[MWG] Today's Pond Q&A
------------------------------- Today's Pond Q&A In this issue: - Ammonia, the Silient Fish Killer - Sand Filters on Ponds... Good or Bad? ----------------------------- Help! This is going to sound like a stupid question, but I've never seen the answer anywhere! We've had quite a problem getting our ammonia under control this year for our tiny 100-gallon pond. We started three years ago with three goldfish and three shebunkin, and they enjoyed life so well that they had families. Huge families. We've given away 27 of the little guys this year and still have about 25 (four large ones and the rest about two inches but growing! (Insert sigh here). We are contemplating another fish-giving event. At any rate, I do frequent water changes, add ammonia-removing chemicals and service the bio-filter. that's my question--when I service the bio-filter, I know I don't disturb the bacteria-growing media and I only use a bucket of pond water to clean the filter. But do I clean only the two layers of mesh-type material in the water? Or do I leave everything alone? Or do I clean out all the goop within the entire filter box? In other words, how do I clean the bio-filter? Any suggestions on getting our ammonia under control would also be welcomed. Thanks for your wonderful Q & A--I read each one with pleasure! Beverly Herald _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Pond Filters, Pumps, UV's and More... Discount Prices at Our Online Store! http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Answer> Hi, Beverly, I would suggest you clean ALL the goop out of the filter, but use clean "aged" (or clean pond) water to rinse it rather than any chlorinated water from the tap. I suggest you also cut down on feeding if you haven't already done so. Ammo Lock and Amquel will help in a pinch, and the water changes are very beneficial. Either use dechlor or aged water for the water changes. Do you think your local church or girl scouts group would like to have a benefit "raffle" of your extra goldfish? Unless you consider doubling the filtration on that 100-gal. pond, you have way too many fish in there. -Carolyn == Question> Hi Carolyn I have a question for you. I have a 900 gallon pond that is 3 years old. when I first set up the pond I put a Fish Mate box filter, with a 1800 gal per pump and a 25 watt UV sterilizer light. The pond is sun almost all day and the water was never clear in fact it would get full of algae all the time. I had about 40 % plants with goldfish and 4 koi. I looked at several different kinds of filters and the one I wanted were out of my price range. Someone told me to get a Pool sand filter. I could afford one of those. I got it last year around august and once i put it in there the water was crystal clear. It ran all year and I changed the sand in march and then again in June. Now I saw an email at this site not sure if it was written by Brett, but it said that sand filters are not good and that they can be harmful for the fish. So my question to you is why is harmful and if it's because of the sand could you replace the sand with another bio media. I would greatly appreciate an answer as I cannot afford the high priced filters for the pond. thanks, Mary == Answer> Hi, Mary- Good question. The reason sand filters are not recommended is the bacteria will colonize rather quickly in the sand and before you realize the system will become toxic. Clear water isn't necessarily healthy water. Those filters are meant to be used with chlorine and other chemicals, as in pools. The media (sand) doesn't allow enough oxygen and can quickly become anaerobic, which is toxic to fish. Okay, maybe you can replace the sand with other media, but I'm not sure you will have enough room in there for enough media to handle the fish load. Perhaps if you have very few fish it will work. If you replace the sand religiously, perhaps you can make do. It is the absence of oxygen in there that causes the problems. Did you ever see a fishtank with fine gravel on the bottom and notice the darkening layer underneath, darker as you go deeper? And when cleaning the sand/gravel, if you did this, do you remember what it smelled like? That smell is the presence of anaerobic bacteria making sulfur dioxide. Deadly to fish. And as it is formed, it comes up in bubbles from the sand, into the water, and into the pond. Hope this helps. - Carolyn Weise ========== @SK Carolyn ============= Have a pond question? Just send it in to: Carolyn@macarthurwatergardens.com and our own in-house pond expert will try and answer it for you! =================================== Happy Pondkeeping! 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Message Added: August 8th, 2005 at 8:47 am
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