Printable View
About every 6 weeks or so I need to clean our fish pond. I say I but actually it is a Thai worker that cleans the pond and trims the plants for B300.
Here he is getting started with the filter. The big blue tub is to keep the fish in while the pond is being cleaned.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4444.jpg
Removing the coral rocks that serve as filters.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4445.jpg
It doesn't take long in Thailand for a green look to spread throughout the pond.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4446.jpg
The filter is rather dirty.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4447.jpg
Why do you need to clean it out? I had a large fish pond in Saipan and never did anything but clean the filter for the six years I lived there. And the filter was just six inch long piece of perforated pipe with some window screen wrapped around it.
Here is the worker cleaning the coral rocks. We tend to replace these rocks every 6 months or so.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4451.jpg
The fish have been safely moved. We lose a few small fish everytime this is done, but as of yet I do not know how to prevent this.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4458.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by buadhai
The wife asks the same thing. I suppose that I just get tired of looking at the green water.:)
The pond is now empty.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4457.jpg
And so is the filter tank.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4459.jpg
Scrub out the pond.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4460.jpg
Scrub out the filter.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4463.jpg
Now I see why; you have Koi. Koi eat a lot and dump lots of nitrogen in the water which causes the algae bloom. You could try lots of water plants, but the Koi will eat them unless you provide some sort of barrier.Quote:
Originally Posted by hillbilly
Or, you could switch to Comets (a cross between Koi and Goldfish) which are not so voracious and which will coexist with plants which will happily consume the excess nitrogen. Comets won't get as big as Koi, but they will get up to about 6 inches or so and look OK in your size of pond:
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2006/09/363.jpg
Replace the cleaned coral rocks, add some chemicals and begin to fill up the pond.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4468.jpg
Almost filled. The blue look disappears in about 3-4 days.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...l_DSCN4470.jpg
Thanks buadhai, you have answered some questions that have been on my mind for about 2 years now.
I think Comets might be the way to go!:)
Here's an overhead shot of my old pond:
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2006/09/365.jpg
The main pond is to the left. A short stream passes under the bridge to a tiny pond on the right. This is where the pump is. The water is pumped all the way to the main pond where it re-enters like this:
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2006/09/366.jpg
The "stream" is actually long, narrow pond filled with 1/2" gravel. This is the real filter and where nitrogen not consumed by plants is broken down.
[Sorry for hijacking your thread HB.]
Your not hijacking my thread! Please carry on as I love my fish ponds.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by buadhai
Don't be so modest budhai. Everyone check this out...
https://teakdoor.com/gardening-in-tha...in-saipan.html
Well, just do what I do with the swimming pool. Dump half a cup of chlorine in it. Sorted.Quote:
Originally Posted by hillbillyQuote:
Originally Posted by buadhai
The wife asks the same thing. I suppose that I just get tired of looking at the green water.:)
I had never thought of that!:) It would probably cut down on my fish food expenses...
what about snails and bottom dwelling fish - i think catfish will help eat the algae....
Both might help a bit, but you really need plants to soak up all the excess nitrogen. Some people block off one section of the pond from the Koi so that plants can grow there. Another solution is something like lotus in pots the rim of which is just above the surface of the water, keeping the fish out. A couple of healthy lotus will use a lot of nitrogen and provide some interesting flowers as well. Since their leaves are aerial the Koi can't get at them. The pots keep them out of the roots which they will otherwise devour.Quote:
Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb
Another thing to do is provide more shade so less sunlight hits the water, limiting algae growth a bit. Floating plants (pistia, duck weed or even lilies with floating lily pads) can prevent sunlight from getting to the algae, but Koi eat them up pretty fast.
Nothing of the sort. Comets are a long finned goldfish.Quote:
Or, you could switch to Comets (a cross between Koi and Goldfish)
Koi will not specifically cause algae blooms in your pond.
oops, just noticed this thread is two years old!
Hows the pond HB?:)
Catfish don't eat algae, they're meat eaters. Tilapia would do the job throughQuote:
Originally Posted by kingwilly
Shit...me toooooo....:(Quote:
Originally Posted by bkkmadness
You guys may have noticed, my fish pond tends to be just a different than Daltons. :)
Oh yea, my fish pond is still going strong.
KoiQuote:
Originally Posted by bkkmadness
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Cyprinus
Species: C. carpio
Goldfish
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Carassius
Species: C. auratus
They are in fact in the same family and merely specially bred carp.
Interesting argument. Keep in mind that everything on the internet is not always true.
Old or not, it's a useful thread for me so I'm glad that it's come to the surface. My pond has a similar filter arrangement to hillbilly's. The pond being a long, narrow horseshoe shape, cleaning it is a pig of a job to empty and the clean water soon turns green again. Still it's fairly new and we are still experimenting with fish and plants.
One question I would like to have answered is how can I test the quality of the water and what should it be? We use mains water but have a borehole. The water from the latter is said to be too mineral laden for the fish but it's cheaper so I would like to know what I would have to do to make it suitable.