Really confused about water

[IPA]

IMO There isn’t any reason to change the water, it’s kind of the point and beauty of the pond vs the aquarium, even in the size you have, especially if you are using city water. They add phosphates and if like my city, add it way beyond the amount they put in during test day. Look up what the EPA tells you is safe and tell me you don’t go out and buy a Zero Water pitcher the next day. It keeps the pipes from scouring and releasing lead in the water and after Flint they error on the side of not getting sued. Algae loves phosphates. Some people swear you should do them so two different schools of thought I guess.
I ran a UV filter (and used city water) before I converted over to the bog; there are nice all-in-one filters if you need the boost. UV will clear up pea soup and keep the bacterial load in check. Get a good hardness test and in the mean time add baking soda (something like 1 cup per 1,000 gallons but double check) and use charcoal bags in your filter.
PS: and I think a lot but not all will agree, lilies don’t really count as plants as far using them to control algae and maintain healthy water, especially if you are having to fertilize them.

 

[Lisak1]

PS: and I think a lot but not all will agree, lilies don’t really count as plants as far using them to control algae and maintain healthy water, especially if you are having to fertilize them.

I agree with that assessment 100%. Lilies are heavy feeders, but don't seem to do much to control algae. Maybe if they were free to roam the pond they would help - in the pot, not so much.

 

[GBBUDD]

My two cents is the pond is too small for outdoors in Florida. people think that the larger ponds have to be soon much work when the fact is the smaller pond is where the work is. The temperature in a 350 gallon tub can fluctuate so fast from the hot sun that your fish can get so stressed out. Look at it this way when its 60 in the morning and it hits 90 by noon its not a enjoyable temperature change. fish do not do well with ANY quick changes be it Temps or ph or even ammonia.

 

[CometKeith]

IPA, thanks for your response. I have city water. When I add water I always use a spray nozzle and I always chlorinate. I recently, for evaporation, started using a 5 gallon bucket, filling it with water using the spray end of the hose, dechlorinating it and allowing it to siphon slowly into the pond. It takes about 30 minutes to put the whole 5 gallons in.

We had really tiny gravel before, but now it's big so it can be moved easily, and I have a pond vac that can get in between the rocks. I don't like to do that very often though, only when I see a build up. With this small of a pond though, I think I need to do at least monthly 10% water changes. Am I over thinking it? I am trying to increase the filtration, but alas the new filter (a pretty decorative urn with bioballs an a sponge in it that will flow into the water like a mini waterfall) is on back order.

I really think my biggest issue is I need more plants to fight the algae. I think I will get one or two potted hardy lilies (then I can take up some of those rock and put the pots on the liner). I'm also planning to get some "creeping" plants to put in the outer edges that can grow up the side walls. I just need to keep my fish alive long enough. I will be very sad if I lose my Freddie, she's been through so much!

Hi Dbarr. You are getting a lot of good advice. I think everyone that Is trying to help you Is very knowledgeable. A couple thoughts. One. Every pond is different. What works well for one person may not be as effective for you. Two. Avoid feeder fish at all costs. Even one sick feeder can kill a whole pond of healthy fish. Have you ever gone to those stores first thing in the morning? They are busy scooping up all the dead feeders that are floating at the top. Three. 80 degrees is too hot. You need to find a way to shade your pond. Also oxygen levels are lower at higher temps. Four. Give as much oxygen as possible. Happy and healthy fish love water with high levels of dissolved O2. Five. Never clean anything related to your pond with chlorinated water. It kills the good stuff ie bb. Six. We are all mass murders of poor little fish when we started ponding.. or at least I am. My oldest fish from a long time ago was the only one that survived my inexperience. Now he has lots of younger relatives all living happily in my pond. You are getting great advice . If you keep up the hard work you will eventually get the knack for having a successful pond and healthy and happy fish! If you want to see any pics of my fish you can look at the thread “my goldfish pond“ under the photography heading. Good luck with everything!

 

[Dbarr1575]

@CometKeith Thanks again for your time and great advice. So I do have the pond shaded most of the day with sun shades and umbrellas (I posted earlier that it only averages about 3 hours of full sun and even that is broken up by some shading from my pool screen). I'm just glad the pool screen is there because it cuts a percentage of the UV lights. The question I've been wondering lately is if I should put more plants in. I hear conflicting advice on this, some say too many plants are bad, others say can't have too many.

I just ordered a DO test kit and a good pond thermometer so I will know the temperature. I was told that I could float frozen water bottles in the pond to help chill it? Is that really a thing? I could definitely do that, but I will wait until I get my thermometer so I don't make it too cold.

