POND HELP

[cherry74]

I've been put incharge of my mothers 150g outdoor pond... She had installed last summer...
Its gross!! We have a pump/filter (not that great) we had 2 plants :twitch: ... Dont know if they made it ..
There are 4 Koi and 4 Gold fish and gobs and gobs of what the store told me where "mosqito fish" I purchased 3 and now there are over 50+ of these little guys .. plus 3 lil frogs that made a home in the pond.
I've been now looking into getting a pleco.... and need some pointers.
I would also like some suggestions on the use of heaters ... and cleaning up this mess.
Thank you
-Tori

[fatfutures]

Tori, give people some time to respond. Not many people here are into ponds and those that are might not be online at the moment.

I would also recommend that you delete one of your two threads on this topic. IT will be too confusing when people respond to one and then someone responds to the other.

Give em a little time and try some googling. LOL

[grant]

Hi Tori,

You may want to check out the local clubs. They are very helpful, and will give you a lot of advice, pointers, etc about ponds, from fish, plants, and pondscaping.

Here is a link. http://www.kwgcnt.org/
http://www.ntwgs.org/

Hope this is helpful.

[bra8ndy8]

I don't think you need a pleco........there are "pond shrimp"....the name has left me that do really good about eating the algae and also multiply really fast and give the goldfish something to eat on! Also.......you need to make more shade.....maybe a boulder or a big potted plant so the sun is on it less and will produce less alage.

[poel_19]

u/v sterilizers, they will help cut down on alot of the bugs and algea in the water

[cherry74]

pictures

[amuntep]

I would do a large water change if the water is fouled. If you want to get rid of algae, get a baby red eared slider, they can gobble up a lot of algae. If you are going to get a pleco for outside understand it will not make it through the next winter, w/o a heater. For koi you do not need a heater, they are cold water fish and do not have a problem in the winter months. Mine usually do not eat if the temp. stays pretty cold for an extended period of time. As for "shading" your pond I would advise against it, if you want plants. The problem is not too much sun, it's the water quality.

[cherry74]

Will the "red eared slider" eat my fish??

[bra8ndy8]

Yes! That's what they eat!

[cherry74]

Yes! That's what they eat!
I dont want them to eat my fish :confused:

I would do a large water change if the water is fouled. If you want to get rid of algae, get a baby red eared slider, they can gobble up a lot of algae. If you are going to get a pleco for outside understand it will not make it through the next winter, w/o a heater. For koi you do not need a heater, they are cold water fish and do not have a problem in the winter months. Mine usually do not eat if the temp. stays pretty cold for an extended period of time. As for "shading" your pond I would advise against it, if you want plants. The problem is not too much sun, it's the water quality.

I need something that will clean up the algea

[bra8ndy8]

Well then I wouldn't put them in there!

[cherry74]

Well then I wouldn't put them in there!


Thats... all I needed to know..
Thanks A Bunch

[amuntep]

Sliders are opprotunustic feeders, they will eat mesquito fish if they can catch them but I had one in my pond for four years till he went MIA, he never ate anything but algae. Sliders will eat fish if they are dead or dying. Most people don't relise that they consume a lot of plant matter in their diet especially as they get older. Granted I had no small fish that I kept with him (my two koi are about 24" long) but other than pulling it by hand and a big water change, that's all I got.

[sirphipps]

Is the algae hairy.... or is it slimy? Their are differant ways to do this. If you cant make shade. There is a solution to but in the water that will turn the water blue which cuts down on the uv light in the pond... But the water wont be real clear...

Has the pond been maintain regulary? Or are you getting started after the problem has been going on?... I guess that is enough Questions for now

[cherry74]

Is the algae hairy.... or is it slimy? Their are differant ways to do this. If you cant make shade. There is a solution to but in the water that will turn the water blue which cuts down on the uv light in the pond... But the water wont be real clear...

Has the pond been maintain regulary? Or are you getting started after the problem has been going on?... I guess that is enough Questions for now


The algea is slimy.. It is shaded part of the day, it is not completely in the sun. Since the begining of this post we now have 4 snails, 2 pleco & 4 shrimp.

"Regulary Maintained" .. lol .. Ugh Im guessing not.

[cherry74]

Did a big water change.. it helped a lot. There is still lots needed to be done..

[sirphipps]

Well let the new additions do their work for a little while. I would probably do another water change soon. Then we can go from there.

