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#1
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Bio-filter startup time?
Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland |
#2
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Bio-filter startup time?
O3raledale wrote:
Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland The bio bugs don't start until the water warms up. I think the earliest I started was around mid April. You're a little south of me and I think early April would be the earliest you could start. Remember we can still get bad weather. -- Bonnie NJ |
#3
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Bio-filter startup time?
O3raledale wrote:
Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland The bio bugs don't start until the water warms up. I think the earliest I started was around mid April. You're a little south of me and I think early April would be the earliest you could start. Remember we can still get bad weather. -- Bonnie NJ |
#4
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Bio-filter startup time?
"O3raledale" wrote in message ... Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, ============================== I don't turn on the filters until the water reaches 50F and isn't likely to drop below that again in Spring. Each year it varies and also varies from pond to pond. We have 3 ponds. A small one at 150 gallons, 750 gallons and 2000 gallons. -- Carol... My website: http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html [Insert humorous, clever or profound quote here] ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ |
#5
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Bio-filter startup time?
Bonnie and Carol and all,
Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive. So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then too, correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll just put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I use last years rocks or use new ones? Thanks, -Pat |
#6
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Bio-filter startup time?
Bonnie and Carol and all,
Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive. So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then too, correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll just put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I use last years rocks or use new ones? Thanks, -Pat |
#7
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Bio-filter startup time?
I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the
first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid (O3raledale) wrote: Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#8
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Bio-filter startup time?
I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the
first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid (O3raledale) wrote: Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#9
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Bio-filter startup time?
I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the
first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid (O3raledale) wrote: Hello All, Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond. Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so? Thanks for all of your help, -Pat Rolland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#10
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Bio-filter startup time?
Wait to start feeding until you are sure the temperature is going to remain above 50 degrees. Start with very small amounts of food and watch the ammonia and nitrites, as the filter will start to work as it starts to be fed. As the ammonia levels drop, increase the food to satisfy the fish and increase the growth of the filter. -- Thanks Rich, -Pat |
#11
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Bio-filter startup time?
Wait to start feeding until you are sure the temperature is going to remain above 50 degrees. Start with very small amounts of food and watch the ammonia and nitrites, as the filter will start to work as it starts to be fed. As the ammonia levels drop, increase the food to satisfy the fish and increase the growth of the filter. -- Thanks Rich, -Pat |
#12
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Bio-filter startup time?
Wait to start feeding until you are sure the temperature is going to remain above 50 degrees. Start with very small amounts of food and watch the ammonia and nitrites, as the filter will start to work as it starts to be fed. As the ammonia levels drop, increase the food to satisfy the fish and increase the growth of the filter. -- Thanks Rich, -Pat |
#13
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Bio-filter startup time?
I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid Ingrid, Thanks for the tips. -Pat |
#14
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Bio-filter startup time?
I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid Ingrid, Thanks for the tips. -Pat |
#15
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Bio-filter startup time?
"O3raledale" wrote in message ... Bonnie and Carol and all, Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive. ## I'm sure some still do their job in colder water since I never had an ammonia spike in spring or fall. I don't feed them at all if the water is below 50 to 52F. I'm more concerned about them not digesting the food if the water temp' drops overnight. So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then too, correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll just put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I use last years rocks or use new ones? Thanks, -Pat ## I don't use lava rocks because they're too hard to clean. If you're going to turn it on now you may as well add the filtering material of your choice. -- Carol... My website: http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html [Insert humorous, clever or profound quote here] ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ |
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