Water change... or ammonia destroyer?

[BennyLava]

Hi all. Recently drained out all the water from my 2,100 gallon pond. It was time to get all the sludge and leaves out. So that job is finished, and the fish are back in the pond. But, of course, all my algae died and I am needing to do water changes. But I have this chemical that neutralizes all ammonia and nitrates. Or so it says. Also says that its completely harmless to all aquatic life. So I was just wondering if a person could safely use that stuff, instead of doing water changes. Anyone know? Or should I still do the 25% water changes? I must admit that I don't even know how long you are supposed to carry on with the water changes.

 

[addy1]

I would if you can, get a muck vac and vac the muck out rather than drain and clean. That will keep your algae in good shape. You basically have a new pond again and it needs to stabilize.

A lot do water changes every week.

 

[fishin4cars]

Since you have already dome the NO-NO, next thing is change 25%, add your STUFF, and the monitor the ammonia with a test kt. Your probably still going to need to do water changes as I really have my doubts. best thing at this point would be to add a bacteria additive that induces bacteria growth. the sooner that gets in there and back stable the sooner the pond will get back to running smoothly. Be prepared the chances now of a algae bloom are much greater.