[sailfin2]

How many plants are in the pond? Putting in Parrots Feather, Cambomba, Cannas, Iris, Anacharis will help starve the algae as they compete for same nutrients. Also water lilies will help the most. They do two things- shade the water, to reduce algae, and also cool the water for fish during the summer. I would use some bog plants on a shelf on an edge of the pond to make a filteration system, this will help dramatically clean the water. Barley Straw works the best for stopping the algae. Water Changes can give you a nice few days, but if you do too much you will get alot of bounce-back, and the algae will flourish. Try to find some bullfrog tadpoles- they don't mature for over 2 years, and eat algae like crazy. Once plants get growing, I let them fight for algae, and they will clear up the water fast.
Hope this helps.
Amy

[sirphipps]

Oh yea... The barley straw... I forgot about that... I havent messed with ponds in such a long time.. I guess I kind of forgot..... Yes I agree with the above..

[ElijahTurtle]

Try to find some bullfrog tadpoles- they don't mature for over 2 years, and eat algae like crazy.
FYI ~ They will also make very short work of the dreaded cynobacteria!

[cherry74]

Thanks you guys, all the ideas are appreciated!:)

[bandrus]

I have a pleco in my pond and he has made it spotless! I have even started supplementing his diet with algae tabs again. I usually get a pleco a year. Every Spring I put one in the aquarium and move the one in there to the pond for the summer. When fall comes and temps start dropping, I take him out of the pond and give it to Dallas North Aquarium. They will die in the winter unless your pond is heated or pretty deep in the ground. Sounds like yours is preformed though.

[supersmirky]

What if you got a heater for the pond. Wouldn't that save you loads on getting a pleco a year?

[greeneyed]

Probably not once you figure in the energy to heat the pond.

[supersmirky]

Good point

[bandrus]

I get them small for like 8 or 10 bucks and raise them until they are too large for the aquarium. So I have each one a year and a half...1 year in the aquarium and around 6 months in the pond. I trade them back to DNA for store credit...believe me, I don't lose any money on them.

[AndrewH]

Probably not once you figure in the energy to heat the pond.

Well you really don't have to heat it that much. Just keep it around 60*F I think, plus you don't have to heat the entire thing. Just a section big enough for the pleco to survive in the coldest of the cold days/nights.

Heck, solar heat the thing for that matter. You already have a pump for the filter. Just have it go through a solar collector before getting back to the pond.

[greeneyed]

Careful with the solar heater though you could have fried fish....

[AndrewH]

Would be pretty easy to have a disconnect/bypass for when it's not cold enough to need it :D.

[kSpieler]

The turtle, when it's little, will help with keeping down the mosquito fish population. You can build up some "safe spots" with rocks that have spaces the fish can get through - but the turtle can't - then you'll only have SMART mosquito fish :D
How big are the Koi & Goldfish? You'de wanna make sure they are at least 3 times bigger than the turtle, 3-4" Koi to a 1" turtle.

But then you might also have to worry about something eating the turtle...racoon, cats...? Heh, I've only had turtles inside, but I did have them in a tank with feeder guppies - with an eggcrate partition that the fish could get through, but not the turtle. They learned how to survive w/turtle.

For algae... add lots of other plants...???

[tethorpe3]

Ok.... Right now, you really need to start with better water or atleast fresher. I had a similar problem when I got back from Austraila last year. Apparently a storm tripped my breakers. Anyways, I switched over to a UV sterilizer. For your condition, it may take a few days maybe even a week. But it will certainly make a difference. Depending on the size of the pond it will average you 100.00. But be care of what chemicals you put in the pond with a sterilizer. This gets a little more complicated then aquariums. And the most important thing you can do to help this out, Is give it shade!!!!!!!!!! The sun will be your worst enemy! So much to consider in your case.....good luck!

[Donald D. Walker]

Tori, I'm new to this site, but I've had koi ponds for over thirty years. Now, one hundred fifty gal pond is not much. Get rid of the frogs, they harbor parasites, next remove half of the fish load, stop feeding completely, and add more filter. For your size pond try a twenty gal plastic garbage can with river rock media and make it an up-flow filter, that is pond water pumped to the bottom through a hole with perforated PVC pipe in the bottom of the barrel, and an overflow back to the pond.Be patient you won't get results over night!Next forget about any heater or a pleco.

[ambitionz]

garbage can with river rock media :confused::confused::confused:

[Tinyfish]

The rock in the trash can will work.

Another thing would be to make a big filter.

[omgitskacie12]

i think you need to skim out some of the misquote fish that would help some