New Pond owner with Lots of Questions

[MitchM]

The important thing is to test at the same time each day.
I like to test early in the day, because that's before the pond is subject to any effects from sunlight and algae oxygen production which can vary depending on the weather.

 

[Jacob]

Sounds good.

Another question, which I don't believe to be a problem, the fish haven't seem interested in food since I cleaned the pond. I'm not terribly worried because they seem to be eating on the lily roots that are exposed, and take a small amount of food. I figured as soon as they finish off the accessible roots, they'll go back to the food.

Comments?

 

[MitchM]

I don't feed my fish at all, if there is any algae present, they will graze on that for now.
Any food you add will remain uneaten and contribute to the ammonia level.
Fish won't eat if they are stressed.

 

[Jacob]

Reading from today.

Friday 15 April at 0800

pH: 8.5
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.0
Phosphate: 0.25>

So, my ammonia and phosphate levels have gone down. This is probably due to the ammonia binder I added yesterday. I only ended up doing about half the recommend amount because I found a sizable leak in my pump/filter hose. Ordered a new hose hope to have it by this weekend.

Additional information. I found a Tetra Pressurized Biological filter in the back of the storage shed. I've pulled up info online about it, and I suspect it is supposed to be part of the pond system. It looks like most of it is there, I just don't know if it works yet. If anyone has any experience with them let me know, I can PM them for help getting it in working order.

So the plan for now, is to get the biological filter in working order by the time the new hosing gets here. Get the filter into place and hopefully that will make a big difference. I'm also planning on doing so DIY-type plumbing that will force the water to the bottom of the waterfall filter box so that it will function more properly.

Any new advice? Should I do the other half of the ammonia treatment? I'm having to add about 10% of the volume of the water to the pond due to the cracked hose. So I could add it when I do the de-chlorination when I add the water.

 

[MitchM]

You should add the total amount of ammonia binder. Which binder are you using?
What are you using for an ammonia testing kit? It may only read total ammonia, (NH3 plus NH4) not just the more hazardous NH3.
Your fish need to be protected from NH3 as much as possible.

 

[Jacob]

I'm using Top Fin Pond Ammonia Remover. Testing kit is the API Pond Master Test Kit. From the information from the test kit, I take the temperature of the water and use the calculator that was presented earlier in this thread from koiphen.com.

 

[MitchM]

I would continue measuring the ammonia level daily and have enough ammonia binder on hand so you can fully dose the pond every 48 hours.
It's encouraging that your ammonia level is reading .25 at this point.

 

[Jacob]

Do you think that with this new filter I found, things will/should run better in general. I have high hopes because, as far as I can tell, I have very little to no actual filtering going on.

 

[MitchM]

Yes, if you found a filter that needs a little tlc to get going, that's a good thing.

The best approach to keeping a pond is to keep the water moving and to remove the extra detritus in order to keep a pond water chemistry balanced.

 

[Jacob]

Do I need to add anything to the biological filter to get the bacteria colonies started? Or will that take care of itself?

 

[MitchM]

It will take care of itself

 

[Jacob]

16 April 59F

pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.0
Phosphate: 0.0

So, the ammonia seems to be getting better. I have filter media getting here Monday. Hopefully I get the biofilter started then. I'm anticipating getting the ammonia to zero after I get this filter setup.

 

[sissy]

You can put quilt batting in a crate and put your water going into it .

 

[Jacob]

Monitoring continues. Still hovering around 0.25ppm ammonia. According to the calculator from koiphen.com, I'm still within quality. Still waiting on my hose to come so I can hook-up my filter. KH strips went to the wrong family member, and are on order again. Will keep advised.

I really appreciate all the help and insight everyone has provided!

-jake

 

[Jacob]

Just an update:

After getting the 1.5'' hosing, the waterfall filter couldn't contain all the water. I ended up making a diffuser of sorts from some pvc. It took the edge off the flow, and adds, maybe, a little more aeration.

pH: 7.0
Ammonia: 0.25 -(I feel like I'll never match the yellow color the card says the liquid is supposed to be for 0.0)
Nitrite: 0.0
Phosphate: 0.0

My pH level did a slow dive to 7.0, and has held there. Still hoping once the bacteria colonies get situated, I can get that ammonia level to 0.0. According to the koiphen.com calculator, my free ammonia is .001, so I'm staying positive with that.

Thanks again!