Help with pond...
Discussion
Inherited a pond with a house last year. It's a fair size and has a selection of fish, including goldfish, grass carp and two good size ghost carp. It's about 800 gallons.
The previous house owner does not appear to have known what he was doing, with household cable in a garden hose for power:yikes:, stupidly small pumps and filters and a blanketweed problem.
I emptied, cleaned and refilled, fitting new pumps and filters upto the job. Got an excellent blanketweed solution off the net and all was looking well, clear water and happy, non-mouthing fish.
Last week the water has become murkey(sp), and the pond has an infestation of very small leech-type bugs especially in and around the filters.
Everything appears to be working as it should do, but these little blighters are worrying me now!
Any thoughts???
The previous house owner does not appear to have known what he was doing, with household cable in a garden hose for power:yikes:, stupidly small pumps and filters and a blanketweed problem.
I emptied, cleaned and refilled, fitting new pumps and filters upto the job. Got an excellent blanketweed solution off the net and all was looking well, clear water and happy, non-mouthing fish.
Last week the water has become murkey(sp), and the pond has an infestation of very small leech-type bugs especially in and around the filters.
Everything appears to be working as it should do, but these little blighters are worrying me now!
Any thoughts???
I don't think they are mossie.
They look small and black but if you try to wash them off with a hose they stretch to about an inch in length and hang on like an immigrant to the underside of the eurostar.
Annoying me now. I never particularly wanted a pond but now I have one, I like it and want it to be right.
They look small and black but if you try to wash them off with a hose they stretch to about an inch in length and hang on like an immigrant to the underside of the eurostar.
Annoying me now. I never particularly wanted a pond but now I have one, I like it and want it to be right.
mastiff said:
You are a star B17NNS!!!!
I have not checked that the UV light (built into the filter) is working.
Thanks mate, that could well be the problem.
The UV light will not help with what sounds like a flat worm infestation. Fisrt thing to do is to check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If these are high you'll need to do a 50% water change, it may be that your biological filter (all the foam or ceramic blocks) is either not up to the job or (more likely) not mature enough. Whenever you clean your filter DO NOT use tap water, the chlorine will kill the filter bacteria.
Be careful when checking the UV lamp unless your eyesight isn't all that important to you
The other thing is not to worry about the water being a little green. This is due to high nitrate which means your filter is working (i.e its turning ammonia from the fish into nitrate). There are ways of getting rid of nitrate using either barley straw or if you have the time and inclination you can make a biological filter using water cress. All you need to do is to pump the pond water (after filtration) into a container full of water cress, the cress will take up the nitrate and provide a some home grown salad
A final point would be to fit a venturi to the outflow of your filter to oxygenate the water.
MilnerR said:
The UV light will not help with what sounds like a flat worm infestation. Fisrt thing to do is to check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If these are high you'll need to do a 50% water change, it may be that your biological filter (all the foam or ceramic blocks) is either not up to the job or (more likely) not mature enough. Whenever you clean your filter DO NOT use tap water, the chlorine will kill the filter bacteria.
Be careful when checking the UV lamp unless your eyesight isn't all that important to you
The other thing is not to worry about the water being a little green. This is due to high nitrate which means your filter is working (i.e its turning ammonia from the fish into nitrate). There are ways of getting rid of nitrate using either barley straw or if you have the time and inclination you can make a biological filter using water cress. All you need to do is to pump the pond water (after filtration) into a container full of water cress, the cress will take up the nitrate and provide a some home grown salad
A final point would be to fit a venturi to the outflow of your filter to oxygenate the water.
Thank you for the advice MilnerR.
The filter is a 4 block foam(varying consistancies) type and this is were the little buggers seem to be settling, is there a additive treatment for these?
Without wishing to appear completely thick, how do I clean the filters or do a 50% water change without using tap(hose)water?
Finally, an oxygen pump (venturi) is on the cards, but the fish do not appear to be mouthing.
The worms are prabably planarians and aren't harmful to the fish. They are however a swine to get rid of! There are various treatments which will kill them but i tend to avoid adding chemicals if i can avoid it. The classic way of removing them is to tie a piece of meat onto a string and lower it into the water (in your case filter) and the flatworms will swarm all over it. You can then remove the meat (with flatworms). Probably not practical in a large pond though. Go to your local fish shop and ask for a pond treatment for flat worms.
The idea of doing a partial water change 25% to 50% is that you dilute the chlorine and chloramine to safer levels. The advice still stands about not washing your filter in tap water though, use pond water.
People get really up tight about having gin clear water when the fish will almost certainly be happier in murkier water, as long as it isn't pea soup i wouldn't worry too much.
The idea of doing a partial water change 25% to 50% is that you dilute the chlorine and chloramine to safer levels. The advice still stands about not washing your filter in tap water though, use pond water.
People get really up tight about having gin clear water when the fish will almost certainly be happier in murkier water, as long as it isn't pea soup i wouldn't worry too much.
MilnerR said:
The stuff you need to do.
We've never had any infestation of any kind and try to avoid chemicles of every kind, bar a bit of chlorine neutralisation and medicine for the fish. If you have th space, build (back wall with sand/soil built up against it running down to the water) a waterfall/stream jobbie to aerate the water, works a dream and sounds good too (better than fountains). Otherwise, it takes time to settle a pond into a natural level, if anything, the investation will die over winter and you can control/prevent it for next year.
Stocked ponds are a wonderful addition to a garden and a great focus for guests. A bit of care and it will last years. Though, it's always the big buggers that you've reared up from a tiddler and are so pround of, that die
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