an easy task. If you do water changes during this time, keep them minimal so as to not flush too much bacteria away too.

You can use an ammonia blocker for the time being. The ammonia blockers serve to encapsulate the ammonia molecules so that they are less effective against the fish. They usually do not hinder the bacteria growing process though.

What you are going to notice over time will be the ammonia spike dropping and eventually reading zero. Typically what will happen next is the nitrite levels will rise at this point. This is because new bacteria will emerge and start eating the waste produced by the bacteria that ate the ammonia.

You will also notice algae spikes as well. Do not worry about these because as the pond cycles, the algae will go away as well. After the pond has gone through a complete cycle and all levels (except Ph) read zero, you’ll be able to gradually add more fish.

It is not recommended that you add a whole bunch of fish at one time or you risk the possibility of an ammonia spike again. This would throw your water chemistry off again and you’d have to fight the pond until you got it under control. The whole cycling process usually takes about a month or so to complete. Be patient and your pond will reward you.

 

[Ryan hicks]

My other problem is that my old pond that was tempory in another place in the garden now has no pump or filter so I need to more the fish as quickly as possible

 

[addy1]

Start moving a few, test constantly the water, really watch the ammonia level. Have a ammonia binder in case it gets out of control.

 

[Ryan hicks]

Thanks mate

 

[addy1]

Water changes will help also.

 

[Mmathis]

Way to go, @addy1! This should be a sticky!

 

[Gordo33]

My other problem is that my old pond that was tempory in another place in the garden now has no pump or filter so I need to more the fish as quickly as possible

If your original pump and filter is connected to your new pond then the filter media should have beneficial bacteria still thriving. If I read your post correct you had your pump and filter connected to the temporary tank while building the new pond. So if there was no time lapse connecting your existing pump and filter from the temporary tank to the new pond the bacteria will still manage the existing fish load even though the pond size is bigger. Also it looked like there where stones in the temporary tank. If this is correct place some of them in your pond because there will be benificial bacteria within the pores of the stone.

Like @addy1 advised add fish slowly and add media to the pond to increase where the benificial bacteria can colonize. You stated you were looking to upgrade your pump to increase water flow. Do you plan to increase the filter size? Plant roots floating in the water is a natural way to increase surface area for bacterial colonize.

 

[Usman]

My other problem is that my old pond that was tempory in another place in the garden now has no pump or filter so I need to more the fish as quickly as possible

u can add old pond water few galons every day in new one keep adding until u have half old water in it and add stones plants from old pond they will have alot of org and usefull bacteria and leave it cooking for a week or so , even that just staying there without runing water will help too , u can use pump timt to time if its easy . then add ue old filter with old media for some time it shud b good to go , its good idea to have small fish 1st and see how its going , also it wil help in amonia cycle , it will not die without pump .

 

[Ryan hicks]

Pond now complete

 

[addy1]

Very nice looking! Great job!

 

[Ryan hicks]

Pond now painted and a little rockery added