When is the Best time to add fish?

[studiovette]

I recently joined the forum and the Pond world. Just started up my pond last week. It's not a new Pond but new to me . I am located in New Jersey and it's been a little on the chilly side in the mornings and warming up to about 60 during the day. My water temp is still holding around 50 or so. I had to do a full cleanout 2 weeks ago and added some detox. I also have been adding cold bacteria over the last 2 weeks but have not tested the water yet. I will do that this weekend. So my questoin is when can I add fish? I plan on starting with a few Shubunkins. Do they need to be a certain size first? Should I get some and put them in a holding tank indoors first?

 

[Mmathis]

Well, you need fish to get things started (I would think, even if you added the bacteria). Not sure what a good water temp is, but probably 60's or over (????). I would start with a few fish (how big is your pond?). Check water after a week or 2, then if water (per test kit: ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, pH, etc) is OK, add a few more. Then just continue to monitor. Probably should start by quarantining any new additions.

Or do like I do and just add new fish whenever I see some I like. But I do QT now, and I do (sorta) monitor my water quality.

 

[studiovette]

sorry about 850-900 gallons and 12x 6

 

[crsublette]

Read the thread and hyperlinks in it, Ok, NOW WHAT DO I DO ??


I would wait on adding fish until the water temperature is reliably above 65*F.

I recently joined the forum and the Pond world. 1) Just started up my pond last week. It's not a new Pond but new to me . I am located in New Jersey and it's been a little on the chilly side in the mornings and warming up to about 60 during the day. My water temp is still holding around 50 or so. I had to do a full cleanout 2 weeks ago and added some detox. 2) I also have been adding cold bacteria over the last 2 weeks but have not tested the water yet. I will do that this weekend. 3) So my questoin is when can I add fish? 4) I plan on starting with a few Shubunkins. Do they need to be a certain size first? 5) Should I get some and put them in a holding tank indoors first?

1) So, does this mean the pond was empty the entire time or did it have water in it for a while over the winter ?


2) Personally, I would not spend the money on most of those products and would not trust the marketing on the product. Who uses Arctic Blend and does it work?? I would only use bacteria products that is used by particular folk who I trust really know what they are doing. If you want to try a bacteria product, then check out Keeton Industry's KI-Nitrifier Gel. Now, remember, the proper bacteria you need to grow is already present around you, but it is the growing of these bacteria that can take a while and this growing process is pH sensistive (7.8~8.4 for optimum growth) and water temperature sensitive (77~86*F for optimum growth) and also other particular ingredients to help increase the growth of the bacteria.


3) If you do it very slowly, one or two at a time every month, then you can start sooner if you do not want to do a fishless cycle (described in the very first hyperlink in this post). Once ammonia and nitrites are zero or near to zero and nitrates are present in your test kit, then this means your bacteria is established and sufficiently growing to match your biological demand and fish population. If ammonia and nitrites go up too fast, then the bacteria are growing very slow or your bio-filter is failing; when this happens, stop feeding the fish until ammonia and nitrites goes down.


4) Nah. Personally, I think, if you're able to buy bigger fish from a good, reputable seller, then you will have better success of them surviving in the pond.


5) Yes and I would keep them in there for about a month at least.

 

[addy1]

I have shubunkins in a tank in the house, our pond is bouncing from 65 down to 54 back up, the nights have been cool, a full sun day warms it up nicely. The house fish will be put out once the pond hits 65 and stays there. I started with small petsmart fish, 2.20 for shubunkins, once I got over my ph issues the little ones have done well.

If you have herons, be ready to net your pond, they are great fishers. It took them one summer to decide to make my pond a stopping place for their snacks, now they come back all of the time.

 

[studiovette]

I have shubunkins in a tank in the house, our pond is bouncing from 65 down to 54 back up, the nights have been cool, a full sun day warms it up nicely. The house fish will be put out once the pond hits 65 and stays there. I started with small petsmart fish, 2.20 for shubunkins, once I got over my ph issues the little ones have done well.

If you have herons, be ready to net your pond, they are great fishers. It took them one summer to decide to make my pond a stopping place for their snacks, now they come back all of the time.

So my water is starting to warm up and per my test results everything is in check. I plan on buying a couple of shubunkins tomorrow from petsmart when the new inventory arrives tomorrow and depending on size I will keep them indoors for a couple weeks since I bought myself a nice fish tank setup and that's been cycling for about 5 days now.
I plan on going away at the end of the month for 11 days and want to make sure I do what I need to do before I leave. Any suggestions? Obviously I will cover the pond with a net since I will have fish in there by that point. What about feeding? Will they be ok or start eating my plats that are growing back?

 

[addy1]

I leave mine be, they do fine with what food is in the pond. Mine leave the plants alone, snack on bugs and any algae that tries to grow.