Putting my pond on a timer

[koiguy1969]

not that i would reccommend turning off your pumps,BUT, IMHO
if timing your water pump(s) is something you feel inclined to do. i would for cautions sake put a air pump and a couple stones into play. one in the filter and one or more in the pond depending on its size and design. food wouldnt be the big issue for the bacteria,due to there being some constant residual waste material in the filter, its oxygen...low to no oxygen will turn bacteria anaerobic. anaerobic bacteria provides the same service as aerobic bacteria in that it breaks down ammonias and nitrites but its by products are toxic as well...namely hydrogen sulfide as the biggest. this is bad for the whole pond enviroment. not as immediate as ammonia, or nitrite but can build an accumalitive affect and subject fish to bacterial infection especially under stress. during the summer months when water temps are up, this could be a much bigger issue due to the fact that the warmer the water the less oxygen it holds...and that pond plants use oxygen during the night time, rather than supply it. couple those two factors and its a invitation to trouble. every ponds different, and i dont know your situation, but to err on the side of cauton...........
on the plus side as far as saving money...aeration pumps are a whole lot cheaper to run and do move some water

 

[sissy]

Thats the main reason I am getting a new air pump as I know summer is probably going to be a hot and dry one like last summer was and trying all my options also to save money .I know that electric rates are not going down any time soon and neither are gas prices so it's a lose lose and I want to gain something back and if alternative energy is the way to go by all means bite the bullet now and take the hit .3 or 4 thousand now and government giving you back money on it and the state of VA is now offering to help why not .I saw more evidence of what is happening in the U.S.A. than I wanted when I was looking at bank owned and foreclosures for the couple I bought the house for .I had a real eye opener than ever before .I just got a call from the 1 realtor I worked with about a property bank owned and now they want me to rescue fish from sure death and going to get them and put them in other pond at the new house .Got most everything done yesterday at the pond and water running great still have to take pics but trying to work at it fast and don't want to lose time .

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

How deep is your pond? Or, how many gallons? Sounds like you are currently overstocked, and need all the nitrifying bacteria you can get. You can't get that if you starve them for even 25% of the time. Koi should have MINIMUM 300 gallons each, if you have GREAT filtration. Sounds like you might not have that, unless your pond is more than 3' deep. You need 3600g, plus aeration, plus 24-7 filtration. My advice would be to invest in a more efficient pump. What are you using now?

 

[addy1]

Way to go sissy, we will call you sissy the fish rescuer

 

[koiguy1969]

i dont have 300 gals per koi and mine are happy, healthy, and active. at present in my basement pond i have 5 15" to 20" plus 20 that are 4" to 6" in 800 gals....so by that measure i should only have 2....my parameters are good all the time. theyve been in this pond since september...7 months now. i dont know who comes up with these numbers, but i would bet most people on this forum far surpass that figure. OH plus an 18" peico.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

yay, Sissy!

 

[j.w]

So basically if not enough oxygen then the good bacteria will die and the fish suffer also. So pump running, air stones, bubblers, and good filterization keep things going smoother for the fish and their little bacteria friends. If you have too many fish then you need to really up the oxygen and keep the pond cleaner to insure their survival. Good constant water flow splashing on the surface, lots of plants, allow good algae to grow on your liner = good oxygen.
Keeping pond free of grunge makes for a healthier pond also. It's all in the balance :alieneyesa:
I've also heard that if you use well water you should allow the hose to splash the water in the pond when filling instead of sticking the hose under the water so as to give more oxygen.

 

[j.w]

Sissy, that is a nice thing you are doing for those fish and how nice for the new peoples pond to get free fish. Hope ya got a net to protect those fish from the heron etc. till they can plant stuff around it and rig up safety devices cuz I can just see them flying over that nice new clear pond w/ all those fish swimming around at dinner time :alieneyesa:

 

[shakaho]

deleted

 

[shakaho]

Wikipedia articles can be very useful if they have a list of creditable references.