I always dechlorinate water, either by putting enough in the pond if I have more than 5 gallons to add, or in a bucket before siphoning it slowly into the pond to replace for evaporation. Sadly, I learned that the hard way many years ago, as well, so many fishy deaths on my conscious.

I too have one that I'm trying to keep alive, she is the last from my inexperience and I'm hoping she survives the night, but I'm worried about the DO. Even though it's 4 am I'm going to go out and check on her to make sure they are not struggling. I added another air stone to help.

And, yes this last experience has taught me not to use the feeders. I am headed to my local fish breeder once I get every thing for sure and certain stable.

I really appreciate everyone's help, I just wish I knew more I could do to make sure they are getting oxygen. I mean I think I have a frozen water bottle right now I could go put in the pond!

 

[Dbarr1575]

My two cents is the pond is too small for outdoors in Florida. people think that the larger ponds have to be soon much work when the fact is the smaller pond is where the work is. The temperature in a 350 gallon tub can fluctuate so fast from the hot sun that your fish can get so stressed out. Look at it this way when its 60 in the morning and it hits 90 by noon its not a enjoyable temperature change. fish do not do well with ANY quick changes be it Temps or ph or even ammonia.

GBBUD I totally agree with you! Hindsight is truly 20/20. I wish the company that built it for me would have told me that, but he didn't know enough (talked a good game though) and I didn't know enough to know he knew nothing. LOL But here it is, I have it now so I'm going to make the best of it if I have to float ice bottles or zip lock bags of ice, or whatever. I can't afford to expand it right now, but I think I can find a way to make it work.

Thankfully it's supposed to rain today, so hopefully that will cool it off, and for the next few days temp fluctuation is not as big of a spread, worst one is Sunday where it's scheduled to be a low of 66 and next day a high of 89. I'm just really glad I had the foresight to add the sun shades over the pond, otherwise it would be a total disaster. And in another month will be lucky if it gets down to 75 at night. Yippee.

 

[Dbarr1575]

Hello everyone, I know I disappeared for a couple of months. I've been researching my issues and mourning the loss of all of my fish. So I discovered that the problem is run off from the rest of the area. I was shocked when I saw how much run off. So now I'm going to redo the front of the pond to raise the dirt part under the liner, and dig a small trench in front of that to keep that from happening. If anyone has any better ideas I'm all ears.

Some other things I've done, got a DO meter kit and have tested the DO twice, it's really great. I also am still going to add extra filtration through the small urn. I am looking to add more current to the water so am still researching the best way to do that. I am now semi-broke but am the proud owner of a thermometer (temp stays right about 82), salt meter, every test kit known to man, a fancy pond vacuum, and some new ornaments. I even have ice cube molds that I can use to freeze pond water to act as a chiller if it comes to that! LOL I have two new umbrellas that shade the pond in the afternoon in addition to the sun shades. I only allow it to have full morning sun until about noon. Right now the PH is high, but I think that's because of all of the rain and the run off problem. Hopefully, solving the later will fix the former.

And most exciting of all, I found some local goldfish breeders (through a reputable LSF) who specialize in goldfish that are acclimated to our very particular climate! Yippee. I have to say the tub they had the fish in at the store was smaller and shallower than my pond with less shade and the fish were doing great. Once I get the run off problem completely solved I'm going to get a couple of these fish and hopefully will have some good luck for a change. They are just regular comets, but I also made contact with a fish breeder about two hours away that has shibunkins that they keep in shallow ponds and who are acclimated to the Florida climate. Hopefully I'll be able to eventually get some of these. The LSF said he would buy back the comets when they get to big for the pond. My goal is to hopefully get the run off problem fixed in the next week or so, then let it settle for a couple more weeks then get two of the comets. I'll have my back up tank cleaned and running just in case I have to take the fish out due to issues I can't see. But the fish store is going to work with me to make sure the water is good. He's very encouraged that I've been able to keep my snails alive through all of this!

Anyway, Thanks to all of you for your help through this crisis and I'll post again once it's done and I have new fishy friends. Stay safe!

 

[IPA]

My first pond was a preformed liner and spent one rainy day digging the whole thing up to raise it six inches for the very same reason.

 

[Mmathis]

Keep us posted!

 

[CliffandJoann]

Your pond is small for Florida. Do you have rocks on the bottom? If so, I think you would
benefit to remove them. Also, water movement is important, You can use splitters to
have more little waterfalls instead of just one...We have four small waterfalls in our pond.
We never use our big waterfall, as I prefer the smaller ones.

Get yourself an aerator or two is even better, they are cheep only a couple of bucks...
try walmart or a pet store. The fish will benefit from the extra water movement.