Testing Water?

[flareyflan]

I am brand new to pond keeping. I bought a house with a 3500 gallon pond (swamp) w/ waterfalls. I had it cleaned out by a landscaping company and a new pump put in. Aside from the first two weeks after it was filled up (when it was sparkling clear), it has been nothing but a mess. I now have the inkling after reading a few forums on there that I should be testing the water. But I have ho idea how, what product to use, and what I'm looking for. Any tips on products, first of all? And what I want to see when I test it? Thanks!

-Arianne

 

[Dave 54]

Hi and welcome to the form from a damp and overcast Plymouth UK
Your best bet would be to buy an API Pond Master Test kit and an API Nitrates Kit.
When out and about by your pond always check up on the health of your fish , use your nose because if a pond smlls bad then you have a problem that needs to be addressed. asap.
Only feed as much as your fish will consume in 5 minutes upwards of three times a day .
There are many more tips we can give you but not all at once .
Weve been keeping koi 28 years and have enjoyed every minute of our hobby .
Amazingly fish do have personalities and even more amazingly are the life spans of a) goldfish who i propperly looked after can live up to 40 years Yet even more amazingly the koi can if propperly looked after live 80+ years with some reports coming from Japan of a fish called Hanaku , who was born 25 years before the signing of Independance from us damn Brits and kived till 1978 .

Dave

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

When you have your pond drained and cleaned it is doing a start over. It needs to cycle. Do you have fish? if so what kind and how many (good guess).
What kind of a filter?
Like dave says the api liquid test kit will tell you a lot get one and post your results. It really helps us help you

What area do you live in?

 

[flareyflan]

Thanks everyone! My pond currently has two koi about 6 inches long and 11 goldfish about 4 inches long. I've also noticed a whole bunch of little tiny black or gray fish in there recently which I am guessing are goldfish babies.

I live in the south Salt Lake valley.

 

[tbendl]

Welcome! You will get some great help here. If you can post some pictures, sometimes it helps but mostly we just like to look at other people's ponds.

 

[sissy]

welcome You don't mention a filter and yep you are starting over and you may need to add bacteria

 

[flareyflan]

I don't have a filter yet. I have ordered one in the mail that has a biological, mechanical , and UV filter in it. I'm hoping this will do a lot to help. I have added a lot of bacteria. And I've added algicide several times. This seems to get things under control for a time. But not overall. The water is still clear but brownish, and now I have this awful black stuff on my rocks as of yesterday. I just can't win!

(I'll post photos when I'm home. They don't want to upload on my phone. )

 

[flareyflan]

Welcome! You will get some great help here. If you can post some pictures, sometimes it helps but mostly we just like to look at other people's ponds.

 

[flareyflan]

Brown pond

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

Brown pond 2

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

Waterfalls

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

foamy water!

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

 

[tbendl]

Wow, that back wall is impressive! I love it, very nice.

 

[flareyflan]

Thanks. Actually, I'm not a fan of it. It's so hard and stark. I wish it were more of a Japanese style slate, with flat stones instead of bolders. But that's what was there when I bought it, so "oh well!" I'm going to plant some plants around the top/back that will drape over the rock to soften it a bit and green it up. Maybe potato vine?

 

[mgmine]

Flareyflan The first thing I would do is get rid of all but a few fish. Believe me when I tell you that those koi and gold fish can double or even triple in size in a year. I had a 4 in koi in the spring that is now 1t least 9" long and a comet that was 4 "last year and now 10" . All those fish will make a lot of mess and cause a lot of water problems.

 

[flareyflan]

Ok, here are my water test results (1st time);:

 

[Mmathis]

Flareyflan The first thing I would do is get rid of all but a few fish. Believe me when I tell you that those koi and gold fish can double or even triple in size in a year. I had a 4 in koi in the spring that is now 1t least 9" long and a comet that was 4 "last year and now 10" . All those fish will make a lot of mess and cause a lot of water problems.

She only has 2 koi and 11 gold fish in her 3500 gal pond.

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks. Actually, I'm not a fan of it. It's so hard and stark. I wish it were more of a Japanese style slate, with flat stones instead of bolders. But that's what was there when I bought it, so "oh well!" I'm going to plant some plants around the top/back that will drape over the rock to soften it a bit and green it up. Maybe potato vine?

For now, yes, you can soften it with plants. Then, if you are so inclined (like most of us are, LOL!), you can re-build or add on. A pond is never complete!

A potato vine would look nice. There are also plants sold as aquatic plants that you can insert between the rocks. Many will cascade down and look nice, like the potato. Look for perennials that grow in your zone so you don't have to replant every year. Just be aware that sometimes plants can grow into your water return areas and are notorious for blocking water flow which can quickly drain the pond. You just have to do regular inspections and pull them out when they go where you don't want them to be.