Okay, I'm not new to fish, but I am new to ponds. I have a relatively small new water feature that we call the goldfish pond. It's about 125 gallons total in a series of cascading pools.
My water lily stopped blooming and I determined it wasn't deep enough. I also had a sudden string algae bloom. This pond has been sitting here since April with no fish, and I was getting eager. So I cleaned out the algae, did a 1/4 water change, and lowered the water lily, hopefully to take care of all problems at once.
I have a Pondmaster pump/mech filter/bio filter that sits in the pond rather than out. It's way oversized for this little pond and keeps the water very clear. So far I've been happy with it. But, when I opened it to rinse off the filter pads, something had seeded into the pond, and there were germinated seeds growing on the mech filter pad. Under that, I found, um, critters on the bio filter pad. CAVORTING critters. I can't say what they were. They resembled baby pillbugs.
My question is, is it normal to find things growing on your filter pads? I don't think this is a water quality problem. I introduced goldfish a couple of days later, and they seem to like their new home. No signs of stress. The plants are also doing well. But I'm used to aquariums, not ponds, and I've never seen "things" GROWING on the filter media like that before. I dunno whether to be pleased, alarmed, or just ignore it. Anyone else have critters like this, or seelings, on their filter? And if so, did you ever determine what they were?
Filter critters
I'm no expert... but yes... things should be growing on your filter pad. When you get fish, you might notice they like it when you clean the pad because it makes some fresh food available. One thing you should see is blood worms... tiny red worms... they are larva for some kind of critter. Something else I did to get more critters growing... I went to the creek and got some moss and stuff growing in and around the rocks. Something to get a jump start on the critter population for the pond. There is another thread in here some place where they talk about daphnia and other water critters that are beneficial. We started our pond this year also and have been battling the string algae. Hydrogen peroxide is good for a quick fix, but I think the critters have begun to take over controlling the stuff. The need for peroxide treatments has decreased with time. The pond environment needs a variety of critters just like your garden soil. Well balanced clear pond water is very far from pure and clean... it is teaming with life!!.... Tom
Thanks for the reply, Tom. LOL--I guess I just thought they'd all be microscopic! I won't worry about it. The goldfish have taken care of the snail overpopulation, so I guess they'll take care of these too.