Woke up to a nasty pond!

[Neo]

After a lot of rain lately my pond has been muddy to say the least but it was clearing slowly with the use of quilt batting and water changes. I noticed the pond really starting to clear up over the last week except for the brown coffee or tea tint but otherwise clear.

Today I went outside to do my morning check of the pond and half the pond was covered with white foam and the water smelled very fishy, like river water. The fish are also acting a little strange, just slowly swimming around at the bottom and not wanting to eat.

I just took out the left front corner wall that I built for plants and added a net in the front to hold the hyacinths yesterday and stirred up quite a bit of muck because water wasn't moving where the plants had been so I thought maybe I had released DOC's.

This is net setup with hyacinths -

Then I checked the net and found this. -

I'm guessing they are fish eggs but the odd thing is they are inside the net where fish shouldn't get, unless the eggs worked to the inside somehow. They are everywhere also, probably thousands of them!

I guess My question is, should I try to clear this up? or should I wait it out in case it was just from spawning?
I also did a water test, here are the results.

PH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0.50
nitrite - 0.25
Phosphate - 1.0

 

[mrsclem]

Your fish have spawned. I have plant rings to protect my plants and during a spawn these are the choice place for laying eggs. I usually find 1 or 2 females inside the plant rings. If you don't want more fish, clean them. Wish I had that luck, pulled the plants from mine last week and moved them to a separate tank after a spawn but nothing hatched-

 

[dieselplower]

Looks like the question was answered now I'm Just curious why so much debris gets into your pond when it rains?

 

[Neo]

I just built the pond in March so it is new and I underestimated the downhill slope that is our backyard. I have since fixed it with a retaining wall and overflow spot.

 

[koiguy1969]

when the fish spawn..the eggs arent gentley laid. they are spewed out under pressure. they can be a couple of feet from where theyre expelled. they spray the roots of my hyacinths that are in "fenced" containers.

 

[DrCase]

Fish must be Happy

 

[Dave 54]

You'll need to watch your ammonia levels and be prepared to act fast to rectify the problem.


rgrds

Dave

 

[Neo]

If ammonia spikes what is the quickest way to bring the levels down? It has already risen a little since the spawn.

 

[richyd]

If ammonia spikes what is the quickest way to bring the levels down? It has already risen a little since the spawn.

When I had an ammonia spike a couple of months back I did some gradual 20% water changes. Worked for me

 

[callingcolleen1]

Make sure your floating water plants are not taking over the pond, as they can act like a blanket and "smother" the pond to death! The floating water hyacinths can grow like the weed that they really are, and trap gases like ammonia in the water! They can also reduce the oxygen levels in the pond to dangerously low levels! Thin out the floaters and garbage them weekly during peak growing weather.

A partial water change would help as well, and increase the flow of water in pond with extra pump and filtration, till the fish look like they have perked up". I hooked up extra spitters to increase water flow last week as the caterpiller dung is really heavy this time of the year. The water in my pond is turning quite dark as a result of the caterpiller dung, and it does add to the pond waste load for sure, but it also makes my sedges grow really really big too!

 

[Dave 54]

There is a mictobe+;lift product for Ammomia and nitite available in their range of pond treatments you could try that to give you a little breathing space until you get things sorted out with the pond .

rgrds

Dave

 

[Neo]

Thanks guys! Love your pond Colleen! What is that globe light in the middle of the pond?

Things seemed to have gotten back to normal for the most part now, fish are back to swimming happily and eating like normal again. I'm going to test the water later to make sure though. I did a small water change and added a bigger pump with filters on the spitter.

I have the net at the front of the pond that I attached to two vegetable garden poles to keep the floaters in line and the koi from munching on the roots . I also have three other small ponds with no fish to decorate so extras just get moved around. I'm sure now I'll find babies in all of them from moving the hyacinths though.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Looks good Nick! they are not too crowd yet, but I know how fast they can spread and take over pond when weather gets hot during the summer. Your spitters is working nicely now, and it looks good and blends nice with the surroundings. I see the fish are looking colorful and enjoying the nice lillys.

My big clear ball lights up at night, it is a floating pond light that I got from the pet store last month on sale. The yellow flag water iris was very small still when I took this picture last month...