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You might be tempted to let Mother Nature, tend to your backyard
pond, and who could blame you? After all, she does a pretty good
job of taking care of really big ponds, so why would your
backyard ecosystem pose Much of a challenge to her?
Unfortunately, the fact is your backyard pond is only going to
get some cursory attention from Mom; the rest of the work is
going to be left up to you.
In the "real world" chlorinated water does not find its way into
ponds very often. "Big" pond water passes through a great many
natural filtration and oxygenation systems, and the various fish
and fluora work together to keep the pond clean and fresh. Our
backyard ponds do not have quite that much help, so here's where
you need to step in:
If you are going to keep fish then you absolutely must remove all
traces of chlorine from your pond before your favorite Koi set up
housekeeping. Pond fish can not live in chlorinated water so do not
even try. There are many products available to remove chlorine
quickly, or you can opt for the old-fashioned, natural way if you
have the time to spend.
If you opt for 'a la natural' then expect to wait about 8 to 10
days for the chlorine to dissipate. You will need to make sure
that your pump and filter are running and that you have set up an
aerating method such as a waterfall or "splasher" to bring oxygen
into the water. Make sure that the pond is exposed to plenty of
sunlight (the natural enemy of chlorine), and use a chlorine
testing kit to check the water daily.
Me? I just drop some de-chlorinating product into the pond and
check back the next day.
Even if chlorine is completely removed, you still have nitrite and
ammonia to worry about. These two toxic buddies are byproducts of
fish waste and can wreak havoc with your Koi's health. After a
while Mother Nature will kick in some help by allowing beneficial
bacteria colonies to develop that enjoy eating nitrite and
ammonia for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They will not be present in
new ponds, however, unless you buy some bacteria starter kits to
kick start the process.
Your garden pond could have overtaxed, ecologically, if you add
too many fish too quickly. Start out adding no more than two per
week so that the newly introduced bacteria do not get overwhelmed
by the waste that will be produced.
Just when you think you've got it all under control that ugly
thing called "pH" raises its head. Testing for pH levels is also
very important since none plants nor fish will survive very
long if the pond's pH is out of whack. Your pH test kit should
show a reading of between 6.8 and 7.4. You can add the proper
chemicals to raise or lower if as necessary.
Speaking of test kits, get one that will allow you to test the
pond's salt levels as well. Without you're raising baby Sea bass,
too much salt is not a good thing.
After your pond is fully established, Mother Nature will lend a
bigger hand and you can settle into a routine of testing every
three of four weeks without something serious, such as flooding,
has occurred in between.
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