First Round of Testing

[Feddy]

My pond rebuild is 2 weeks old at this point, and I just went through the first round of testing last night. I only had access to test strips, and then the ammonia drops kit, so I know the reading might not be quite as accurate. It seems that I am still really early in the game, but I wasn't sure how the timing of cycling was affected on a smaller pond (200-230 gallons). I'm starting to see a build up on the liner, and you can see that the water is getting pretty cloudy at this point.

A few notes about my pond:
-Approximately 4'x5', 22" at it's deepest
-No filtration system at this point
-I put in about 8 feeder gold fish last weekend, and have lost 3 (that I can tell) this week.
-Feeding small pellets once in the evening, but fish do not come up to feed. I very rarely see them.
-4 bundles of water lettuce, and 3 bundles of hyacinth

In the water picture, the light area under the plant bundle is a hiding rock approximately 16" deep, to give you an idea of water clarity.

My questions are as follows:

- My readings seem to be in safe levels right now. Are there any adjustments that I should be making?
- I am brand new to water plants, and not sure how to tell how healthy they are doing? What signs should I be looking for?
- Would it be okay for me to add one larger sized goldfish to the pond? I know it is probably rushed, but it would be nice to have something that can't hide so easily.

I appreciate everyone's help. I've lost about an inch and half to evaporation over the 2 weeks, so I plan on refilling and doing a water change of probably 20 gallons or so.

 

[cas]

Before adding more fish I would wait for the pond to cycle. A typical pond will cycle in 4 - 6 weeks at around 70F. I would also recommend adding some submerged plants such as anacharis or hornwort. They will help with the green water.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I would hold off on adding any more fish at this point and look into getting a filtration system. If you want to keep fish that get large like goldfish you really need a decent filtration system (especially in a smaller pond)

 

[Feddy]

Thanks. I've spent the day researching different submersible DIY options for filtration, and hope to be able to tackle that project this weekend.

 

[Mmathis]

If your pond is only 2 wks old, then it hasn't cycled yet -- that can takes many weeks, maybe months. Your test isn't showing that happening. And as already stated, don't add any more fish. You have enough in there now to get things going.

 

[Feddy]

Thanks for the feedback. I built a very basic milk crate filter with quilt batting and some cleaning scrunchees over the weekend, and I can already see the bottom of my pond after less than 2 days with that in place. I can't argue with those results.

 

[sissy]

The thing that colleen and JW uses seems to work good .

 

[bettasngoldfish]

The thing that colleen and JW uses seems to work good .

Is this what you're referring to sissy?

http://www.thepondoutlet.com/ez-bio...pwkXkm5W0ngP3bxsbPDyGVc4HwSq-zpmtthoCBb3w_wcB

 

[Feddy]

Here's a pic of the pond after two full days of filtering. The quilt batting is really working well for me, especially for a $10 total spend. You can see the filter to the left, and on the right is a small rock hideout I created in a plastic oil pan (new and cleaned of course), so I could easily pull it out for cleaning. Testing is right where it needs to be, but I still haven't reached the ammonia spike phase of cycling yet.

 

[mgmine]

Two fish in a pond that size would be the limit for me. As far as adding a larger gold fish now I would do it. Gold fish don't grow as fast as koi. Think of how small a gold fish bowl is. Then look at the size of your pond. Worse case is that you will have to do a partial water change.