Question on water change

[Meyer Jordan]

why do the vast majority of my fish chose to swim directly under the outfall from the hose in and out of the new water as it refills...why not stay well away from it till it gets diluted?

Does your pond have a waterfall?

 

[moby]

Yes, it's certainly had some interest show and discussion hasn't it!
Thanks @IPA, just wondered as I also mentioned 20% changes in my post
@Mitch, yes, of course, water movement, that may well be the reason rather than the new water attracting them. Good point!

 

[sissy]

The only thing I do is backflush my filter .I have a dirty water pump in the bottom of the 1 filter and plug it in and put my hose in the tank to get the collected sediment off the bottom of the tank and the dirty water goes to my gardens .

 

[IPA]

my fish love it when I dump water from a five gallon bucket in. I think it's a form of entertainment and I dump it in quite quickly. Then go go crazy looking for anything eatable stirred up.

 

[Gemma]

if indeed it does irritate them, why do the vast majority of my fish chose to swim directly under the outfall from the hose in and out of the new water as it refills...why not stay well away from it till it gets diluted?

Mine do too! They don't swim any different after a water change, but they sure do collect by the fresh (well) water source!

... If you monitor the water quality over a period of time you'll also have an idea of the frequency of water changes necessary so that no more than 20% is being changed.

I never have issues with the basic (ammonia, Nitrate...) I do routine water changes as a precaution against those other harmful substances (that I read about) the average pond owner like myself, doesn't know about

Perhaps the difference between those that do believe in routine water changes, and those who do not, has to do with how much water testing one is willing to do....me, not much!
I keep an eye on in Spring while the pond goes through it's cycle, and then occasionally out of curiosity.

Well, unless I buy a minnow trap and have success with it, my pond will undergo it's annual large water change, when I do the great koi round up !!

I dread the task, as it's long and tiring....some of the small koi leap clear across the pond to avoid the net!

I'm thinking of keeping just males, to stop having to catch babies!

 

[IPA]

I never have issues with the basic (ammonia, Nitrate...) I do routine water changes as a precaution against those other harmful substances (that I read about) the average pond owner like myself, doesn't know about

What I found out recently, being concerned with heavy metals in the water, was that A), plants remove heavy metals and B) heavy metals are introduced into the pond by the water source be it municipal water supply or well water.

 

[Gemma]

wow gema this must b the quickest thread that reached 6 pages in few days lol

That's cause the board is slowing down and everyone's bored!

 

[Tula]

@Gemma , I think about a single sexed pond too...only problem is my 2 favorite fish are a female and a male !

 

[Jhn]

Perhaps the difference between those that do believe in routine water changes, and those who do not, has to do with how much water testing one is willing to do....me, not much!
I keep an eye on in Spring while the pond goes through it's cycle, and then occasionally out of curiosity.

Water testing ....what's that?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I am constantly seeing references to "the other harmful substances", but I have yet to see any actually identified. If any harmful substances other than Ammonia and Nitrite are in a typical Garden pond's water, someone put them there

 

[sissy]

api liquid water test .True meyer or it got washed in from heavy rains

 

[budgenator]

I didn't mean to start a debate over pros and cons of water changes! I just wanted to know the best method when I (for whatever reason) do a partial water change

@Tula My filter doesn't back flush, I just rinse the Media pad, and my plants are all on the upper section completely separate from the pond
How much water do you change and how long does it take you to refill the pond?

If you are going to do water changes, it's generally considered better to do smaller changes more frequently as in 10% every weeks is better than 40% once a month. it's even better to do a continuous trickle and overflow to achieve your 10% per week. Tap and well water has many minerals that are absolutely necessary in trace amounts, but can be toxic in excess. It's plausible that if someone is topping off to replace evaporative losses, these minerals can build up to toxic levels, water changes can slow or reverse this process. It's not certain that this plausible build up is actually happening

Now the big question is, "Is what's plausible in certain circumstances, something that applies to your situation?" My pond is 11,000 gallons so it's not practical for me to do water changes over than draining settlement chambers as needed; if yours is 1,000 gallons you might be irrigating your garden with pond water, a very practical way to do water changes.

 

[budgenator]

Conclusion of this reply:
Small thing in a big area, little effect
Big thing in a small area, big effect
Little thing in little area, medium effect
big thing in big area, big effect.

Not necessarily, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Tap and well water has many minerals that are absolutely necessary in trace amounts, but can be toxic in excess. It's plausible that if someone is topping off to replace evaporative losses, these minerals can build up to toxic levels, water changes can slow or reverse this process. It's not certain that this plausible build up is actually happening

This is another reason why it is important to define what type of pond you are discussing. In a DKP, It is conceivable that over an extended period of time some minerals might increase to troublesome levels, but in an eco-pond this would not happen do the the amazing adsorption and assimilation abilities of aquatics plants and some algae. Mineral build-up in an eco-pond is a non-starter in the discussion of water changes.

 

[moby]

@Meyer, sorry I missed that you had asked me a question earlier in post #121 and I didnt reply so, Yes, my pond does have a waterfall with a free fall and two airstones that also create extra water movement.