Brand new pond owner !

[Tim B]

HI there everyone.
Did approx 10% water change, then it rained heavily most of yesterday so did not do any tests.
Test about an hour ago showed the following.
P/H stayed the same at 7.20. Nitrate same at 0.25. Ammonia has changed from 0.50 to 2.00
the only other thing i did was take the pump filter out and give it a clean and have not fed the fish since Thursday.
Fish appear to be fine but are staying quite deep in the water.
Have to take the test kit back tomorrow but will order myself a kit.
Tim

 

[Tula]

Hi Tim, Just want to welcome you I think 2. for ammonia is high, but I'm not in the position of giving advice, as I only recently began testing water myself. Kim

 

[Alan]

Your PH looks good, but I would take a reading in the morning and the evening and see how much it is changing throughout the day, PH can be deceiving. From my experience, my fish have been fairly tolerant to high or low PH, but they start “flashing” (flipping on their side trying to rub on pond surfaces) and seemed generally unhappy if I started getting more than a .4 swing from 6 am to 6pm.

As for the ammonia, if it is .5, I would be worried about the fish a little and do a little water change and reduce any feeding for at least 24 hours. It will take a little time for the beneficial bacteria in your new filter to mature and start eating the ammonia.

This is from that article I posted earlier but I love it:

“When the Ammonia starts showing up, only then does this promote the growth of a specific bacteria colony (Nitrosomonas), which let’s say "eat" the Ammonia and convert it to less toxic, but still harmful, Nitrite, which is the waste product of these bacteria. When the Nitrite shows up as a byproduct of the first bacteria, only then, does this promote the growth of a second bacteria colony (Nitrobacter), which “eats" the Nitrite and convert it to less toxic Nitrate. This complete process is referred to as "The Nitrogen Cycle".”


Currently you have ammonia which feed Nitrosomonas which are creating the Nitrite you are seeing. Soon the NitroBacter will mature and consume the Nitrite creating Nitrate. The plants and Algae will eat the nitrates. This is the circle of pond life or as it is called “the cycle”.

I would assume your pond was cycled before you started working on it, so there are going to be some colonies of each of these in your pond already helping to bring your Ammonia and Nitrite down to near zero.

Small water changes, taking regular readings, and waiting are your friends.

I don’t know if others agree with me or not, but I try not to ever make big changes, 50% water changes, or adding chemicals to neutralize the ammonia because it seems to create big highs and lows and instability of the pond. It also delays the pond from completing a cycle in my opinion. Baby steps tend to make lasting changes instead of just temporary fixes. You can always take more water out later.

Hey bud Phoenix as here as well. Well Peoria like your pond and fish