Andrea - or anyone else - question on emptying the pond

16 years ago

Andrea, didn't you empty your pond earlier this year? And other ponders that have done this?

Our water is so green for so long now, and I have so many too many fishies which I can't hardly catch, and I called two pool water filling companies, and they said about $200 to refill, because our well probably will have a hard time with 3500 gallons, so, what I wanted to know is, did you run into any kind of issues that could be avoided/mitigated if only one knew ahead of time?

Not that I have convinced DH that it's worth the money or anything. But I can deal with that later! Or afterwards!

:) Mary

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Comments (9)

Ditzzy
16 years ago
You don't need to empty & refill your pond, just ask a friend with a pond that has clear water for a gallon of it to add to your own. This 'seed' water will clear your green up in about 2-3 weeks. I've helped 2 coworkers with their ponds using this method. It has something to do with the life cycle of the algae and it triggers a die-off of it. I'd just confirm that his/her fish are healthy before you accept it.

Josie
maryo_nh
Original Author
16 years ago
Josie, that's a fine idea. I do have a friend with a crystal clear koi pond... But unfortunately she's the one that said it was time for me to replace the water.
I can try it anyway, you never know.

I understand the theory behind this idea, but I'm afraid my bio-load is so ridiculously high at the moment that nothing much is going to cure it the easy way. And there would be so many dead algae in the water afterwards as well...

While we contemplate this clean fill, we are also giving away dozens of fish, quadrupling the size of the settling chamber/bio-filter, and adding a bottom drain to it. I'm thinking of a skimmer too. Might as well while we're at it...

:) Mary
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LOL! Going to the bottom is normal behavior for fish that are in a panic. Sometimes they disappear for weeks. They may even temporarily lose all their colors. The dark color of the water is probably tannins but it is also possible there is debris in the water. To figure out which, scoop some water into a glass jar and let it sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. Any debris or free floating algae will settle out or float to the top. Tea colored water shows there are tannins or other organic compounds present. Some of the organic compounds are harmful to the fish. Tannins come from rotting leaves, peat moss in potting soil and any thing else organic that is rotting. It often has an odor like sewage that is unpleasant. Adequate filtration will eventually remove debris and some of the algae. To get rid of the rest of the algae you can use chemicals or a UV light. I like the UV since there has less chance to harm the fish and it doesn't bother the algae that grows on the sides of the pond. That is considered beneficial and the fish will graze on it. The UV can also kill some free floating parasites that show up every so often. I have never had the problem of green water. For tannins (tea colored water or tannic acid) you need Activated Carbon also known as Activated charcoal placed in a permeable bag in a place where there is an active water flow. The tannin molecules react and combine with the carbon molecules on the surface of the chunks. Odors in the water are also removed with AC. Zeolite will handle most other organic compounds. There are chemicals available for this but there is a chance they won't work as well. Try the Zeolite. You should test the water for nitrates and nitrites (organic compounds)regularly. The black liner is the best color to have. The colors of the fish pop out when you see them, so long as the water is clear. You will be able to see all the way to the bottom. Has anyone suggested you get a Pond Test Kit? It is an important thing to have. Did you remeasure the dimensions of the pond to get the volume of water? I used two sites to get the 588 gallon measurement. I can't hear the pond inside of the house. I have been looking for an inside-outside intercom to take care of that problem. The sound is one of the best things about the pond. I guess I must be a geek too.
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ademink
16 years ago
Mary!oklisten...lmao...this..is..for..real...i..dropped..water..on..my..keyboard..and..my..spacebar..key..doesnt..work..any..more..lmaoooooroflol

you..will..hate..me..by..the..time..i..finish..typing..but..hopefully..i..can..get..thru..it...lol!!!!

first.i.have.to.comment.on.the.clean.seeding.water.theory.....i.just.don't.see.how.that.would.work...there.is.already.TONS.of.biojunk.in.your.pond.and.bacteria.is.bacteria.....there.is.no."clean.water".bacteria....am.i.making.sense?...i.am.about.to.lose.my.mind....rofl!!

ok..short.and.sweet.now....we.lost.a.lot.of.bluegill.in.the.cleaning....but.no.koi.....the.bluegill.ended.up.in.the.very.bottom.of.the.pond.in.the.muck.and.scraping.on.the.rocks.when.the.(stupid).pond.people.were.trying.to.catch.them.....b/c.of.that,i,think,it,hurt,them,and,caused,major,bacteria,issues...they,weould,show,up,w/,fin,rot,and,hairy,patches...sosad...then.dead.

since,cleaning,the,pond,it,is,clear,again,for,the,first,time,in,two,years!!yay!!!....

