Newbie pond owner with issues

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Add the dechlor like said above, add water, let your pond just run for a while and settle down. Don't worry about crystal clear water at this time.
Add plants, lilies, etc they help with water clarity.

Post a overall picture of your pond, it helps us visualize what you are dealing with.

 

[sissy]

Use a hose clamp but make sure it is stainless steel .I change my uv bulbs once a year and use the old one in my stock tank when I have babies .I buy plenty of bulbs to have a stock of them .I have even given a bulb to my neighbor because she broke her bulb by accident .

 

[April Duckworth]

Use a hose clamp but make sure it is stainless steel .I change my uv bulbs once a year and use the old one in my stock tank when I have babies .I buy plenty of bulbs to have a stock of them .I have even given a bulb to my neighbor because she broke her bulb by accident .

Tge ziptie seems to have stopped the leak so I will leave it for now. Thanks for the advice though if it leaks again I will switch to a real hose clamp.

 

[April Duckworth]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I wasn't so much worried about the algae except how it will affect the babies. I figured ignoring it would be best because they hatched and lived for several days (at least) without intervention. The water itself is clear I just have algae on the rocks, side walls and filter tubes. The first picture was taken from my balcony/deck above it to give a general idea of what I have. I put in the frog (on granite pillar), the plants and filtration. I also added a net to keep out critters and birds. We were having issues with raccoons falling in when we first got here and they would pull or knock in several edging stones with them. I was really glad that it wasn't all set up and ready when the coons were falling in. I also was warned that the heron would eat any fish I put in. The liner is soft and over a cement basin. I am assuming it is an old basin because of the color of paint on it and the age of the house (1929). I have moved the pump to be closer to the bottom because of the lack of water and sucking air. I really just knocked it onto its side. I want to add more water eventually so that they have more space. I know goldfish and koi are very messy and produce a lot of ammonia so I would like to minimize the concentration and provide them with quality water. Should I be feeding these babies anything? Should I purchase more plants? Different types? I have 17 including several floating ones and a lily(?) that is in a pot and very small near the spitting frog. The one I believe is a lily has a woody nub with green coming out of it, it is planted in dirt and has very small leaves that float on the surface. You can't really see it in the picture because it is close to where the water surface is broken by the water spout. I also happened to miss it in all of the pictures I have taken. There is also a picture of the filter that is sitting on one of the plant shelfs in the pond. My thought was that if it is going to leak it may as well leak back into the pond and none of the plants seem to like to be under the Japanese Maple that is in that corner. I opened the lid to the filter and it is covered inside with green slimy algae so I have ordered replacement pads and a uv light. Is there a way to clean out the foam pads and cycle the two sets? or am I buying new filter pads frequently to help prevent overloads of algae?

 

[sissy]

clean your filter pads with peroxide and water if real dirty but most times they just need the hose sprayed on them .Don't over clean them .You want a little of the good stuff like bacteria to still be there .I just hose mine off a little and put them back in

 

[Faebinder]

A 400 gallons per hour pump for a 1000 gallon pond is on the weak side. You should try and get something closer to the same size per hour if not twice as some may state that. Is the filter good for this size of a pond?

Leave the algae alone... Do weekly water changes or get more plants. The few hyacinths are not gonna be enough to consume the nitrates.

The fry can also be fed crush flake food till they are big enough to eat pellets.

 

[Smaug]

clean your filter pads with peroxide and water if real dirty but most times they just need the hose sprayed on them .Don't over clean them .You want a little of the good stuff like bacteria to still be there .I just hose mine off a little and put them back in

No need for peroxide at all,,,,especially if you want to keep beneficial bacteria.

 

[April Duckworth]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your advice and support. I was kinda freaking out with the babies. I also got an okay picture finally. At least I found the corner they like to hide in and used a camera that didn't reflect the top of the water only. There are many more than what is in the picture and various colors. They are starting to get a little bigger.

 

[haver79]

Cuties. I have not notice any fry in my pond yet this year.

 

[Ramblinrose]

April, just thought you should know Safe Start is not for dechlorination, it is live bacteria to help your filter colonize with beneficial bacterias. Best wishes on your pond!

 

[granyhuskr]

I have a 3500gal pond in full sun. Over the course of my 15year pond experience I've learned that you need to have a good filter system. I built a Skippy (see online for instructions) and although a professional will tell you they are not good, it's been amazing what it has done for my pond. My pump is submerged and circulates the water once every hour. I don't think your pump if I remember correctly does that. Too slow and it gives the water time to gather crud but too fast and your filter doesn't have time to clean it out. I do use beneficial bacteria every couple of weeks and a product called Green Clean which helps with the algae. My water is fairly clear and you can see all the way to it's 4 ft bottom. I don't use a UV filter, just those two chemicals. I did remove all my plants because I live in a rural setting and I had a lot of problems with raccoons, deer, and critters getting in and hiding. I was afraid they were going to tear my rubber liner. I go out occassionally and check my pump and pads and if they have too much crud on them I simply hose them off. I try not to do it too much because I have snails that are helping with the water and I don't want to hurt them since they are doing such a great job. I had to learn to overlook the algae on my rocks and not want a perfectly algae free pond. I do not feed my fish at all and they survive on the algae and crud. I have babies every year so they must be happy. I also stopped draining and cleaning my pond every fall and let it overwinter and get some rest. I haven't cleaned it for 5 years. There is some crud on the bottom and I scoop a little of it out from time to time, but it just adds to the natural look. I have frogs, fish, snails, dragonflys, birds....you name it all naturally coming in. I don't have a lot of money to spend on it and have found that you can have a wonderful pond experience without breaking the bank as the professionals would have you think. I don't have koi for that reason. My fish are just goldfish, but they are going and doing fine. Good Luck

 

[bagsmom]

Even with the challenges you are having, that's a really nice pond!

 

[April Duckworth]

Ok so it has been a while but I thought it would be a good idea to update everyone. I have doubled the babies water slowly over the last few weeks. They are doing well with more water added. I also have built them hiding caves from granite that we had. They really like hiding in them. I found two of my pleco's (plecostomus) that survived the mayhem. I am glad to have algae eaters in there. The filter is working after replacing the pads and light. I am a little worried about two of my babies. One has strange spots (either an issue or adult coloring coming in???) and one is just strange looking (bulging belly and the tail is too high, he is really small too). I was hoping someone could give me insight on these issues.

I also thought showing the little buggers that are not worrying me may be nice...

These darker fish are really neat looking. You can't really see it in the picture but they have a cream/white color one the very edge of each scale. My camera can't really get a good shot of it but it is pretty.

 

[James Foster]

To clean out the filter pads just squeeze in a bucket of the pond water.
If you use tap water the chlorine will kill any beneficial bacteria in the sponges. You should aim for a pump which moves the volume of water in your pond through your filter twice an hour. The UV element is there to make any algae sticky so it clumps together and can be strained out by the sponges