New to fish ponds - not completely sure what to do

[clb2196]

Even if spraying water in (or letting it sit) will remove chlorine it won't remove chloramine.

Right, good point.

I dunno if permenant marker is safe for pond life... If you do end up filling bucket by bucket though you could make a little inconspicuos mark every 5 or 10 gallons on one corner of the pond... that way for future water changes you can accurately judge how much water you change/add- by counting how many lines you fill up from.

Good idea! Maybe even tape or something, if you could get it to stay on.

Future though- if you know how much water you need to add- add the appropriate prime to the pond... then fill up.

That's what I do with my python, although the tank is never completely empty. But the fish wouldn't be going in right away anyway, so I don't see an issue there. It's just the temperature.

 

[Hebily]

I've had great results with stability. Also, the second half of the cycle is the half that takes forever...

 

[clb2196]

I was very disappointed in Seachem Stability.

Ammonia to Nitrite stage of cycling for me lasted two weeks. I would therefore suspect that Nitrite to Nitrate stage would last just over two weeks if left unhelped.

I started using stability at about the same time I started seeing Nitrites. It's been just over two weeks and I'm on the cusp of being cycled... I'm hoping to see 0 nitrites when I get home from work tonight (which would mean I'm finally ready)... I had 0 ammonia and < 0.3 ppm nitrite yesterday at the same time... so I must be close now.

Nonetheless- it took me as long for the 2nd half of cycling WITH stability that I would expect had I not used it.

The only product that seems to get universal approval is Biospira/Tetra Safe Start.

It probably helped that I had some plants (not as many as I do now) but with the plants + the superbac, I *never* saw any ammonia or nitrite the whole time. And I started seeing nitrate about 3 weeks in, I think it only took that long because of the plants, I still don't usually have much.

It's not optimal, but it a situation like this where fish in cycling isn't a choice, the only thing it hurts is your wallet. :lol:

 

[Wycco]

True... in this case since there is a fish in- it can't hurt. How much do you need for a small pond though? Better get the large bottle!

Dunno if any other product has better success rate though (other than Biospira/Tetra Safe Start).

 

[clb2196]

True... in this case since there is a fish in- it can't hurt. How much do you need for a small pond though? Better get the large bottle!

Dunno if any other product has better success rate though (other than Biospira/Tetra Safe Start).

Yeah depends on the pond size. The 32 ounce treats up to 80 gallons.

 

[PallasAthena]

Got it! Ok, fill the pond, and dechlorinate. Then add a cup full of the pond water to the fish bucket slowly... put a cupful of fish bucket water in lawn. come back in a bit. put cupful of pond water in fish bucket. Put cupful of bucket water in lawn. do this until you've added at least three times the volume of the bucket to the bucket. Then put fish in pond, bucket water in lawn. Fill bucket with new water, dechlor, add to pond. repeat three times. Done. That way, rambo gets the benefit of slowly changing water, and you get the ease of dechloring the whole pond at once.

I really like that idea! Also, I thought I would set the bucket down in the water so the temps can even out, so I wouldn't necessarily need to dump it on the lawn. Just add it to my pond when I'm done.

I also really like the idea of marking the side of the pond to know how many gallons it is. That's a great idea! It's sprayed with some sort of concrete material inside, so it would be easy to see the marks.

How about evap? What's a reasonable rate? I noticed today that the water level is about 6" lower than it was on Sunday. Part of this could be because I finally got the waterfall running, but I'm keeping a close eye on it. I live out in CA, but the weather's been cool and misty. We're close to the water, so it's the marine layer coming in-May Gray they call it. I didn't expect to see any evap with that weather, but I'm not sure. I'm trying not to worry that it's a leak. That would just be One More Thing.

 

[Hebily]

Assuming an average depth of 1 foot, it is 75 gal. Average depth of 1.5 feet (which seems more accurate) gives 115 gal.

 

[PallasAthena]

Assuming an average depth of 1 foot, it is 75 gal. Average depth of 1.5 feet (which seems more accurate) gives 115 gal.

I think that's probably about right. Anything wrong with assuming it's a little bigger for pump purposes and a little smaller for stock purposes? I know it's bad to have too many fish and too small of a pump/filter, but it's okay to err the other way, right?

 

[clb2196]

I think that's probably about right. Anything wrong with assuming it's a little bigger for pump purposes and a little smaller for stock purposes? I know it's bad to have too many fish and too small of a pump/filter, but it's okay to err the other way, right?

Yup, always better to have a higher rated pump. And since goldfish aren't strictly schooling fish (right? I'm not a goldfish expert) you wouldn't really need to worry about stock. I think there's a general rule about how many gallons per common goldfish, but I don't remember what it is.

ETA: Just make sure with the pump it's not so powerful it's creating a whirlpool or current too strong for the fish. But I don't think that's a big worry with goldfish anyway.

 

[Hebily]

no prob with over filtering, unless it's a jacuzzi. No prob with understocking at all. reccomended at least 15 gallons for some goldfish, 20 for others... I would put no more than 4 goldfish in there, just to be safe.