Pond Gone Bad

[adavisus]

co2 reflects energy back to the ground, its going to up night time temps, that means more record breaking temps

 

[samdaboni]

Would it be correct in saying the amount of muck at the bottom of the pond was the main factor in the fish dying? We have been using Aquaclear, sludge buster packets, and added bacteria every week, but it seemed like it couldn't handle the amount of muck accumulated. Also, I was constantly cleaning the filter media in the bio-falls and pond skimmer, almost everyday. Again, the pond contains 1,520 gal. The pump attached to the skimmer was a Tetra Pond pump rated at 1250 GPH. This led to the waterfall. The other pump also led to the waterfall, but was only used to increase the flow of water cascading into the pond. Were, and are these pumps sufficient for the size of the pond? I have included a picture of the pond, if that helps.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

co2 reflects energy back to the ground, its going to up night time temps, that means more record breaking temps

Yes, but as can be seen in the chart below, water temperature would need to get extremely warm for Oxygen levels to be greatly affected. Problems do not really arise for Koi until DO drops below 3 mg/l and for Goldfish much lower than that.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Would it be correct in saying the amount of muck at the bottom of the pond was the main factor in the fish dying? We have been using Aquaclear, sludge buster packets, and added bacteria every week, but it seemed like it couldn't handle the amount of muck accumulated. Also, I was constantly cleaning the filter media in the bio-falls and pond skimmer, almost everyday. Again, the pond contains 1,520 gal. The pump attached to the skimmer was a Tetra Pond pump rated at 1250 GPH. This led to the waterfall. The other pump also led to the waterfall, but was only used to increase the flow of water cascading into the pond. Were, and are these pumps sufficient for the size of the pond? I have included a picture of the pond, if that helps.View attachment 101875

If that 'foot of muck' had been there for sometime and was recently stirred up, then, quite possibly Hydrogen Sulfide gas was released. This is extremely toxic to all fish. You should have noticed a rotten egg odor coming from the pond.
If, however, this muck was not disturbed, then it sounds like a water quality issue weakened the fish immune system and opened them up to secondary infections or parasitism.

 

[Tula]

I think your pond would benefit from increased water circulation and an aerator. Very sorry about the loss of your fish Consider netting the pond in autumn, to prevent leaves from accumulating.

 

[CometKeith]

Also, I was constantly cleaning the filter media in the bio-falls and pond skimmer, almost everyday.

Hi. Sorry about your fish. That's a little strange about cleaning it so often. Where are you pumping water from? Close to the bottom? If so that explains why your filter was getting so dirty. Try raising your pump up so it's maybe just a foot or so below the water surface. Also do you clean it with pond water or tap water? Tap water that has chlorine will kill your beneficial bacteria. Also why you need to use sludge buster etc? I never add any chemicals to my pond except declor. If I have sludge it's pretty inert and doesn't bother anything so I would maybe scoop it up once a year. If you have plants they will utilize any nitrates that have been released into the water by your bb. I agree with comments from above that usually all the stuff you do will make it worse not better. I had green water this year. it went away after a few weeks by itself. The only thing I did was keep the water moving so there was plenty of dissolved oxygen.

 

[Usman]

i think the 1 ft muck was the reason for algae bloom too much organic waste was pilling up creating imbalance , shud have cleaned it more often the bottom

 

[cas]

I was constantly cleaning the filter media in the bio-falls and pond skimmer, almost everyday.

Very nice pond.
The media in the bio-falls is not meant to be cleaned everyday. A bio-filter contains live bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite, then nitrite to nitrate which is used up by the plants. If you are vigorously cleaning it, you are preventing the live bacteria from becoming established.
Since I have mechanical filtration before my bio-falls (in the skimmer), I only need to clean my bio-filter at the end of the year when I shut down my pump for the winter.

 

[Lisak1]

@cas and @CometKeith both make the same great point - you shouldn't be cleaning your filter daily. Your bio-filter isn't going to work properly if it's filled with muck daily. A pre-filter would help a lot as would getting the pump out of the muck. Also - a foot of muck? That's A LOT of gunk.