This article tells a bit about the many different types of microorganisms and microbial processes that are involved in the nitrogen cycle. I found it in the references of one of the better Wikipedia articles.

Source:

The ISME Journal (2007) 1, 19–27

"New processes and players in the nitrogen cycle: the microbial ecology of anaerobic and archaeal ammonia oxidation"

Christopher A Francis, J Michael Beman and Marcel M M Kuypers

A few tidbits:

"... In the conventional view of nitrification (NH3 NO2- NO3-), the metabolic labour is divided between two distinct groups of organisms, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Ammonia oxidation is typically thought to be an obligatory aerobic, chemoautotrophic process restricted to just a few groups within the Proteobacteria.

...Much is now known about these processes and many of the micro-organisms involved, yet our understanding of the N cycle has been upended twice in the past few years, first by the discovery of anaerobic ammonium oxidation in natural systems, and more recently by the discovery of aerobic ammonia oxidation within the domain Archaea. Aerobic oxidation of ammonia by bacteria was first discovered over 100 years ago, underlining just how rapidly these two major discoveries have taken place."

Much of the article is readable by someone with some background in biology, and it is very interesting.

Before I started teaching a microbiology course to nurses a few years ago, I hadn't taught the subject in more than 20 years. I had to learn bacteriology all over again. DNA/RNA technology had completely destroyed the previous systems of classifying bacteria. An obscure group of bacteria (now called Archea) had turned out to be so fundamentally different from other organisms that They got a new classification as a domain (above the level of Kingdom). The domains being archea, bacteria, and eukaryotes.

 

[addy1]

So basically if not enough oxygen then the good bacteria will die and the fish suffer also. So pump running, air stones, bubblers, and good filterization keep things going smoother for the fish and their little bacteria friends. If you have too many fish then you need to really up the oxygen and keep the pond cleaner to insure their survival. Good constant water flow splashing on the surface, lots of plants, allow good algae to grow on your liner = good oxygen.
Keeping pond free of grunge makes for a healthier pond also. It's all in the balance
I've also heard that if you use well water you should allow the hose to splash the water in the pond when filling instead of sticking the hose under the water so as to give more oxygen.

I will keep that in mind jw, We add water to the pond via the well at the top pond of the stream, it splashes all of the way down into the pond.

 

[koiguy1969]

i prop the hose and let my city water mix with the waterfall water . and of course the extra flow in the drop helps with oxygenation. and its the opposite side of the pond from the intakes to my pump.

 

[vertigo72]

About stopping the pumps; as already explained I believe the issue is the bacteria running out of oxygen. Now I think flowing tons of water to get relatively little oxygen to those bacteria in your biofilter isnt very efficient. Keep an air pump running, with a stone or a few stones in your biofilter is probably a money saver, assuming you have ample filtration capacity so you can indeed turn the pumps off at night. Also if you have a dedicated pump for the waterfall, it shouldnt hurt to turn it off if you have other means of aeration, like a properly sized airpump.

All that said, it seems to be a bad way to save money. You would save more money by buying a more energy efficient pump or even a lower capacity pump, again provided you have excess filtering capability right now. Its gotta be better to have a x gallon / hour pump running 24/7 than a 2x pump half the day. Both for the ecosystem and for electricity bill.

As for splashing well water; while it certainly wouldnt hurt, its actually far more necessary for tap water. It allows much of the chlorine to evaporate even before getting in your pond. Chlorine kills koi, but I would be surprised there was a lot of it in well water.

 

[sissy]

I hope never again addy the pond I am putting them in is 20x30 and only has 10 goldies in it .but just got a call from a couple in Cascade VA near my house they have 12x12 pond and would like at least 3 or 4 of them and the pond they have is 4 feet deep .But I told them they will have to wait as I want to make sure the fish are healthy enough .So far so good they like good compared to what they have been through

 

[addy1]

The only real problem with our well water is the ph, it is low.