slow leak pond

[wivrrat]

Hi. I have a home made natural rock/cement pond. I have a very slow leak. Can I use sodium nitrate with water & fish in pond without draining. Thought I'd buy a 25 pound bag and add to pond. Will it seal the pond that way?

 

[wivrrat]

Hi. I have a home made natural rock/cement pond. I have a very slow leak. Can I use sodium nitrate with water & fish in pond without draining. Thought I'd buy a 25 pound bag and add to pond. Will it seal the pond that way?

This is a old photo when a hail storm hit.

 

[Jhn]

I don’t really work with concrete in my line of work, but
I doubt dumping a bag of sodium nitrate in the pond will seal the leak.

One study showed sodium nitrate will raise your nitrate and phosphorus levels in your pond, which could cause an algae bloom and screw up the water quality/natural balance of your pond.

Safer to drain and patch, IMO.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Your pond is very nice — even with the hail stones! Where do you live?

I don’t have a clue about fixing a leak, but just to make sure....what makes you think it’s a leak? Sometimes water levels can go down due to evaporation, or even water wicking out from a plant being in just the right spot.

 

[j.w]

@wivrrat

 

[wivrrat]

Hello and welcome! Your pond is very nice — even with the hail stones! Where do you live?

I don’t have a clue about fixing a leak, but just to make sure....what makes you think it’s a leak? Sometimes water levels can go down due to evaporation, or even water wicking out from a plant being in just the right spot.

No, its a leak. I've had the pond for 30 years and know. lol I'm in the San Bernardino mountains in S. California. 6000' elevation.

 

[JamieB]

You'll want to remove the fish, set them up in a temp holding tank of some kind. Set it up with filter, airstones, used pond water. Then if you have any plants in the pond, set them up in the holding tank too if you can. Top of the pond 28th fresh water, and wait to see where it stops leaking at. Then go wading to see where The leak is, it should be at the water line, just where water meets the sides. After you find and Mark the leak, drain the pond, saving as much of the old water as you can. Patch the hole, rinse well, and if you can, flush the entire pond. If you have a pond testkit, test the water before and after, trying to get the same or close results on ph, gh, and kh. Once the tests come back pretty close, is say let it sit at least 24 hrs full of water, and test again incase the concrete patch is leaking out anything. Once you are sure it's mostly done, not going to mess 28th water parameters, add back the old pond water, top off with new, and fish. Test frequently and watch you fish for problems. I'm no engineer, but I know concrete leaches stuff into water, which can harm or stress fish If not managed well.

 

[j.w]

Kids plastic wading pools are cheap and make for a nice holding place for the fish. Try to save as much of the old pond water as you can.

 

[Mmathis]

Kids plastic wading pools are cheap and make for a nice holding place for the fish. Try to save as much of the old pond water as you can.

Good idea! Don’t let it be in full sunlight, though.

 

[waynefrcan]

Good idea! Don’t let it be in full sunlight, though.

Why?

 

[waynefrcan]

Hi. I have a home made natural rock/cement pond. I have a very slow leak. Can I use sodium nitrate with water & fish in pond without draining. Thought I'd buy a 25 pound bag and add to pond. Will it seal the pond that way?

Cute pond and surrounding natural nature setting, but was wondering why you didn't do it bigger? Not enough space?

Find any gold coins up there?

 

[j.w]

Maybe not in full sunlight cuz a small plastic pool can heat up fast and kill the fish?

 

[Mmathis]

@waynefrcan Because a small pool, tank, or tub of water will get hot very quickly if it’s in direct sunlight. It’s easy to not think about that until it’s too late.

 

[waynefrcan]

Maybe not in full sunlight cuz a small plastic pool can heat up fast and kill the fish?

Right i need to read better, I was thinking the kid index pool 10 x 10 ft steel frame.

 

[j.w]

Well if ya wanna go big you could get one of those but they are more pricey.