issues,or,what,i,would,do,differently,next,time:

i,would,do,it,myself-for,sure..not,hire,it,out(we,did,almost,all,of,the,work,anyway..they,were,unimpressive!!!!!!)
um....i,really,cant,think,of,any,major,issues,other,than,not,having,those,idiots,catching,my,fish....!!!

here,was,the,sequence,we,followed:

1)drain,almost,all,water
2)while,draining:
clear,junk,out,of,marginal,areas,as,pond,gets,lower
if,you,have,water,lilies,in,pots...pull,them,out,and,trim,or,do,whatever,you,need,to..(dont,fertilize,them...fish,poop,does,that)...i,recommend,replanting,in,bottom,of,pond,in,gravel,if,your,pond,bottom,is,such...otherwise,in,pots,w/gravel.
3)clean,pads,biofalls,bags,etc,while,draining
4)when,level,is,low...catch,fish,and,put,in,holding,pool,or,whatever...cover,so,they,dont,jump!!!mind,the,sun,tho,and,dont,cook,them
5)when,all,are,caught...drain,rest,of,water,and,spray,down,sides
6)refill
7)reacclimate,fish...obviously,put,plants,back

i'm,tired..the..end..lol
sheepco
16 years ago
I'm,hysterical,ademink!Best,chuckle,yet,today...sorry,about,your,keyboard,really,rotflmao!

Good luck Mary! :0) :0)
youreit
16 years ago
I,like,this,technique!
You,are,da,bomb,Andrea!
This,is,really,hard,to,do,though.
I,haven't,used,my,middle,finger,this,much,since,having,to,drive,in,the,city,though.

LOL!
Ahhh,good,times!

Brenda
pikecoe
16 years ago
Oryoucoulddoitlikethisandletthemfigureitoutforthemselves.cananyonereadthis?it'sallinthewayyoulookatthings.reallynothardtodo.butwhenyouareusedtospacing,sometimesyouhavetobackupandtakeoutthespaces.Thiswayyoustilldon'thavetouseyourmiddlefingertoomuch.Glenda
maryo_nh
Original Author
16 years ago
Heeheehee! It's raining buckets outside and I can't go play with my pond or plant annuals and, we found a box of cookies to drown our sorrows, but, the real reason I feel full of giggles again in spite of the weather is you girls. You're too funny.

Sarah, when you said "Good luck Mary", did you mean with convincing DH to spring for the $200?

If I wasn't so exhausted from looking out at the rain and from figuring out what Glenda is saying, I'd*make*my*text*look*funny*too!

Andrea, thank you sweetie! I think we'll be able to do it ourselves and be careful with the fishies. There are no rocks to speak of on the bottom. I was even wondering, since the lilies are already repotted and on the shallow shelves, if I could just leave them there and rinse around them with the garden hose. They have lots of leaves and I think they would be better off not being moved?
Besides, the bottom is so slippery and so uneven, I dunno if we can safely get the pots out...
It's a good thing we own two preforms and a kiddie pool. And we have a basement full of Rubbermaid type tubs that can be temporarily emptied in the living room (although, nothing is ever really temporary is our house...) So we have places for the fish to go while we're pumping/refilling.

New question - how do those big tankers fill pools/ponds? Gently or like a fire hose? Yikes.

So here is the plan. 1) Get all the stuff together to 2) quadruple the SC pond, make it like a skippy, and get that going. Stick the leftover pieces of water lily that refuse to die in that big bucket outside the garage also in the new skippy part. Then 3) for a few weeks, wash the new&improved SC's collected fish poop out weekly (= approx 10% water changes) and see if the water improves. If not, then 4) drain and refill. Meanwhile, 5) find more self contained ponds to donate a dozen fishies to.

It'll-be-late-July-by-then...

:) Mary
Ditzzy
16 years ago
ademink & Mary,

Here is the link that explains the theory of clear water 'seeding'. If you don't want to read the entire article go halfway down the page past the myth & fact section and read from there. I'm just saying that I read this & we tried it twice and both times it worked. The site is sponsored by the Koi Club of San Diego.

Green Water

Josie
maryo_nh
Original Author
16 years ago
Josie, I have a print-out of this article in my pond files! What I would like to do is get a fresh start on pond water, and THEN add a bucket or so of somebody else's crystal clear water. I even already know who is going to donate this bucket full (he doesn't know about it yet but I'm sure it will be OK). It just isn't possible to add enough clear water from someone else's pond to mine to be effective, since it would have to be more than 25% of my pond volume. And that is about 800 gallons - 160 large 5-gallon buckets...

:) Mary

PS a skimmer question in a separate post!

Andrea - or anyone else - question on emptying the pond

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Andrea - or anyone else - question on emptying the pond

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Ditzzy

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