Opinions on adding salt to pond

[Jersey_Marine]

My biggest problem is overthinking things and I know simplicity is sometimes best...I have 4 Koi approximately 20-24 inches long and a few of them are reaching 10lbs. I would hate to lose them. A big fear of mine are anchor worms and I was told the salt kills and prevents them...

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Here is some info to read on uses of salt: http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/disease/treatment/trtmnt.htm#salt

One good time to use salt is if you have detectable nitrite levels in your pond as the salt protects against nitrite poisoning.

 

[DoDad]

In Pond? No!
In Quarantine tank? Maybe!

 

[Jersey_Marine]

That 50+ lbs. of salt the guy advised you to use will never leave your system - evaporation and additional treatments in the future can result in salt levels high enough to stress your fish. The "stress coat" he referred to is actually a physiological response to the salt - it irritates the skin, resulting in excess mucus production. Just my two cents...

Of course it would leave the system. The pond gets drained and cleaned the beginning of spring

 

[fish pond Den]

I would add a little bit of the pond salt I use it for mine and it helpsthe fish with there colors and it's also good for the stress on the fish.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If riverine fish, like carp, needed or preferred a level of salt in the water, they would spend all of their time in the brackish waters of the river's delta. We know that they do not.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

If your pond is located in a wooded area a pond cleanout is necessary. If thats not done once a year there would be ten tons of leaves, sticks, pine needles and other natural things that shouldnt be in there. I found dead frogs and a mouse in my pond this spring during the cleaning. Pine needles take forever to decompose by themselves and all the other stuff creates harmful ammonia gasses. The decomposing things turns to nasty muck and gets stirred up during hard rain fowling up the water. Its impossible to keep everything out of the pond even with netting when you live in a wooded area. As long as the required bacteria is added to the pond after the water change I dont find any harm in it. My fish seem to be as healthy and as happy as they can possibly be and survived the nasty winter we had last year. The much, leaves, sticks and pine needles dont worry me as much when the filters are going with the waterfall and filter return creating water disruption oxygen, it worries me when the filter and waterfall is shut off for 5 months. During those 5 months the ammonis gasses fester without any added oxygen. In my opionion keeping the pond as free from muck, sticks, leaves, pine needles and dead animals keeps the ammonia gasses down more thsn if the stuff just accumalates year after year..

Actually there is another way, you can build properly sized skimmer to remove floating debris from the surface before it sinks and bottom drains to remove the stuff that does sink. However, routine cleaning is preferable to once a year clean out on ponds that do require manual cleaning. Also a fall (pre-winter) cleaning is probably even more important than Spring cleaning. And by cleaning I mean scooping out the debris with a scoop net, not draining the pond and removing the fish and pressure washing the liner, like some outfits do. That probably does more harm then good in most cases.

 

[Jersey_Marine]

Actually there is another way, you can build properly sized skimmer to remove floating debris from the surface before it sinks and bottom drains to remove the stuff that does sink. However, routine cleaning is preferable to once a year clean out on ponds that do require manual cleaning. Also a fall (pre-winter) cleaning is probably even more important than Spring cleaning. And by cleaning I mean scooping out the debris with a scoop net, not draining the pond and removing the fish and pressure washing the liner, like some outfits do. That probably does more harm then good in most cases.

You cant scoop muck out with a scoop net. It just gets stirred up and makes the water mucky. Come on you should know that! Look at your screen name

 

[Mucky_Waters]

You cant scoop muck out with a scoop net. It just gets stirred up and makes the water mucky. Come on you should know that! Look at your screen name

I'll take that as a joke, because you can't really be serious,,,,, right?
That's like saying you can't sweep your floor because the motion of sweeping causes dust to get kicked up.

 

[Jersey_Marine]

I'll take that as a joke, because you can't really be serious,,,,, right?
That's like saying you can't sweep your floor because the motion of sweeping causes dust to get kicked up.

Its not a joke. I have a garden pond not the Mississippi River in my backyard. I dont have 10 inches of thick quicksand type muck in my pond. I have some very fine decomposed leaves and debris that if I tried to scoop it out it just murks up the water. It happens when i have to get in the pond from time to time to do something

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Its not a joke. I have a garden pond not the Mississippi River in my backyard. I dont have 10 inches of thick quicksand type muck in my pond. I have some very fine decomposed leaves and debris that if I tried to scoop it out it just murks up the water. It happens when i have to get in the pond from time to time to do something

Others may argue the aesthetic aspect of a small amount of organic debris, and others still may argue the potential health hazards, but the truth be known a small level of organic detritus is truly beneficial (and necessary) for the maintaining of a nominal population and diversity of micro- and meio-organisms. Makes for a more stable eco-system.

 

[Tula]

I have some very fine decomposed leaves and debris that if I tried to scoop it out it just murks up the water. It happens when i have to get in the pond from time to time to do something

You might try a pool net, with very fine mesh. I bought one this year and am amazed how it collects "stuff" without stirring stuff up. I also like the long handle.

My pond sits under a cedar tree, that drops a lot of fine debris.

 

[sissy]

I have added some salt to my pond to help the koi with there slime coat but for 5000 gallons I don't even add a cup and that is mixed with water and is pond salt .That is usually only once a year and my well water has lots of iron in it per Pittsylvania County's demands that well now need to be tested at least 2 times a year in the county .I guess it has to do with farm run off and chemical run off .I really don't get leaves in my pond so won't comment on how many leaves your pond can take .After last year replacing my liner I sure would not want to start over with new water again,it is a hassle to take fish out and fill with new water and then the worrying about the fish when they go back in .It is to much for me any more ,i am not getting any younger .It is a nightmare enough for 1 person to deal with .I am hoping right now that my pond is not leaking .Sorry but just me and my getting older mind and body .

 

[sissy]

I'll take that as a joke, because you can't really be serious,,,,, right?
That's like saying you can't sweep your floor because the motion of sweeping causes dust to get kicked up.

LOL I open all the windows on a windy day which is often here .Let mother nature clean up after herself

 

[Mucky_Waters]

OK well first of all, any time you move anything around in your pond it's going to kick up some pond dust (we'll call it muck for lack of a better word). This is normal and will generally either settle back down in a couple hours, or be picked up by your mechanical filters. Secondly, if you had more of a timely scheduled for scooping up the leaves and needles in your pond, as I mentioned earlier, you would likely be able scoop a lot more of it up before it actually breaks down into that fine muck that is a lot harder to scoop out. Of course, as I also mentioned earlier, a pond designed with a good functioning skimmer and bottom drain would eliminate much of the need for manual pond cleaning.
It really comes down to the design of your pond, but removing all your fish and completely draining your pond every year is stressful on your fish and can upset the bio-balance of your pond, meaning you pretty much have to start from scratch every year.
It takes years to develop a really healthy coat of algae and nitrifying bacteria on the surface in your pond, and wiping them out every spring seems like a huge shame.