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#16
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wrote in message oups.com... George wrote: A rule of thumb with any new system, be it a pond or an aquarium is to wait until the nitrogen cycle has run to completion before adding aquatic life. That usually takes about 30-40 days (although some suggest waiting I guess that I was just lucky introducing fish so quicklym but somethinh you said confuses me. **wait until the nitrogen cycle has run to completion before adding aquatic life**. I thought the nitrogen cycle was due to the interaction of plants, bacteria and fish, so how is there going to be any cycle before ading aquatic life? Unless, ypu are using runoff from farm fields, I wouldm't expect to find significant nitrogen anyway.I did test the water before starting and not surprisingly found no trace of amonia, nitrates or nitrates. What am I missing? Dave http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave/pool/pool.html Hi Dave: I should have qualified that statement. You can add a minimum of aquatic life (and sparingly feed it) to your pond as long as you understand that it may not survive the first month or so. So the moral of that story is to be prepared in case you need to scoop out your dead critters, and don't buy expensive plants and animals until the pond is well established. The link I provided earlier gives a link to details on how to jump start the nitrogen cycle without adding aquatics to you system. All the beneficial bacteria need to get started is a medium on which to grow, nutrients to sustain them, and warm (above 62 F), clean, preferably aerated water. Since that is the case, you should have your filtration system set up and running 24/7, and add some nutrients. Since your pond is obviously outdoors, the pond will naturally acquire the needed bacteria, because they are pervasive in the environment. And the bacteria will grow on any substrate in the pond, such as the walls, bottom, and any ornaments and rocks you may have in it. There are many ways to do jump start the cycle without introducing aquatics to the pond, and I can't recommend which one will work best for you. One method I've used works very well is to seed the pond with beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Products such as microlift and aquazyme will do this very well (I have used both products with success). During the seeding process, you periodically add some nutrients to the water that the baceria can eat. Some have used plain old flake fish food (myself included), ground up to a powder). The flake food will decompose and produce nutrients that the bacteria can eat. Others have actually gotten the process started even faster by using commercial products that contain low concentrations of ammonia (yes ammonia!) in conjunction with seeding with bacteria and enzymes. You will need to research that route before trying it, as I've not done it that way. I've heard both good and bad things about doing it that way. Regardless of what route you go, monitor your water quality and check your critters for signs of stress daily during the break in period. And then periodically therafter. It doesn't take a lot to get the cycle going, but bacteria concentrations will vary depending on how vigorous you break in your pond, which is why it is important to use the mimimum number of animals/plants necessary to cycle the pond, to prevent a kill off and to reduce the incidence of early disease manifestation. Like I said, you can add a small number of "sacrificial" animals to get the process going as well. Adding a prize critter early-on is definitely a no-no. Beware when adding inexpensive feeder stock, however, as feeder fish are notorious for carrying paracites and diseases simply because they are so cheap that many pet shops will not go through the trouble and expense to properly quarantine and innoculate these animals. So my advice is that if you go that route, know who you are buying from. Ask questions, such as whether the animals have been properly quarantined. If not, and you still want to buy from them, I strongly advise you to quarantine them prior to introducing them into the pond, even if they are to be used as "sacrificial lambs", or perhaps I should say "especially" if you are going to use them as "sacrificial lambs". It is much easier to prevent a paracite infestation or disease outbreak at the pre-introduction phase than it is to get rid of those problems after the fact. All it takes is one serious outbreak in your pond to ruin your month, and perhaps, your budget as well. After the cycle has completed, as shown in the graph on the earlier link I provided, and as Jan says, add only a few animals at a time (one or two, depending on the size of your pond), and over an extended period of time. Each plant/animal you add changes the water chemistry, so you should allow time for the pond to adjust between additions. Here is another link you may want to read: http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/Wa...soningPond.htm Don't let all of this scare you, because it isn't as hard as it sounds. I actually take a lot of enjoyment from the effort and the results. It just pays to be careful. I hope this helps. Cheers, George |
#17
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wrote in message ups.com... When there is amonia build up, I wonder how much is due to excess fish food? Some people like to feed the koi, but I have had 3 ponds and have never purchased any fish food. There is obviously enough natural food for them to eat and they seem fat and happy. Dave http://members.tripod.com/~VideoDave/pool/pool.html Absolutely. Most times, especially if you don't have a lot of fish, there should be plenty for them to eat. However, chances are, they are not getting all of the nutrients they need, and so you should suppliment their diet. And that, of course, is another entirely different can of worms, altogether (pun intended). |
#18
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wrote in message ups.com... When there is amonia build up, I wonder how much is due to excess fish food? Some people like to feed the koi, but I have had 3 ponds and have never purchased any fish food. There is obviously enough natural food for them to eat and they seem fat and happy. ========================= That would only work if there are a few fish in a large pond. My ponds don't have enough bugs, insects and algae to feed the number of fish I keep. There is no excess fish food in my ponds because the fish eat every last pellet. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o |
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