Adding Water, Plants And Fish To A Pond

[sissy]

As long as fish are not stressed and you do water tests it should be fine .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If the biofilter is in place and the water circulation is present, you can add the fish at any time. Many people wait until they have plants established but this is not necessary.
Your plan is fine only I would extend the time between the addition of fish to 5 - 7 days.. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria are somewhat slow to multiply and you want to be sure that you do not get an Ammonia overload.

 

[qclabrat]

As long as fish are not stressed and you do water tests it should be fine .

that's good to know so I'll just wait a day or 2 before introducing fish

If the biofilter is in place and the water circulation is present, you can add the fish at any time. Many people wait until they have plants established but this is not necessary.
Your plan is fine only I would extend the time between the addition of fish to 5 - 7 days.. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria are somewhat slow to multiply and you want to be sure that you do not get an Ammonia overload.

silly question, but should I add the big or smaller fish first, thinking the larger since they will likely produce more ammonia

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Smaller first.

 

[sissy]

yep smaller they will show less stress .Bigger ones can stress more and produce more ammonia and could spike it to high .mine are over 2 feet long so it would really cause problems .When I rebuilt my pond smaller ones always went in first and then I would keep an eye on them .

 

[qclabrat]

question on bog filter, what should be the depth of the pea gravel? I've read that it should be less than a foot

 

[Faebinder]

question on bog filter, what should be the depth of the pea gravel? I've read that it should be less than a foot

Disagree. Big roots need a nice depth to work with. The nice thing about bogs is that you're not worried about water temperature so raising the edges two feet will help make it deeper without you needing to dig more than a foot.

I dug mine 6 inches down and raised the edge with bricks from lowes by 2 feet. You will need a lot of pea gravel bags I just have bought 30 maybe so far. I keep adding to try and make the water surface below the gravel.

 

[Mmathis]

question on bog filter, what should be the depth of the pea gravel? I've read that it should be less than a foot

Actually, no more than about a foot. Most roots don't go much deeper than that (if that deep), and with too much extra gravel you are likely to get anaerobic bacterial growth -- think unhealthy, stinky stuff.

 

[addy1]

Mine is 2.5 feet deep, some of the roots head down that far, some don't. No issues with stink or anaerobic bacterial growth. I do have a good flow going through it.

Think 38000 lbs of pea gravel that is what mine took. It is a bit big lol

 

[qclabrat]

sounds like some differing opinions on this
any issues starting with a foot then adding later?
also the pvc pipe for the inflow, is it better to drill holes or use a circular saw to make slits? I'm planning to use a 1.5 inch diameter pipe

 

[sissy]

I consider my filters almost like a bog except they have lava rock in them and the plants are in pots this way I can pull a pot out trim the roots or divide up the plants .I planted the plants in kitty litter and zeolite and crushed oyster shells .Zeolite I use is PDZ horse stall refresher .

 

[addy1]

I used two inch pvc, used a chop saw to make slits 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the pipes. I also put the slits facing down so pea gravel would not clog them. Also put a additional layer of liner under the pipes for the constant pounding of the water.

Everybody does it a bit different. Water flow and plants help a pond a lot.

 

[Faebinder]

My irises really have huge roots. They are two feet high. I haven't divided them since I got the pond with the house two years ago and they are by far my most serious plants that use up nutrients.

I drilled holes and I kept them downwards as well as others advised. I didn't plug the ends of the tubing and hopefully I won't regret that.

My tubing is between 1 to 2 thirds down the gravel.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

question on bog filter, what should be the depth of the pea gravel? I've read that it should be less than a foot

It really depends on what results you are seeking. If this is to be operated as a full-fledged biofilter then 1.5 feet should be the minimum depth, but if this is to be utilized as primarily a phyto-filter a minimum depth of 1 foot can be used. A lot depends on the choice of plants. Some plants such as reeds and rushes have very deep and extensive root system. In a shallow depth system these plants would quite quickly become root-bound which any gardener will tell you is not best for a plant.

 

[sissy]

I pulled n iris out of an abandoned pond at a foreclosure house for a realtor and it pulled the liner out and had to stop and get fish out first and then hook the chain back up to my truck and pull and it was tough and really heavy .Got it in the bed of my truck after it attacked me several times but I won and I survived the iris attack I looked like pig that had laid in a mud puddle and rolled in it .