ammonia rising, water change?

[mailman62]

pond has been up and running for almost 2 mnths. and have been testing for the ammonia and nitrite rise, just now seeing ammonia reaching 0.50 and nitrite still 0, is 0.50 considered high? genrally how high should it reach before nitrite kicks in? or should i do a partial water change ? will that mess up the bio-cycle? fish are doing fine but dont want to poison them with ammonia , thanks

 

[DrDave]

What do you have for a bio filter? Water changes until it kicks in.

 

[mailman62]

ive got a 100 gal stock tank wortking and a seperate waterfall weir

 

[koiguy1969]

put a mesh basket of zeolite where your water returns to the pond so the water flows thru it. zeolite does one thing and does it well...it gobbles up ammonias...if you put it before a biofilter it will take longer for the filters bacterial colony to establish itself due to the effectiveness of the zeolite.....once a week or so,a overnite (24 hour)soak in a strong salt water solution will draw out the ammonias from the zeolite and rejuvenate it!....the more zeolite the better!!
this can be done with a seperate pump,and basket setup as well

 

[koiguy1969]

just thought i'd chime back in to give a breif explaination of the nitrification cycle...fish waste and dead plant matter produce ammonias as they decompose... nitrosomas bacteria breaks down the ammonias to nitrites. nitrites are sill poisonous to fish, by way of accumalative damage...nitrites are absorbed into and stored in the blood stream of the fish. when enough accumaltes the fish become ill with whats known as brown blood disease, (nitrite poisoning)...now another strain of bacteria (nitrobacters) comes into play. this bacteria breaks down nitrites to nitrates. nitrates are used by your plants as food. both of these bacterias come in two different subcatagories known as aerobic and anaerobic..the aerobic bacterias are the desired bacteria. the anaerobic bacterias are not desirable. but are present in the ecosystem....aerobic (high oxygen) and anaerobic (low to no oxygen) bacterias both perform the same task but the anaerobic bacteria produces toxic gases as a byproduct of its process, namely hydrogen sulfide..when high levels of anaerobic bacterias are present your pond and/or filter may give off a rotten egg smell, this is the hydrogen sulfide.

i hope this bit of information aids in your pursuit of a healthy balanced pond.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Any detectable ammonia is too much. What kind of media is in your stock tank? What is your plumbing like?

 

[mailman62]

I am using the plastic strapping for shipping as media and a media pad in the stock tank, plumbing set up same as construction of stocktank filter in dys link.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

How many fish? Could you/have you added bacteria?

Here's how I started my filter: Filled with scrubbies, filled pond, got pump running, dumped a quart of pure ammonia in pond. Every day, I checked ammonia levels until they were undetectable. Only took a few days. Gave it another few days to be sure, and started adding fish. I've never since been able to detect ammonia, never added any bacteria. I did seed filter with some cycled media from an aquarium.

How big is your pond? Be cool to add pictures and current pond description.

 

[mailman62]

pond is aprox. 2000 gal. with 6, 5-6 inch koi, did add bactieria just before fish were added but who knows if that stuff works,just made a 15 to 20 % water change and will test water again in little while

 

[koiguy1969]

on my first pond.. i built it at 450 gals, had a small external bio filter. i put a zeolite basket semi submerged in the pond where the water hit the pond...in about a month i had 30 - 40 3" -5" fish in it. i didnt know any about water parameters. while at a pond an aquaintence of mine who works there asked if i tested my water...woe, testing water? the next day i brought in a sample for testing... high ammonia!!! knowing my brother always used zeolite in his aquarium filters for ammonia control, i took a large mesh planter filled it with zeolite did a 15% water change.....3 days later, i took another sample in, my water parameters were perfect.i used the zeolite for another few weeks untill my filter was fully functional, and colonized.... in that time i had my water tested every few days...always tested good! when that filter was functioning good i added a second filter chamber feeding from the first.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Might help if you can seed your biofilter with even aquarium rocks from an established aquarium, or established pond. Nature will produce the bacteria you need with no added stuff, but it takes ammonia to make the bacteria live.

As big a pond as you've got with the low fish load, I'm surprised that you're having a problem. You're not using algae killing chemicals regularly, are you? (they say it won't hurt bacteria, but I think that it does) Dechlorinating water for water changes?

 

[mailman62]

got a few bags of zeolite and will try it , trying to figure a good placement of them, would placing on the lip of the waterfall weir so water flows through them work? also what kind of salt solution for reusing the zeo.? thanks

 

[mailman62]

got a few bags of zeolite ,will try it , tring to figure placement of zeolite, would placing on the lip of waterfall weir so water flows through them work? also what sort of salt solution for reusing zeo? thanks

 

[koiguy1969]

i put mine in a mesh planter basket in the pond right at waters surface so the water spilled from the filter back into the pond thru the basket.
the salt solution ... i used a few cups of salt i a bucket of water and just dumped in the zeolite. MORTONS blue bag water softener salt...40# bag $4.50 at lowes or home depot.
or regular old rock salt for ice works fine.