Whole new world now that the pond is clear! Oh my goodness!

[ChloeandClara]

I am so confused right now. Either tadpoles turn into fish or Chloe and Clara (two orange and white koi who have lived here several years and never produced offspring) had two little fish. Ha Ha. Seriously though, they are two of them (so far) and they are about 2 inches, quick moving, and brownish translucent color. They are so fast, I'm having a hard time getting a picture of them. I have no idea where they came from! I recently put in two lily pad plants as I had no water plants before. I wonder if they were hanging out in the potted plant before I put them in my pond?? This is so weird!

I changed my filter on Saturday. I removed the lava rock that had been there for who knows how long, washed the existing filter pads a bit, put the 2 existing filter pads back in along with new bio balls and several pieces of new thick quilting batting. The green pond cleared up in just 2 days. It is now crystal clear, which is great but leads me to a whole new set of worries.

1. I lost count of the tadpoles at 100. They are cute to watch right now, especially as some develop legs, but I hope they don't stick around. I've heard horror stories of toads/frogs ending up in people's toilets around here. This irrationally freaks me out to no end.
2. Did I put in too much new filter, and not keep enough of the old? I don't want my pond to get out of whack again by getting rid of the good bacteria.
3. Where the heck did the two new little fish come from?
5. The bottom layer is full of stones and gravel. I don't have a bottom drain. Do you recommend taking out the gravel and stones completely or leaving them there. I don't want to empty my pond to clean it, but I'm worried about the muck that is hiding under and in between the rock. I don't think the shop vac is going to work, because I can't see the sludge to target specific areas and I don't want to suck up the rock in the process.
6. I want to add shubbies, but I need them to be sterile. I don't want too many fish, ruin the filtration and have a green pond again. I have a 5,000 gallon pond with two 6-7 inch koi and now two little questionable evolutionary fish.

I have more concerns but this will suffice for now. :glassesy:

 

[dieselplower]

I have seen some interesting topics but water too clear is a new one. I am sure the little fish have been hiding and the clear water along with increasing size has made them easier to find. As far as the filters, my only concern would be that you threw out a lot of your beneficial bacteria which could cause a bump in the cycle. Your water may turn green again until the pond is cycled again. Hard to say. In general I would not worry about too much filtration. Concerning the rocks at the bottom...I would only remove them if you are prepared to relocate the fish for a bit. It will be a huge mess. I think nature will sort out the frog problem. Your Koi will probably thin out the tadpoles and the frogs will not stick around if there isn't enough food for all of them. By the way, what is concern #4?

 

[ChloeandClara]

HA. Good catch! I don't recall what I deleted as question #4. Impossible on the little fish hiding! Last year, I had the pond drained and cleaned by the professionals who talked me into doing this as they said that I needed to do that every year. Unless they hid under the bottom gravel rock but I think this would be unlikely since it was full of sludge and without good water for a few hours. I guess they could have slipped through with the bit of water that was taken out to put the koi in while it was cleaned, but I would think they would be bigger after a year, whatever they are. Anything is possible. It is such a mystery.

Thanks for the reply! I will wait on removing the rocks for now and stop worrying about the tadpoles.

 

[gardengimp]

3. Where the heck did the two new little fish come from?

The stork :bouncycig:

- - - - - -

Actually, I would start taking the rock on the bottom out. Take the equivalent of a couple handfuls out twice weekly or so. Yes, it will take a while, but it shouldn't be a terrible shock to the system and it will gradually start getting that gunk out of your pond. Because that gunk will reach out and grab you with nasties when you least want it.

 

[addy1]

My guess is you had eggs on the lilies, but if they are two inches and you just put the lilies in, then that would not be it.

Agree gardeng, start slowly pulling out the rocks a little at a time

 

[dieselplower]

That is also a good idea to take the rocks out a little at a time. Then you could leave the fish in.

 

[sissy]

I found 3 and now 4 black ones that i did not know they were there and 2 white ones that I knew about