On 27 Apr 2005 15:48:38 -0700, "Bowhunter" wrote:

I recently put a new pond in our back yard. It is 8' long X 5' Wide at
the longest points and 22" deep. I'm bordering Zone 5 and Zone 6. I'm
figuring it's about 450 Gallon give or take. We filled the pond about
2 1/2 weeks ago and we have not added plants yet.
We have a 750 gph pump with fountain and also a waterfall. After 2
weeks we were told we should add a few goldfish to help with
misquitoes. snip for brevity

I'm with temperature and pH shock. Fancy goldfish in particular can't take
big temperature swings, and if it was more than 10F and the aquarium person
said it was still okay, I'd ask for my money back or replacement fish. Same
with pH, I bet the store pH is higher than 6.5. Use 1/4 baking soda to
increase that along with your KH and recheck to see if you need more.

Prior to the baking soda, if there are any fish still alive, catch them and
bring them inside till things warm up. I raise fancies in my lily pond and
I won't put them out till mid-June, (at the earliest) and I'm in Zone 7a
with a 1,000 gallon pond for them. (I think they could go in by the end of
May, depending on long range forecast, but I've got to let the tadpoles
grow up a bit more.)

What I wouldn't do is put comets in, if you want it to be a fancy goldfish
pond, they breed like rabbits and are hard to catch. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
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