- Joined
- Mar 20, 2011
- Messages
- 7,257
- Reaction score
- 4,819
- Location
- near Effingham, Illinois
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
I would be careful putting in a UV clarifier, as it seems like your algae is the main food source, and doesn't a UV Clarifier remove or kill algae?
I think Sissy hit your problem on the nose - you have no filtration. Having a filter on a pump that shoots water out as a fountain is not considered a filter to me. It simply keeps your pump from getting clogged. No filtration for your water.
Why are you not able to do water changes? If you have chlorine in your water, there is a cheap dechlorinator you can buy to put in the water and it will be ready to go into the pond. You do NOT have to keep putting a bucket of water out for days to dechlorinate it. Use the chemicals for this purpose.
Agree totally with Comet Keith above, do NOT add more fish until your current fish are no longer stressed, or you'll never figure out the problem!
I've had plecos in with my goldfish and koi, no problem. Just had one in there, and my ponds are larger (4500 and 2700 gallons). The difference is that the tropical (pleco) cannot survive in water that goes below about 60 degrees, so I had to remove it. Others have mollies and other tropical fish in their outdoor ponds, with goldfish, no adverse problems. Difference, again, is that you cannot leave the tropicals in there forever, unless you are in the south (I think maybe you ARE!) and your water temps don't go below 60 degrees. Tropical fish like to have their water around 72-74 degrees, on average.
Be careful going from not feeding at all to feeding once a day. Another possible tragedy. If you decide to feed, do it slowly, maybe once a week, then twice a week, then 3 times a week, but only what they will eat within 5 minutes, as mentioned above.
I would also be careful about cleaning out everything on the bottom of your pond. As stated above, it could be helping the fish rather than hurting them. BUT, if your ammonia or nitrate levels go up, that will have to be looked into.
And, if you are trusting the pet store to do your water tests, you are not checking your water levels often enough. Get a good set with all the test bottles, and test your pond twice a day, same time every day, for a week before you decide if your parameters are as good as you think they are. I'm hoping that they ARE, but agree that old test kits can be wrong, and pet stores don't always use good test kids. Going to the more refined store was a good thing, but remember, stores want to sell you supplies. Not always the best thing, but sometimes necessary evils as well. Don't treat for something you are not sure you have a problem with! Adding chemicals is doing just that ... adding chemicals. BUT, don't do a total water change either.
Good luck, and hope all the pointers are helping and not overwhelming you. Seems like you are really picking up the important pointers. Not that any of mine are more important than the others' ... they are NOT! But, had to put my two cents worth in as well. It's good to get told I was wrong, too, and I welcome the pointers myself!
I think Sissy hit your problem on the nose - you have no filtration. Having a filter on a pump that shoots water out as a fountain is not considered a filter to me. It simply keeps your pump from getting clogged. No filtration for your water.
Why are you not able to do water changes? If you have chlorine in your water, there is a cheap dechlorinator you can buy to put in the water and it will be ready to go into the pond. You do NOT have to keep putting a bucket of water out for days to dechlorinate it. Use the chemicals for this purpose.
Agree totally with Comet Keith above, do NOT add more fish until your current fish are no longer stressed, or you'll never figure out the problem!
I've had plecos in with my goldfish and koi, no problem. Just had one in there, and my ponds are larger (4500 and 2700 gallons). The difference is that the tropical (pleco) cannot survive in water that goes below about 60 degrees, so I had to remove it. Others have mollies and other tropical fish in their outdoor ponds, with goldfish, no adverse problems. Difference, again, is that you cannot leave the tropicals in there forever, unless you are in the south (I think maybe you ARE!) and your water temps don't go below 60 degrees. Tropical fish like to have their water around 72-74 degrees, on average.
Be careful going from not feeding at all to feeding once a day. Another possible tragedy. If you decide to feed, do it slowly, maybe once a week, then twice a week, then 3 times a week, but only what they will eat within 5 minutes, as mentioned above.
I would also be careful about cleaning out everything on the bottom of your pond. As stated above, it could be helping the fish rather than hurting them. BUT, if your ammonia or nitrate levels go up, that will have to be looked into.
And, if you are trusting the pet store to do your water tests, you are not checking your water levels often enough. Get a good set with all the test bottles, and test your pond twice a day, same time every day, for a week before you decide if your parameters are as good as you think they are. I'm hoping that they ARE, but agree that old test kits can be wrong, and pet stores don't always use good test kids. Going to the more refined store was a good thing, but remember, stores want to sell you supplies. Not always the best thing, but sometimes necessary evils as well. Don't treat for something you are not sure you have a problem with! Adding chemicals is doing just that ... adding chemicals. BUT, don't do a total water change either.
Good luck, and hope all the pointers are helping and not overwhelming you. Seems like you are really picking up the important pointers. Not that any of mine are more important than the others' ... they are NOT! But, had to put my two cents worth in as well. It's good to get told I was wrong, too, and I welcome the pointers myself!