Hi everyone,

I recently discovered an old cement pond on my property and I was
hoping to get a few questions answered:

1. How do I calculate the size of the pond, in gallons? Its an odd
shape, so I don't know if the typical formulas apply. Its a kidney
bean shape with sloping sides. Its about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide
by 4 feet deep. But again with the sloping walls, I have no idea if
my pond is 400 gallons, or 1400 gallons.

2. I (probably like many people given the time of year and change in
temperature) am battling algae. Its not the string kind, rather the
pea soup kind, so I can't see the rocks at the bottom anymore, and I
can't see the fish. I have heard that the quickest and easiest
fix for this is to pour some beer in the pond each week - does anyone
have any experience with this, and if it works, how much should I put
in each week?

3. I have goldfish and now recently added koi too. I was told to not
feed the goldfish, but just let them eat the hyacinth. Is this true
for the koi too, or are there some type of pellets I should be using?

Thank you so much for your time,
Audra
Sacramento, CA

Audra wrote:

I have heard that the quickest and easiest
fix for this is to pour some beer in the pond each week - does anyone
have any experience with this, and if it works, how much should I put
in each week?


Sounds vaguely sacrilegious! I've not heard that that works.

Joe



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The best method of determining size of the pond is use salt and measure the
change in salinity. Do a google for the formula for determining size by
salt.
As for the green water, there was a thread just in the last two or three
days that gives all of the cures for green water. The one best addressed
with beer is patience. Drink the beer and wait. The water will clear.
Koi and goldfish can live off the algae growing on the side of the pond, and
the bugs that they catch, but they will also eat pelleted food and grow much
better. They also develop personalities, interacting with you as you feed.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Audra" wrote in message
om...
Hi everyone,

I recently discovered an old cement pond on my property and I was
hoping to get a few questions answered:

1. How do I calculate the size of the pond, in gallons? Its an odd
shape, so I don't know if the typical formulas apply. Its a kidney
bean shape with sloping sides. Its about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide
by 4 feet deep. But again with the sloping walls, I have no idea if
my pond is 400 gallons, or 1400 gallons.

2. I (probably like many people given the time of year and change in
temperature) am battling algae. Its not the string kind, rather the
pea soup kind, so I can't see the rocks at the bottom anymore, and I
can't see the fish. I have heard that the quickest and easiest
fix for this is to pour some beer in the pond each week - does anyone
have any experience with this, and if it works, how much should I put
in each week?

3. I have goldfish and now recently added koi too. I was told to not
feed the goldfish, but just let them eat the hyacinth. Is this true
for the koi too, or are there some type of pellets I should be using?

Thank you so much for your time,
Audra
Sacramento, CA

I have heard that the quickest and easiest
fix for this is to pour some beer in the pond each week

Holy kegger! This is a new one on me!
Do you happen to have hordes of teenage boys at
your house? If so my horde would like to visit your horde. They come complete
with guitars, drums and lots and lots of amps.

In case the thread on green water is hard to find I'll repost it here.


:-) no more green water :-)


This page was put together from the many suggestions of ponders who post at the
newsgroup REC.PONDS ~


To achieve clear water, instead of pea soup green water, in your pond you
should:

~ Realize that algae is tough! It exists in extreme conditions, like ice, just
fine. It has many, many different
forms. It even has a home page! http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/algae/
And, finally, without algae we wouldn't
be here so we should treat it with a little respect ;-)

~ Learn as much as you can about the natural balance of a pond and realizing
that new ponds must go through
a growth period which usually means green water before balance occurs.

~ Mother Nature designs pond to have few fish, many plants and subtraction and
addition of new water from time to time.
She lets the fish find food on their own, lets the fish fertilize the plants,
encourages predators and lets the plants run rampant.
She never cleans her ponds out unless she sends a flood. If things really get
out of control she throws up her hands and lets the chips fall where they may -
lets the pond fill in, turn emerald green, flood it out, earthquakes,
hurricanes, record snowfall, elections too close to call - whatever...

~We pondkeepers stuff in lots of pretty fish, spoil them rotten with tasty fish
chow, over fertilize our plants and do everything possible to discourage
predators.

~Plan on 20 gallons of water per goldfish and 100 gallons of water per koi and
as many plants as you can stuff in.

~ Do not use chemicals, killing algae just makes lots of suddenly dead algae,
rotting algae robs the pond of oxygen and makes more stuff for the new algae to
feed on (unless you have a bottom drain to get it out).

~ Do not worry about green fuzzy algae on the side of the pond, that is good
algae and helps balance your pond.

~ Ignore a little string algae.

~ Install bottom drains and skimmers for ease of removing sludge and debris.

