Question about cycling

Joined
Aug 9, 2016
Messages
76
Reaction score
22
Location
New Martinsburg, (Fayette Co), Ohio
Hardiness Zone
6a
Country
United States
I've had my 1200gal pond up and running almost a month now. I put the green scrubbies from my old filter into my new filter to jumpstart the cycling. I've added plants and added my fish slowly over the past 3wk. I check water parameters DAILY. And been getting the same results daily.
Ammonia 0.25
Ni & Ni 0...zero!
PH 8.2 consistent.
I have a total of 9 goldfish of varying sizes, totalling about 45 inches of fish.
I keep waiting for a jump in my water parameters but it isn't happening. I was thinking my test kit was bad so I bought a new one with the same results.

I'm netting out leaves daily, but I'm definitely not getting them all. I cleaned out my filter box today and there was so much disgusting muck in the bottom of that thing. I just can't believe that there's nothing wrong with my water except the 0.25 ammonia. I never saw a spike in anything to indicate cycling.

Thoughts???
 
Joined
Jun 9, 2018
Messages
481
Reaction score
876
Location
Tennessee
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7a
Country
United States
It can take 10-12 weeks or longer for a pond to cycle. Your ammonia reading may camp out there at .25 for another month before you see any spike in anything else.

Having cleaned out your filter box, may have actually set back that time frame tho.

Patience.
 

JRS

Joined
May 15, 2019
Messages
1,189
Reaction score
721
Location
Wisconsin
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
5a
Country
United States
The other side of the coin may be with the filter media and other items transferred, the bacteria may be handling most of the load. .25 ammonia is fairly minor. Cycles can do some different things. Give it some more time as SF said and let us know what happens.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
3,990
Reaction score
2,696
Location
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Hardiness Zone
6a
Patience is a big thing with ponds. Things don't happen overnight. Let it be and stop worrying. A month is not very long, so sit back and enjoy your new hobby.
Make sure you have good oxygenation. Either brisk movement of water or an aerator with an air stone.
You can rinse out you filter pads, but if you have bio balls or something like that, leave that alone. You don't want to remove the beneficial bacteria.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
31,523
Messages
518,278
Members
13,742
Latest member
Noodlebrain

Latest Threads

Top