Pond was clear - but bottom was disturbed

[Catfishnut]

Good Morning!

Again, I can not thank you enough for all the advice!

I have good news! The pond is CLEAR! The quilt batting worked. I added it last night and by this morning it was pretty much back to clear. I will add my larger filter as soon as my Dad can help with it, hopefully tomorrow, since flirtation is obviously a problem.

Gordon, thanks for the advice on the snow/sand fences. I think I will just try to add a thicker layer plants along the edges and see how that does.

I will take every one's advice and not add rocks to the bottom of the pond.

The walls of my pond are bare, but with the algae and the sand sticking to the algae, it has a natural feel to it that I am liking. Same with the bottom.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFORMATION!!!! I'm off to work on the waterfall now. So watch out for questions from me!

I will try to get a picture of a wild iguana swimming in the pond so you guys can have a chuckle at my challenges here.

Priscilla,

That idea, the use of "plants" around the pond would actually be akin to setting up a snowfence. So you are very right in that thinking. A snow fence needs to be porous (open so that wind actually blows through it, but it offers some restriction). Some medium height grasses or dense plants would serve the same use as a theoretical snow fence. The concept would be the same, so what you would need to do is pick the right plants and grow them, install them, at the proper distance from the pond's edge to make them serve as your "silt" barrier.

A few rows of ornamental flowers and decorative tall grasses would trap the sand and silt before they drop into your pond, just the same as a "snow fence" would trap and drop the snow before it piles up on your driveway. The notion of installing a "fence" was meant to simply be a descriptive term. The "silt fence" could be a lattice, a birm "hump" or several rows of flowers and shrubery.

Gordy

 

[sissy]

Yeh like they do around the shore areas they put in that switch grass to keep the beach from eroding away .I know I use grasses ,just may have to watch there since everything grows so fast and grows all year round ..Here at least we have a die back season ,some more than others .I know my plants are not really dieing back at all this winter .Supposed to be 60 degrees today and then only 40 tomorrow .

 

[Lisak1]

I know you meant "filtration" but this made me chuckle - "since flirtation is obviously a problem".

"I will take every one's advice and not add rocks to the bottom of the pond."

Well, that would be some people's advice! There are a few of us with rock bottomed ponds who believe your pond can be both beautiful and healthy with the addition of large gravel to the bottom of the pond. Every pond is different; every ponder is different. I just like to keep putting it out there that the "no rocks in the pond" approach is not written in stone - ha! My pond is crystal clear, my fish are healthy, my bottom is not covered with muck and my rocks are not "ugly" - in fact we enjoy the look of the gravel bottom in our pond. We ascribe to the philosophy that the gravel gives the good bacteria extra surface area to cling to and multiply, helping to maintain the balance in the pond.

No advice - just sharing another experience!

 

[sissy]

love in and around the pond :cheerful: I guess if you have great filtration and less fish and feed less you can get away with rock on the bottom .I do like them and did have a few on the bottom but they were larger rocks just to hold plants up higher .I tried river rock but they turned black and slimy

 

[Priscilla]

Hi All,

My pond is crystal clear again. I've been stirring up the bottom around the pump and moving the pump, to filter out some of the 'stuff' on the bottom.

My question this time is around cleaning of the pond. I've read people empty about 25% of the water and then add new water. How often should I do this? Is that all to 'cleaning the pond'? Just let some water out and add new water?

I don't have a pond tester kit yet, my mother in law is bringing one for me from Seattle in about two weeks (joys of island life). Here's my water situation. I filled the pond with well water. The island is a limestone island. I took some water to the pet store to have it tested and the guy said it was very soft water (the test showed very light purple - the guy doesn't speak good English, so its hard to have a good conversation with him). He told me to use tap water when I added water next time and that the chorine with just dissolve and just adding a little wouldn't hurt the fish. He said that's what they do at the store - BUT I often see dead fish in their tanks. So I don't really trust him.

My options for water are city water, well water and well water ran through an RO system.

Our rain here is also very soft (according to the pet store guy - whom I don't trust).

So should I just keep adding well water to the pond? He said I could end up with too many minerals in the pond. I have lots of plants in there (probably too many honestly and am worried about oxygen levels, so I will probably add another waterfall). The pond is between 12 - 14 feet wide - sort of like an uneven circle. Right now I have 7 fantails (small), 3 koi (small) 1 full grown tilapia, 6 small fish (maybe guppies), two cleaning fish.

Thoughts please - without getting too technical as I don't understand all the terms yet.

Thanks a million!

 

[sissy]

If your ph is low you can add baking soda .But not sure how low your ph could be until you can get your liquid water test ,which I hope that is what she is bringing .

 

[Priscilla]

Yes, it is the liquid water test. Any thoughts around how often and how to 'clean' the pond?

Thanks for the baking soda tip!

 

[sissy]

crushed oyster shells help keep ph stable also .I would just get a pool net and net the junk from the bottom when you see it .You should be able to tell when that needs done and then just keep the quilt batting for all the fine stuff you stir up .