Thread: Building a small koi pond waterfall.

^^^ I do not understand why rain would be a problem and why it would deplete oxygen in the pond. Water = H2O has oxygen....

Originally Posted by GracelessFawn

^^^ I do not understand why rain would be a problem and why it would deplete oxygen in the pond. Water = H2O has oxygen....

Dissolved oxygen is a different component than molecular oxygen. If fish breathed the molecular oxygen then all you would have would be hydrogen and you would not want to smoke a cigarette near your fish pond

http://agrilife.org/fisheries2/files...roduction1.pdf

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

If fish breathed the molecular oxygen then all you would have would be hydrogen and they would not want to smock a cigarette near your fish pond

Your fish prefer to smock cigarettes away from the pond then.

ohh kaaay.

Some great tips here, GF.

Rainfall doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere in that PDF as a significant cause of oxygen depletion.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Your fish prefer to smock cigarettes away from the pond then.

ohh kaaay.

Some great tips here, GF.

Rainfall doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere in that PDF as a significant cause of oxygen depletion.

Then I guess you never had smoked fish?

I'd have thought that most oxygen in a pond would be produced by weeds and other plants in the pond producing oxygen.

So more sunlight = more oxygen.

Pond water could therefore be less oxygenated on rainy days but because of the lack of sunlight, rather than directly because of the rain.

Originally Posted by cyrille

I'd have thought that most oxygen in a pond would be produced by weeds and other plants in the pond producing oxygen.

So more sunlight = more oxygen.

Pond water could therefore be less oxygenated on rainy days but because of the lack of sunlight, rather than directly because of the rain.

That is a good point. I had not considered that.
Rain provides the double whammy of altering the PH and because of no sunlight the plants consume more oxygen than they produce
"At night and on very cloudy days, algae and submerged plants remove oxygen from the water for respiration. During daylight hours plants normally produce more oxygen than they consume, thus providing oxygen for the fish and other organisms in the pond. Oxygen depletions are the most common cause of fish kills in ponds. "
Dissolved Oxygen - AquaPlant: Management of Pond Plants & Algae

Originally Posted by cyrille

I'd have thought that most oxygen in a pond would be produced by weeds and other plants in the pond producing oxygen.

So more sunlight = more oxygen.

Pond water could therefore be less oxygenated on rainy days but because of the lack of sunlight, rather than directly because of the rain.

I don't know, but rain creates movement in the water, so I would like to think that it provides oxygen for the fish.

Originally Posted by GracelessFawn

I don't know, but rain creates movement in the water, so I would like to think that it provides oxygen for the fish.

That's what I thought also .
I guess it all depends on how much rain.
During the rainy season we get a lot of rain, I had to drain my pond almost every other day. Then some of my fish started dying, so I asked about it at the Pet stores. and did some research. I found out that rain changes the PH and consequently the ability of the water to absorb and hold oxygen. I also recently found out from a post in this forum and subsequent research, that at night , and at low sunlight days such as when it rains , plants aquatic consume more oxygen than they produce.
As I said , during the rainy season some of my fish started dying, after I put a tent over my pond non of my fish died anymore, and now that we don't have rain I am also not loosing any fish. So that is also confirmation that the rain was a contributing factor.

Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai

That's what I thought also .
I guess it all depends on how much rain.
During the rainy season we get a lot of rain, I had to drain my pond almost every other day. Then some of my fish started dying, so I asked about it at the Pet stores. and did some research. I found out that rain changes the PH and consequently the ability of the water to absorb and hold oxygen. I also recently found out from a post in this forum and subsequent research, that at night , and at low sunlight days such as when it rains , plants aquatic consume more oxygen than they produce.
As I said , during the rainy season some of my fish started dying, after I put a tent over my pond non of my fish died anymore, and now that we don't have rain I am also not loosing any fish. So that is also confirmation that the rain was a contributing factor.

That is an important confirmation as I was going to direct some rain flow into the pond.

My pond is about 2 metres long and 0.8 metres wide by 0.5 metres deep.

For the filtration system I am going to use 4 rectangular plastic buckets and lids with each container having a 10 litre water capacity.

I will build an elevated base platform at one end of the pond and I will place the containers on top of each other in a straight column.

A water pump will then direct water into the top container and the water will flow through small drilled holes (0.5 mm diameter) through the stack of 4 lid and pail base panels.

The top lid will have no holes and the bottom bucket base panel will have 3.0 mm holes drilled in it to allow a water curtain flow affect into the pond.

My question is, will this flow provide enough turbulence and aeration?

Of course there will be some trial and error testing and filtration materials will be placed in the top 3 containers.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Koi don't flourish in moral laxity - tighten that laxity up Grace

Originally Posted by malmomike77

Koi don't flourish in moral laxity - tighten that laxity up Grace

No worries, it's tight for sure, but not just morally.