So… I'm taking a break from all the muck to tell the story of my cleanout so far and ask for some education.
I've needed to empty the pond for quite some time since we had a rockslide last summer. I wanted to fix that and put in a fish tunnel. Plus I have to get up the one billion maple seedlings that have fallen this year. We're also adding a skimmer and stream/filterfalls so we had to empty it anyway.
We have four fish. Two comet and two shubunkin. The water was very cloudy after this week's heavy rain. I didn't bother to clean the pump prefilter or add clarifier this week, knowing I was going to empty the pond. I got three of the four fish out, but I could not find the last orange comet. So i started pumping down the pond. At some point it became apparent that the fish was no longer there. I'd seed it yesterday, so it must have been eaten the night before.
Here I am on my hands and knees, picking out the leave and gunk, putting the tiny snails in a bowl with water so that I can return them to the pond. As I'm turning over rocks, I'm finding lots of the snails. I'm also finding gelatinous globs attached to the underside of rocks. These don't seem egglike, they seem like big water drops. That's question 1. What are these?
then there was a bit of a miracle. I pulled back a rock and there was the fish! It seems that it got stuck behind a rock while hiding from my net. It was BREATHING. I rushed it to the temporary pond and it swam below the rock cover. I checked later and still seems to be alive. It was without water for a LONG time. I can't believe it is still alive. I hope it makes it.
I'm finding all kinds of those little red worms. is that okay? Are those bad guys? do i need to worry? probably the fish take care of them?
And my last question, how much of the gunk should I leave in the pond, mixed in with the rocks? I know that some of this is beneficial biology. I'm not sure how much contributes to the cloudiness of the pond.
thanks in advance!
The reat spring cleanout of 2010
with only four fish, I wouldn't leave any gunk really. I don't know aobut the red worms, but I have them too.
the jelly stuff might be snail eggs?
Oh, Snail eggs would make sense because they were usually found in an area of baby snails.
Mrs_Ed
I agree with Frilly - probably snail eggs. I know they tend to be a gelataneous glob.
Congratulations on finding and saving your little orange comet. I remember reading somewhere, when a fish has been out of the water like that, what is supposed to help is to put the fish into the water and hold onto him by his tail and draw him backwards through the water - this forces the water to go through his gills and ultimately will give him the oxygen he needs.
I have heard of the red worms before - the fish eat them. I have no idea where they come from, but I know they end up in the ponds. The other thing, regarding the gunk - I would get it all out of there - we vacuum our entire pond twice a year and get all the crud out of the bottom of the pond. Also, you really dont' want a lot of rocks at the bottom of your pond. This is where anaerobic bacteria will lurk and this bacteria can cause problems with your fish's health.
Carolyn
Carolyn
Thanks Carolyn.
I had another potential fish disaster. The tub that they are in now is a 15 gallon container. I was all pleased with how it was working. i had the pump in there with the spitter providing oxygen. I also had bricks which supported a flat stone for cover, and a few hyacinths in there.
So I see the fish coming to the top where the water is splashing in. I'm thinking for oxygen or food. I adjust the spitter for more flow. Then I see a comet nearly jump out! So I walk closer and find that one of the shubunkins HAS jumped out into the grass!!! Yikes! I grabbed it fast and put it back in. It was still alive.
I reduced the water by a couple of inches and put some hardware cloth over it, weighted with rocks. How much near tragedy can I stand?
I'm not sure I understand what you are saying about the rock, because Aquascape promotes a rocky bottom.
I would never use a gravel covered bottom, too hard to clean and too many places for stagnant water to be, allowing harmful gasses and bacteria to build up I would think. Plus once you put it in, it is very difficult to remove it. I am not putting rock on the bottom of mine also because I am afraid when I get in the pond to clean and stuff, the rocks could puncture the liner where I walk.
Yes goldfish do jump out of shallow water, I have lost several that way, they are not too smart
fish will jump out of aquariums also, always use a cover or hood of some kind.
Mrs_Ed
Not sure why Aquascape promotes a rocky bottom - I know I have seen landscaping shows on tv that also puts rocks into the bottom of the pond. It is definitely not a good idea. As I stated previously, it is a place for anaerobic bacteria to accumulate and this will eventually hurt your fish. Also, it is difficult to stay on top of keeping the pond clean. I would definitely look into this further if I were you. I know that Linda (Mothermole) started out with rocks in the bottom of her pond in her first year of ponding and had all sorts of problems with fish illnesses. You may want to send her a dmail on it and ask her about her experiences.
