Teach me about new pond cycling and water testing!

[combatwombat]

Ok, water's running and the pond should now slowly start establishing itself. Should I be testing the water periodically to figure out when it's cycled? That's when I can add fish, right? If so, what's your favorite test kit? What #s are you looking for to know when cycling is complete? How often should I be testing?

 

[Rabungalow]

I'll say everyone has different levels of comfortability when talking about cycling. Some go the natural route which takes more time and some speed the process up with the addition of live bacteria. Neither route is wrong as both would get you to the same destination. I am someone that speeds the process up. I've setup all my freshwater and reef tanks by speeding up the cycle process and have yet to have an issue in any of my setups.

These are the steps I took to cycle after I had water flowing.

1. Added proper amount of API Pond Chlorine & heavy metal neutralizer since my water is treated. (Let that run through the pond for about 2 days.)

2. Added proper amount of Microbe-Lift PL Beneficial Bacteria to the pond. (Let this run through pond for about a week.) Note: The initial amount of bacteria add is heavy as you are essentially shocking/seeding the pond.

3. Added small amount of fish and bog plants.

NPS New Pond Syndrome is a classic sign the cycle is occurring which is true, but if you time the addition of live bacteria/pond plants/fish correctly you can completely avoid NPS. I don't tend to overthink this step to much, but if your not adding any bacteria to the pond then your going to be testing more often to determine what stage in the cycle you are at and will most likely witness NPS.


This is just my two cents on this topic. I already have Koi and Shubunkin swimming around in my pond happy as can be.

 

[WaterGardener]

Read up on fishless cycling and the nitrogen cycle. Plenty of info online that will explain the process.

You will need the liquid type test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH and pH.

 

[rubyduby]

I'll say everyone has different levels of comfortability when talking about cycling. Some go the natural route which takes more time and some speed the process up with the addition of live bacteria. Neither route is wrong as both would get you to the same destination. I am someone that speeds the process up. I've setup all my freshwater and reef tanks by speeding up the cycle process and have yet to have an issue in any of my setups.

These are the steps I took to cycle after I had water flowing.

1. Added proper amount of API Pond Chlorine & heavy metal neutralizer since my water is treated. (Let that run through the pond for about 2 days.)

2. Added proper amount of Microbe-Lift PL Beneficial Bacteria to the pond. (Let this run through pond for about a week.) Note: The initial amount of bacteria add is heavy as you are essentially shocking/seeding the pond.

3. Added small amount of fish and bog plants.

NPS New Pond Syndrome is a classic sign the cycle is occurring which is true, but if you time the addition of live bacteria/pond plants/fish correctly you can completely avoid NPS. I don't tend to overthink this step to much, but if your not adding any bacteria to the pond then your going to be testing more often to determine what stage in the cycle you are at and will most likely witness NPS.


This is just my two cents on this topic. I already have Koi and Shubunkin swimming around in my pond happy as can be.

This is also what I did and by doing so I avoided NPS also...

 

[Jhn]

@combatwombat you have plenty of patience, just by how long it has taken to build your pond. Don’t change now, in keeping aquatic life patience is number one. Let the pond mature at its own pace.

My question to others is why try to avoid new pond syndrome ie the green water. You all do realize that is part of the process of establishing the base of the food web in our ponds ie phytoplankton, which is wanted and part of the initial maturation process. Besides the green water lasts a few weeks maybe a month then it is gone, never to return if your pond is setup correctly.

Personally, I would skip the bacteria in a bottle it is unnecessary. As there are bacteria colonies already in the pond on all wet surfaces and will expand as their food source is expanded, ie ammonia and nitrite. Just dumping in a ton of bacteria without an ammonia source will end up with the bacteria pop. Dying back, until there is a need for them to expand.

What I have done with my ponds is plant the hell out of them in the main pond, the bog, etc. before adding fish. Have never had an issue with plants not growing due to lack of nutrients. most of our water source ie tap water has plenty of nutrients initially in it to provide a source of food for the young plants.

Then slowly add fish, have usually had a very minimal cycle this way and never lost fish when establishing my ponds, or can do the fish less cycle as watergardener suggested, which is just adding ammonia source to your pond water to kick start the cycle and testing the water until your readings show the pond has cycled. You will still want to proceed somewhat slowly when adding fish, as you don’t want mini cycles to happen, if you add too many fish at once that the bacteria pop. Can’t expand fast enough to keep up with the Extra waste being produced. In this case you could add bacteria in a bottle, I have used fritz-zyme as I know this product contains live bacteria. Most bacteria in a bottle dont contain live bacteria.

There really isn’t a wrong way to do it, I prefer patience over speediness, though. Just the other side of the coin so to speak.

 

[addy1]

My pond and bog, well water, ran for 2 months before I added fish. Then it ran over winter with no fish, all died due to our low ph and soft water. Ph 5.3 No color testing for hardness.

The next spring, after buffering with crushed oyster shells, I added fish that did great. And found 5 survivors of the ph death.

Plants were added as soon as built.

 

[combatwombat]

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful replies. I posted this before I found my leak fiasco yesterday, so setting this aside until I have that sorted out. Feel free to keep the replies coming, though. I will revisit this as soon as leaks are fixed and I'm back on track.