~ Net the pond during the fall to keep leaves out of the pond.

~ Trim dead growth from the plants and removing floating tropicals if you live
in colder climates.

~ Lower your fish stocking, not over feeding fish - algae loves fish waste
(lots of yummy phosphorous)

~ Add lots plants of any type, marginal plants such as reeds, cattails, iris,
pickerel weed, arrowhead, floaters such as water hyacinth, water lettuce and
lots of underwater plants such as anacharis uses the nutrients up that the
algae would like.

~ Shade - lilies, the floaters (water hyacinth and water lettuce) and
artificial shade - shade cloth, umbrella, arch or trellis planted with vines,
No sun for the algae.

~ Clean up debris from the bottom of the pond and
stock snails to chew up the debris - less decaying stuff for algae food.

~ Cut back or stop fertilizing plants - same principle.

~ Plant in fine gravel and top with larger rocks if you have koi.

~ Mechanical filtration of the fish waste - usually a settling chamber in your
filter, or the first row of brushs, filter media.

~ Biological filtration - more than you think you need as your fish are going
to grow and you will probably add more fish to your pond via purchase or your
fish breeding in the pond. (This does not help with the algae problem but
contributes to the overall health of your fish and any critters.

~ Construct a veggie filter - an area, 10% to 20%, of the size of your pond
surface area. A couple of inches deeper than the plant baskets (the rigid black
mesh baskets made specifically for water plants) you are going to use to plant
in. Plant the baskets with marginal plants with fine gravel. Pump the pond
water through at a turnover rate per hour 1/2 to 1/4 of the pond volume. Veggie
filter uses up many of the nutrients and provides a good place for bacteria to
grow. Build it with a bottom drain (or two) for ease of cleaning - very
important or you'll end up with backups and leaking over the edge. Go here to
read a great description about how to build one
http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/garden.html
or
A veggie filter can be as simple as floating water hyacinth at the top of your
stock tank filter. Mine get to be almost three feet tall with leaves as big as
my hand.

~ Purchase sludge eating product - concentrated bacteria culture.

~ Some folks love their UV sterilizer. Does cost some $. And you have to change
the bulb every year.

~ Add a bale of barley straw to your pond for string algae. Read this webpage
http://hometown.aol.com/rosiedawg/my...ollection.html

~Phosphate Remover - It comes in a large clear container (maybe about gallon
sized) but it's also available in a smaller quart sized carton. It's usually
near the aquatic plant fertilizers and different chemicals available such as
ammonia remover and such.
You measure out the amount suitable for your pond size, place it in a mesh
bag, and first soak it in a pail before you put it in your filter. You need to
soak it because it gives off heat when it first gets wet.

~ Read this web page for interesting theroy on the life and times of algae
http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/GRENH2O.html

~ Make sacrifices to the Pond Goddess.
Run to your nearest garden center and buy a gazing ball,
a dragonfly garden stake and bullfrog spitter.
Place around your pond and ask humbly for clear water.

~ Patience, patience and eternal optimism.
Drink beer or a good white wine ;-)




k30a

I recently discovered an old cement pond on my property and I was
hoping to get a few questions answered:

1. How do I calculate the size of the pond, in gallons? Its an odd
shape, so I don't know if the typical formulas apply. Its a kidney
bean shape with sloping sides. Its about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide
by 4 feet deep. But again with the sloping walls, I have no idea if
my pond is 400 gallons, or 1400 gallons.

Taking into account your sloping sides my guessimate would be a
conservative 1,000 gallons. Do you have, or are you familar with, test
kits? The salt calculator RTB mentioned is the most accurate sans metering
the water in, but you'd need a salt test kit. If you're willing to pay for
it, pick up ammonia, nitrite, pH, & KH tests also if you don't have them.
;o)

2. I (probably like many people given the time of year and change in
temperature) am battling algae. Its not the string kind, rather the
pea soup kind, so I can't see the rocks at the bottom anymore, and I
can't see the fish. I have heard that the quickest and easiest
fix for this is to pour some beer in the pond each week - does anyone
have any experience with this, and if it works, how much should I put
in each week?

3. I have goldfish and now recently added koi too.

With problem number 2 one should not have done number 3 above, as it adds
to number 2. Do you have a filter? If so what kind? Tell us everything you
know about it, gph, in or out of the pond, size in gallons, filter media.
How are you aerating the water?

You have pea soup because you don't have enough filtration in ratio to
fish. How many fish are there now? If you have no filtration, and no plans
of putting any in and you don't want to miss with test kits, etc. I'd
recommend removing the koi and reducing the goldfish number to no more than
4. They will have babies, those will have to be removed on occassion.
K30a, of course, covers all this and more in her green water cures. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

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