Added Fish To New Pond, Now What.....

[Meyer Jordan]

Not to usurp @MitchM , but maybe I can shed some light on this subject.
All algae assimilates Ammonia (and Nitrate). It is just the natural order of things that, in a new pond, planktonic algae is the first to colonize and will assimilate the Ammonia until the attached algae (periphyton) and nitrifying bacteria can become established. The bulk of the nitrification, however, is accomplished by these nitrifying bacteria. They are much more efficient in performing this task. Another benefit of algae is that it provides the greater percentage of Oxygen that is available in a pond.
It may be considered ugly by some, but it is a necessary part of the aquatic food chain and a major player in the biochemical balance of any aquatic ecosystem.

 

[moby]

Don't know how to do the 'quote a part of a previous post', have tried several times, but to no avail. Anyway, the OP asked in an earlier post about the white spheres amongst the netting tubes, and the answer came back as 'snail eggs'. Do American snails lay their eggs individually then? All varieties of English pond snails lay them in long jelly sausage shapes containing multiple embryos. Just curious. My thoughts were fish eggs to be honest.

 

[qclabrat]

Not to usurp @MitchM , but maybe I can shed some light on this subject.
All algae assimilates Ammonia (and Nitrate). It is just the natural order of things that, in a new pond, planktonic algae is the first to colonize and will assimilate the Ammonia until the attached algae (periphyton) and nitrifying bacteria can become established. The bulk of the nitrification, however, is accomplished by these nitrifying bacteria. They are much more efficient in performing this task. Another benefit of algae is that it provides the greater percentage of Oxygen that is available in a pond.
It may be considered ugly by some, but it is a necessary part of the aquatic food chain and a major player in the biochemical balance of any aquatic ecosystem.

haha, I guess ugly is in the eye of the beholder, some of you may recall me posting a picture of a Chinese koi pond with dark pea soup water that had likely been that way for 500 years. I'll actually be back in Shanghai and Tokyo next week and interested in comparing the differences in the pond cultures there. I wish I didn't have to leave, but my wife will monitor the water next week and the following week my in-laws. Ironically, we all received our undergrads in some form of chemistry....

I just checked the water again and the KH is creeping higher to about 60ppm. Added another 1/3 cup of baking soda and will repeat in 30 mins. Is there a saturation level where I should expect the KH to jump up? If so, I'll need to check the water between each dose. Glad my chemistry background is becoming useful again. I actually understand most of the college papers I've been reading....

 

[qclabrat]

forgot I had these playground tiles in the basement, not pretty, but they should perform as shade I'm looking for to slow the algae blooms

I love the green of the algae growing on the falls, I hear its the good stuff and should not be removed

 

[sissy]

oyster shells will help stablize everything with ph .

 

[sissy]

Algae is protecting your fish .Remove some so it will not cause waterfall t over flow .

 

[MitchM]

forgot I had these playground tiles in the basement, not pretty, but they should perform as shade I'm looking for to slow the algae blooms
View attachment 101797

I love the green of the algae growing on the falls, I hear its the good stuff and should not be removed
View attachment 101798

Those tiles are covering about 50% of the pond surface area where gas exchange takes place.
If you do have an aerator, I would have that going as well.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Don't know how to do the 'quote a part of a previous post', have tried several times, but to no avail. Anyway, the OP asked in an earlier post about the white spheres amongst the netting tubes, and the answer came back as 'snail eggs'. Do American snails lay their eggs individually then? All varieties of English pond snails lay them in long jelly sausage shapes containing multiple embryos. Just curious. My thoughts were fish eggs to be honest.

Nerite snail eggs-

A quite common freshwater aquarium snail.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If so, I'll need to check the water between each dose.

As I mentioned in post #84-

Testing should be done between dosings.

and in Post #87

Monitor the dKH.

and again in Post #100

Always test the water immediately before any remaining dosages.

I don't know how much more I can emphasize the need to monitor the rising dKH level. This will affect pH and a too sudden large increase in pH could be quite dangerous for the fish.

 

[qclabrat]

KH is at 140ish, GH steady at 150 and ammonia still zero
however pH is a little basic at 7.8
going to check again tomorrow morning

also got rid of two tiles to allow for improved aeration

 

[Meyer Jordan]

KH is at 140ish, GH steady at 150 and ammonia still zero
however pH is a little basic at 7.8
going to check again tomorrow morning

also got rid of two tiles to allow for improved aeration

Those are great levels. Cease applying the baking soda as you are where you want to be.

 

[MitchM]

KH is at 140ish, GH steady at 150 and ammonia still zero
however pH is a little basic at 7.8
going to check again tomorrow morning

also got rid of two tiles to allow for improved aeration

With the algae now present, you ammonia levels will continue to read zero.
Now it's a matter of time for your pond to mature and balance out.
The thing to watch for next is too much algae. Keep a watch on algae growth rate and remove the excess algae as you can. Too much growth means that it interferes with swimming room, water movement and clogging of pump intakes.
Weekly measurements of KH should be good for a while.

How is that fish doing that was showing signs of poor health?

.

 

[qclabrat]

With the algae now present, you ammonia levels will continue to read zero.
Now it's a matter of time for your pond to mature and balance out.
The thing to watch for next is too much algae. Keep a watch on algae growth rate and remove the excess algae as you can. Too much growth means that it interferes with swimming room, water movement and clogging of pump intakes.
Weekly measurements of KH should be good for a while.

How is that fish doing that was showing signs of poor health?

.

no change to fish, she seems to just like being at the top of the water column and swims down when approached. Maybe a swim bladder type problem?

 

[qclabrat]

Those are great levels. Cease applying the baking soda as you are where you want to be.

great, leaving water murky for now, we'll cross that bridge later. I'm not planning to feed them anytime soon as there are plenty of bug activity

 

[MitchM]

no change to fish, she seems to just like being at the top of the water column and swims down when approached. Maybe a swim bladder type problem?
View attachment 101825

No swim bladder problem.
The environment that the fish lives in has gone through a number of changes to it's chemistry; KH, ammonia, PH plus the physical change of temperature. The fish is still stressed and retreats down out of sight for safety.
The pond is the best place for him/her now.