the pond cycle

[lily]

I have heard of pedal cycles, womens cycles.... but please could someone outline the basics of the the pond cycle?

I initially got the 'pond bug', because I love frogs and wanted to attract them to the garden so dug a small pond for wild life and plants only.
Hubby loved it but wanted fish, so we dug another slightly bigger but baby in comparison to most on here, filled it and on advice (we now know bad) put 6 gold fish in a week later. Then because the fish were ok, we put in more which didnt go well. (again, thanks to here we now know we should not have done that)

Anyway, I appreciate that climate probably makes a difference but I really would like to learn in simplistic terms what is meant by the pond cycle?

 

[DrDave]

Koiguy has a pretty good explanation, maybe you can get him to re-publish it. Or, when I get home from work I'll take a shot at explaining it.

 

[lily]

thankyou, I would grateful to either of you .

 

[DrDave]

I don't have a lot of time today to get into the details, but it basically goes like this;

A sterile pond with fish added, quickly starts building ammonia into the water. You wind up with cloudy water which is a bacterial bloom.

In the meantime, anerobic bacteria start to grow, preferably in a bio filter made for this purpose.

The nitrite and nitrate levels build up to dangerous levels in the pond just before the cycle completes. When the anerobic bacteria have reached a population sufficient enough to consume the nitrates and nitrites, the cycle is complete and the levels drop to zero.

Water changes help protect the fish during the cycle. I prefer to use feeders to do this. You don't lose much if they don't make it.

Does this help?

 

[koiguy1969]

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/bacteria-just-basics-t4827.html

 

[lily]

so, have I understood correctly?

The pond goes through a cycle when it is first created and this can last different amounts of time depending on when the healthy bacteria cancels out the bad stuff produced by the fish?

The cycle is complete when a happy balance is achieved?

So does this happen again every time additional fish are added? ie. the good bacteria needs to increase to deal with the bad stuff produced by the fish?

Once the happy balance is achieved is that it or does the pond complete a cycle and starts again from scratch say every few weeks because the good bacteria only lives so long?

Also what do you mean by feeder fish?

 

[Squidhead]

Nitrogen Cycle short version-

1. Fish pee is a source of ammonia. Fish poop and uneaten food rot and create ammonia.
2. After a while the a bacteria grows and oxidizes the ammonia. The ammonia is then turned into niTRITE.
3. When niTRITE starts to become detectable, ammonia usually isn't detectable. When the first bacteria creates the niTRITE another bacteria starts to grow. That bacteria turns the niTRITE into niTRATE.
4. When niTRATE starts to be detectable both niTRITE and Ammonia are not detectable. Or they shouldn't be. Both bacterias, and others live in harmony in your bio-filters media and other ideal locations. NiTRATE is harmless to fish at low levels, under 25ppm is preferable. Don't let it go over 50ppm!
5. NiTRATE is removed with weekly water changes as is dissolved organics. The ammount of water you remove is dictated by how rapidly your pond bio-filter produces niTRATE. Rule of thumb is 25% water change. You want to keep the niTRATE down and dissolved organics as much is possible. If you need to change out more then 25% water to do so, then by all means do that.

When all ammonia and niTRITE are not detectable and only niTRATE is, the tank is now in cycle. An ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kit are valuable durring this period to monitor progress in the cycle

• Ammonia is toxic to fish at any level, but if you have fish in your pond and you haven't cycled ( correct term is actually "in cycle") then you have to keep the ammonia level arround .25ppm but not over .50 ppm.
• Oxygen help the bacterias grow. Use a form of aeration - bubbler, waterfall, disc diffuser, venturi, fountain, etc.
• Use a good dechlor to detoxify any excessive ammonia or nitrate if water changes aren't effective enough

 

[DrDave]

That about sums it up. Thanks for helping out Squidhead. Busy day here at DrDaves Koi.

 

[Squidhead]

so, have I understood correctly?



The cycle is complete when a happy balance is achieved?

So does this happen again every time additional fish are added? ie. the good bacteria needs to increase to deal with the bad stuff produced by the fish?

Once the happy balance is achieved is that it or does the pond complete a cycle and starts again from scratch say every few weeks because the good bacteria only lives so long?

Also what do you mean by feeder fish?

"The pond goes through a cycle when it is first created and this can last different amounts of time depending on when the healthy bacteria cancels out the bad stuff produced by the fish?" -Yes, well kind of.

"So does this happen again every time additional fish are added? ie. the good bacteria needs to increase to deal with the bad stuff produced by the fish?"
The bacteria will multiply or die as needed to deal with the ammonia and nitrites. If you overload what you have the bacteria will pretty much overpopulate and end up killing itself ( in a manner of speaking ) The water will not have that "earthy" smell and become clouded and basically all hell breaks loose. AKA bio-filter crash

" Once the happy balance is achieved is that it or does the pond complete a cycle and starts again from scratch say every few weeks because the good bacteria only lives so long?"

Not really, the bacteria just kind of reproduces as needed to handle the load. Think of it as like the earth. People reproduce to populate and the human race lives on. If we over produce, things become unhealthy and disease spreads.

"Also what do you mean by feeder fish?"

They are inexpensive Comet goldfish usually, that the pet store sells super cheap for feeding larger fish like Oscars for example"

 

[lily]

thank you

We have two small ponds, plants are deep water (hawthorn and lilies) and various oxygenators and floaters plus irises and reeds for hiding in within the pond and marginals.

There is a Hoselock Easy Clear 6000 pump and filter in one and a 3000 in the other.
They have a choice of fountain or what I describe as a gentle 'glug' just above the water surface.

Do I now just need to get a test kit to see where we are?
Any levels that are not right do we then do a sort of symptom sorter check of the ponds?

what are feeders?

 

[lily]

sorry... I was composing my last reply and didnt see your reply!!!!

thank you to everybody here because I have a million and one questions and Im grateful that people take the time and care to answer. Im truly appreciative.

 

[stroppy]

feeders are what some call cheep small goldfish often found in pet shops

 

[lily]

ha stroppy.. that is what we got and we think of as our pets!!!!! I think they were six goldfish / shebumpkins for thirty pounds.They were about 3 inches from the garden centre.


What is a Bio filter?

 

[mailman62]

ready to add a bactieria to my bio ,how long should i wait after adding this to add a few fish?

 

[Squidhead]

thank you

We have two small ponds, plants are deep water (hawthorn and lilies) and various oxygenators and floaters plus irises and reeds for hiding in within the pond and marginals.

There is a Hoselock Easy Clear 6000 pump and filter in one and a 3000 in the other.
They have a choice of fountain or what I describe as a gentle 'glug' just above the water surface.

Do I now just need to get a test kit to see where we are?
Any levels that are not right do we then do a sort of symptom sorter check of the ponds?

what are feeders?

By oxygenators I am guessing they are "true aquatic" plants that grow submerged or are floating without pots. A test kit is an important thing to have when first starting the pond. This is when problems usually happen. You can correct some problems before hand deppending what they are. If your plants are doing good and are healthy and have been for a while, then you should be good to go for slowly stocking fish. Do a small or medium sized pair to start. If there is no problems at a minimum of 3 weeks add another. That is just a guess using aquarium background as experience.

Oh, "feeders" are inexpensive goldfish sold at pet stores as food for large preditory fish. I would go with something you want, I don't particularly care for feeders unless you want them, they are usually comets. I do like comets, but feeder tanks are usually overloaded and can be fish that already have issues.