I had the same happen when I did my pond clean out this year. We found a Koi wedged between rocks once the pond was drained. He was taken to the hodling tank quickly and was just fine. They are hardy fish! I have a stone pond and from what I have heard, rock bottoms create the beneficial bacterial to keep the pond going. I have had my fish for three years now and have not had any deaths, illness or any othe funky things in my pond. It is all about the correct balance of plants, fish, frogs etc. I do not fertilize my water lilies..I let the fish take care of that. I give my fish very supplimental feedings..I let them eat bugs etc found in the pond. I do add clarifier when I remember but do not add anything more to my pond. The more natural the better in my opinion.
Yah Beahive, that's what Aquascape promotes. Rocky surfaces promote more bacteria. The first pond I had did not have rock and I was cleaning the filter daily. This one last year I rarely had to clean it. Maybe once a month. Of course that has changed this spring since there is so much gunk in there now. We had a bad string algae problem at the end of the year. I'm hoping that will change with new filtration and more lilies.
I wish you both the best of luck and I truly hope you both continue to have no issues.
I have been ponding for 10 years now and have read everything I could get my hands on and this is my 3rd pond. I have read that rocks in the bottom of the pond and not a good thing and I have even seen those landscape shows on tv where they put the rocks in the bottom of the pond. I know that it is easier to keep the pond clean if there is nothing on the bottom of the pond and the less crud in the pond, the better. I too have waterlilies, but the are lifted twice a year and that is when the pond is cleaned as well as any maintenance the waterlilies may needs at the time....
Let us know how you do....
beahive do you use a UV or a filter? I do know some people don't use a filter and just have lots of plants instead. I would LOVE to do that and not mess with a filter. I am not putting gravel on the bottom of mine, although I will probably place a few stones here and there. I would like to run a UV to keep the water clear from green algae. Filter or not, it is green without that.
I only have a filter at the intake location and up in the waterfall .
did you make the filters yourself or purchase them? I am totally ignorant when it comes to things that plug in LOL might as well be speaking a foreign language!
Oh dear! Poor fishies!
I've decided they have to be tougher than they look, just to keep up in the wild, where there might be all sorts of crazy flooding and droughts and backwaters and such. Hopefully yours will just hang for a little bit until you can get them back in the big pond.
Carolyn, what kind of a pond vacuum do you use to clean out your pond?
I can't afford those big vacs. I bought one of those smaller ones that attaches to the hose. I can't say that it works that great, but not terrible either. Can't get the job done for me though.
I have a Muc vac, but don't have enough water pressure (...or...something) for it to work well. Was looking for something better...
Avianut -
we have both the wet dry vac, which we do not use very often, and the vac that hooks up to the hose. The one that hooks up to the hose works great!
No rocks on the bottom is preferable.
Remove as much pond gunk out of the pond as possible. It only causes bacteria to build, as well a leaches, etc. Everytime you feed your fish, you will get a little more fresh "pond gunk" ;) The little red worms are the larvae of little midge flies, no biggy at all, and a great protein snack for your fish. It definitely sounds like you have snail eggs if you have the gelatinous balls. Hopefully your fish will keep the snails in check, they often times can become almost invasive.
oh really (snails)? well they are pretty darn cute.
My snails don't seem all that prolific - I believe they are trapdoor snails. Mary - does that have anything to do with it?
Mrs_Ed - what kind of snails do you have?
Trapdoor.
I only had about 3 big ones, the rest were tiny.
I had the rocks and had a lot of illness the first year. 2nd year, I then redid the pond-dug it deeper and added a bottom drain and a bio filter with UV last year. Worked great. Unfortunately, after I had the pond cleaned this spring I accidently dumped out a lotus pot and all this clay dumped out around the drain. Now my drain is clogged-no flow-no back draining. I have to contact my pond man and have him out to clean the mess and I hate the thought of that. I am leaving for England on Sunday for ten days and don't look forward to this cleaning going on in June.
BTW: How many days can koi go without food at this time of the year in zone 5? I have some little tiny 1 inchers (10 total) and some 1-3 year old fish 8"-approx 15" (10 total) in 5000 gallons. I have someone looking in on my home, my cats and the ponds but want to limit the amount of food they get (I worry about over feeding). Any recommendations for a minimum feeding schedule?
If you have plant life in your pond, your koi don't need to be fed much.....You can have your friend feed them only twice while you're gone. Not that you want them munching your plants away, but if worse came to worse, they'd still have something to nibble on. Koi breeders often times do not feed their fish for 3 days prior to shipping, to keep down the fish waste (hence ammonia) from building up in the shipment bags.