Hi everyone, I just started a pond and I was wondering how often you need to change the water in these. I asked my friend, and he told me that he does it about once a year. Wouldnt that cause excess nitrates and possibly ammonia to accumulate? or am I missing something here? plz tell me. I would like to maintain my pond correctly. thank you!
pond maintenance question
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My water evaporates a few inches every day, so I am frequently topping it up, and I also add a de-chlorinator at the time. Plus rain keeps adding fresh water. I don't actually do water changes, although each spring I have done about a 1/3 water change after the water turned really green. It seems to do that in the spring for me. I periodically test the pond water, and the parameters are always normal. My pond is 2 1/2 years old. I wouldn't recommend doing a whole water change, wouldn't that remove the good bacteria? How big is your pond?
the bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle do not reside in the water column, so changing water will not hurt them.
you should have a pond test kit and test your water and maintain it like any other tank.
you should have a pond test kit and test your water and maintain it like any other tank.
Just to clarify, when I mentioned losing the good bacteria I was referring to a full pond water change, not a partial water change. I would not drain the whole pond.
i think it probably should depend where you live. As fishnfur said rain constantly changes out the water in most places, but where i live it doesn't rain for 5 to six months out of the year, so i do it myself.
well I'm confused. Wouldn't just topping off the water cause the nitrates to rise??? I mean, ow do you guys only change the waer once a year, and still have perfect water??? Yesturday I checked my pond water params and it horrified me b cuz I found out I have unbelievably high nitrates and alittle nitrites, and I only had it for six months! the nirtates in your pond has to go somewhere.....
What I did this summer in my tub pond was to do a water change of at least 50% once a month. Makeup water does nothing to remove impurities, it just gets the water level back up. I treated the pond as if it was a giant aquarium and treated my makeup water when I got it from the tap. When it was rain I didn't figure it needed any additives. I had a very light stock level or I would have done water changes more often.