Fish in the pond

[fresia1999]

That white stuff on the side of the pond is part of a wall to an old storm cellar.

 

[fresia1999]

Capewind they are using a good thick EPDM liner.

 

[capewind]

We have the 45 mil EPDM... I think that is pretty much standard, but have been reading of others using another product too that looks pretty durable. I like the shape so far. What size liner are they using? Wondering how many gallons the fish pond part will be?

 

[fresia1999]

He had to get a bigger liner than he thought but can't remember the size he said it was. Only around 7X10X2 pond size.

 

[capewind]

If the whole depth of the 7 x 10 was 2' deep that would give you about 1000 gallons... a fair amount less if the shelf is inside of those measurements. *I* dont have ANY experience in a filter less pond, but here's my thoughts... your waterfall will add aeration, so that is good. My husband has a client with a pond, smaller than yours..about 4 x 10 x 1.5 deep... similar design to yours, with a waterfall... Pond is getting some shade, has 5-6 comets (about 6") AND an UNDERSIZED filter, and it is full of muck. Next spring they are having him totally rip it out and redo it... Another client with a small pond (bought the house with the pond), couldnt keep the water clear with the again undersized filtration, so hubby replaced the waterfall with a small "filter falls" to that one... now it is supporting 4-5 fish with no problem. Im just thinking with NO filtration, you are going to have problems down the road, but that's my take on it.

 

[fresia1999]

Thanks Capewind! I went to Lowe's last night and they have a pressure filtrr with UV that will support pond up to 1200 gph. I may just have to run out there and get it. They will probably do liner, pump, and rocks today. I am also putting a spitter thst will hit close to the end of pond.

 

[Mmathis]

FRESIA, most of what I've read says to wait at least 2 weeks before adding fish, but..... When I was waiting to have my pond finished & filled, I decided to turn my future SKIPPY [100 gal Rubbermaid stock tank] into a mini-pond. Had gotten some plants that needed to go somewhere, so decided to get a small pump and filter box [that I knew I'd be able to use later, anyway, with my spitter] and added a few goldfish [bought 4 fantails]. We have city water, so added de-chlor first. If nothing else, this was a way to get the beginnings of some beneficial bacteria to jump-start the pond. The pond is about 3200 gal. When it was ready, I added the 4 goldfish, plants, water, and filter media to that "ocean." Have added more fish and plants since then [the SKIPPY pond was in use for about 2 weeks, pre-pond]. The pond is about 6-7 weeks old, but hasn't "cycled" yet. Other than that, everything is good!

Yours is looking good, BTW!

 

[capewind]

I would talk to your installers... you could use this filters return feed to your waterfall instead of having to pay for 2 pumps...

 

[fresia1999]

Thank you Mmathis!

 

[fresia1999]

My pond and landscaping was done by a landscaper in our town. We are tweeking the pond this it was put in. My son redid the waterfall and designed a PVC pipe to help with the flow of the fall. The landscaper did not put in a filter but did place the pump in a rock compartment next to the fall accessible from the surface so my son will be hooking up my filter as soon a it comes in. I love my little pond and I wish it could have constructeda all ourselves but it just didn't work out that way.

 

[fresia1999]

Added some plants I was able to get half price.

 

[fresia1999]

Sorry forgot to attach picture to last post.

 

[CometKeith]

hi fresia1999. Your pond looks great. It helps when you have professionals build it so it goes faster and don't have to keep redoing it due to beginner mistakes like how most of us started. To really know when a pond is cycled you need to test the water on a regular basis. The ammonia should be zero and nitrite and nitrate very low when it is fully cycled. You will need to add at least one or two small fish as a biological agent to get it to cycle. Some people use fish food instead. When your ammonia comes down to zero and other readings are really good then you know it has cycled. It can take from 3-6 weeks on the average. If your ammonia readings are high you can do small water changes to dilute the water to keep your fish safe. Typically 15-20% water changes are sufficient and these can be done on a daily basis to reduce the ammonia. Be sure to use declor on any water you add and you don't want to clean your filter because this is where the beneficial bacteria builds up that will breakdown the waste into inert components. Fish can eat the algae that builds up in the pond and you don't really need to feed them until after it cycles. Your friend is right that feeding will contribute to the waste that builds up and they can live very easily eating algae. At some point you want to add plants to your pond because they will use up the nitrates and provide shade which will keep your water cooler so it retains more oxygen and will keep your algae from becoming a problem. Good luck. PS your landscapers did a great job with the walkway around the tree. It looks really nice!

 

[fresia1999]

Thank you CometKeith for all that information. Do you just use the test strips for checking the water? I had started treating the pond with Ecofix bacerial pond clarifier and Chlorine &Heavy Metal Neutralizer. The way my waterfall enters my pond and the position of my pond spitter, the water moves in a slow circular motion around my pond. The filter I have ordered does not have a UV light on it so I hope the filter alone will keep this small pond clear.
Thank you for your comment on the landscaping. He was very reseasonable. He came back today to check on how everything was going which I thought was very nice. We took down the grandkids swing and are moving it to a new location.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi fresia, I use test strips. They work fine for me. Some people on the forum use other methods and everyone has a slightly different way of maintaining their pond so you will get different suggestions. The key is finding out what works for yours. I don't think you really need the pond clarifier. Maybe a little when you started it is okay but chemicals usually don't help much and can actually compound a problem. The beneficial bacteria you build up in your pond will not be the same ones that come in a bottle and it takes time to build up. The chlorine neutralizer is good when you add water. I like to fill 5 gallon buckets with water, then add the declor and wait a day before putting it in the pond, but I know a lot of people just add water with a hose and dump in some declor. Keeping a healthy environment for your fish is really a lot simpler than most people think. The key is not to overcrowd your pond with fish and start slowly with adding them as addy suggested and make sure your water quality is good. I don't know how many gallons you have but it is safe to have 5 inches of fish per 100 gallons for a pond with average filtration and it can be up to twice that much if it is adequately maintained. Of course fish grow so you never want to start with the max. Also never feed them more than they can eat in 3-5 minutes. Uneaten food can cause huge water quality problems. Contrary to what most people think if the pond has algae in it it will not hurt your fish one bit and is not something you should worry about when first starting up a pond. If over time you need a UV light you can add one but a lot of people don't have them. It sounds like your grand kids are going to love the pond. Also ponds are really science in action and are a great learning experience for kids.