renosteinke
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2006
- Messages
- 30
This thread is an update to "Cycle levels ... the pond's progress" in the 'getting started' forum.
It's been a while since I posted. I thought you folks deserved an update. First, a pair of pics to show what I have done :
The "Pond" holds about 35 gallons of water. The dark blue thing is a 'quiet' splash free waterfall.
It took forever for my cycle levels to get sorted out. Then, one day it warmed up a few degrees ... and Presto! My levels have remained steady at 0-0-0 since.
The goldfish are history. They were having too much fun uprooting the submerged plants, and chewing the roots of the floating plants.
Lighting was also an issue with the plants. I now have the equivalent of a 250 watt bulb lighting the pond, and all is well. There is very little light spilling out into the room. For the geeks, that's 40 ft-candles at the water surface.
I painted the inside of the tub (pigmented shellac) and got the white gravel to make it easier to see the fish. Visibility is another reason for my getting rid of the floating plants; the pond simply isn't big enough.
My 'farm pond' idea had to change,in part because there are some legal iissues here regarding the keeping of 'non native' fish that might survive if released into the local waters. That's right ... bait stores can't even sell minnows. Plus, every fish I might trap would want to get to be koi size ... and my pond is a bit small for that!
Reno is quite dry; I have to add a bucket of water daily. On the plus side, the evaporation has kept the pond temps under 76F, even in sustained 100 degree weather. The added moisture has also done wonders for my sinuses
I did add a heater to minimize temperature swings. It's not unusual for there to be a 40 degree drop at nightfall. Pond temp has been maintained above 70F.
My 'surface' level fish are a Betta and two Blue Gouramis. "Mid level" fish are mollies, a couple tiger barbs, and some danios. Lower level fish are two Plecos, a Pictus, and a dragon.
Fish failures have been swordtails (they jumped out almost instantly) and bamboo shrimp (who died almost immediately, and may not have survived the trip from the store).
The waterfall - a fabric tube, filled with swamp cooler material - works well, but must be laundered weekly, or algae will destroy it.
A weekly 50% water change is made easy with pumps. The canister filter pumps it out, and new water is added through the waterfall. No mess, no eddy currents.
It's been a while since I posted. I thought you folks deserved an update. First, a pair of pics to show what I have done :
The "Pond" holds about 35 gallons of water. The dark blue thing is a 'quiet' splash free waterfall.
It took forever for my cycle levels to get sorted out. Then, one day it warmed up a few degrees ... and Presto! My levels have remained steady at 0-0-0 since.
The goldfish are history. They were having too much fun uprooting the submerged plants, and chewing the roots of the floating plants.
Lighting was also an issue with the plants. I now have the equivalent of a 250 watt bulb lighting the pond, and all is well. There is very little light spilling out into the room. For the geeks, that's 40 ft-candles at the water surface.
I painted the inside of the tub (pigmented shellac) and got the white gravel to make it easier to see the fish. Visibility is another reason for my getting rid of the floating plants; the pond simply isn't big enough.
My 'farm pond' idea had to change,in part because there are some legal iissues here regarding the keeping of 'non native' fish that might survive if released into the local waters. That's right ... bait stores can't even sell minnows. Plus, every fish I might trap would want to get to be koi size ... and my pond is a bit small for that!
Reno is quite dry; I have to add a bucket of water daily. On the plus side, the evaporation has kept the pond temps under 76F, even in sustained 100 degree weather. The added moisture has also done wonders for my sinuses
I did add a heater to minimize temperature swings. It's not unusual for there to be a 40 degree drop at nightfall. Pond temp has been maintained above 70F.
My 'surface' level fish are a Betta and two Blue Gouramis. "Mid level" fish are mollies, a couple tiger barbs, and some danios. Lower level fish are two Plecos, a Pictus, and a dragon.
Fish failures have been swordtails (they jumped out almost instantly) and bamboo shrimp (who died almost immediately, and may not have survived the trip from the store).
The waterfall - a fabric tube, filled with swamp cooler material - works well, but must be laundered weekly, or algae will destroy it.
A weekly 50% water change is made easy with pumps. The canister filter pumps it out, and new water is added through the waterfall. No mess, no eddy currents.
