did you say you have rocks on the bottom of your pond? some have found that
plant matter gets caught between the rocks and rots there. then when the
fish nose around in it, they get big whiffs of gas. the gas rises to the
surface and you smell it, too. if it was me i'd get rid of the rocks little
by little. i don't have any in my pond. its true that they do look nice for
a while, but then algae grows over them and you can't see them anyway.
mad
--
"I try to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains
fall out."
Judge Harry Stone, Night Court
From: "Jackytar"
Organization: Cox Communications
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 03:44:28 GMT
Subject: Pond odor
The pond has many plants in and around it so there is always *some* debris,
but none that you would find in concentrated amounts. Thanks for the
excellent link... there was an article there on water changes, with a
rationale to boot, though not directly related to my current problem. The
Koivet recommends a 10% water change every week. We bought this house with
pond up and running last October. I had a girl from one of the local
nurseries come to my home to teach me about my pond and upkeep. One thing I
clearly remember her saying was not to change the water... something about
disturbing a delicate balance. Oh well... who knew? The Koivet also
recommends to do a 60-70% water change 3-4 times a year! This actually makes
more sense to me. Thanks for your help... Jacky
"Nedra" wrote in message
news
But you just said you had debris in the pond ...??
Since I can't make a trip out to your pond I would guess that
the hydrogen sulfide is coming from a plant that is in dirt...
or perhaps from under the gravel??
The water changes dilute pond water... takes the 'older'
water from the bottom of the pond and empties it on a garden
or lawn where ever you wish. Fresher water is pumped in ...
You can check with www.koivet.com to get the scientific
rationale for doing water changes. I'm sure Doc Johnson has
water changes noted.
Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
"Jackytar" wrote in message
...
I don't see any debris, except what I cleaned out of the skimmer net.
Where did the hydrogen sulfide come from?
And what purpose does a 10-15% water change serve other than to dilute
the
pond water? Not doubting your advice... I'm pumping the pond at this
moment.
Just curious about the rationale behind this and, most importantly, how
to
prevent this from happing again.
Thanks,
Jacky
"Nedra" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Jacky, a 7% input of water isn't nearly enough. You need to
do a 15 to 20% water change. To do this drop a submersible
pump to the bottom of the pond. Be sure to pump out the
required amount. Add tap water slowly. Add Dechlor to treat the
chlorine
...
if you have chloramine then add Amquel.
Also where is the debris?
You shouldn't have any debris collecting anywhere in the pond.
Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
"Jackytar" wrote in message
...
I also noticed today that the pump was a little choked up with
debris
and
I
was only getting maybe 30% flow. I fixed this which dropped the
water
level
about an inch because of the added inflow. The auto filler kicked in
providing maybe 5-7% fresh water to the pond. When the pump gets
choked
up
I
do get some muck on my riverbed. I cleaned the filter today (very
dirty)
and
will clean it again tomorrow and the next day if necessary. I've
learned
one
lesson... clean every week!
Thank you both for your replies. Where is the hydrogen sulfide
coming
from?
Rotting debris?
Jacky
"Nedra" wrote in message
thlink.net...
I suggest a clean out of the filter and a 10% to 15% water change.
.. right now!
You should not have a sewer smell in the pond.
Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
wrote in message
...
somewhere there is hydrogen sulfide escaping, and that could be
the
cause
of the dead
of a single fish. they are sucking around rocks or something
and
got
a
big gill
full. do you have gravel on the bottom? have you mucked the
bottom
out?
It should
not smell like a sewer, not good for the fish. ahhh.. do you
have
aeration in there?
Ingrid
"Jackytar" wrote:
My wife and I notice a sewer smell when we get close to the
water
in
our
fish pond... as in bend over with our noses just over the water
or
when
we
get in there and stir things up. The plants and fish seem
healthy,
and
the
water is clear, although we found one dead fish today (out of
about
20).
The
pond is about 1000 gallons (my estimate) and 3 yrs old with a
skimmer/pump/filter/auto filler set up. I must admit we haven't
been
adding
the "aquaclear" bacteria powder or cleaning the filter very
often
(about
once every 2 weeks). We have an overabundance of water hyacinth
right
now
that we are thinning out.
Thanks,
Jacky
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