This is a sump discharge pond I have, it was completely overgrown last year, I dug it all out and power washed it.
I put in 20 minnows and 10 goldfish in there last fall, I count about 10 fish left.
What should I do with this to keep it clean, and maybe stocked with fish?
It stays filled 9 months out of the year, I can always keep it topped off with water.
It's about 1000 gallons.
zebra mussels or some sort of filter feeder
Fill it with bleach
((they)) fear the filter feeders
Fill it with copper. It keeps the moss away
Discharging a basement into a pond that leeches back into basement….BRILLIANT
its 600ft away from the house and down slope.
probably.
thanks for that, i'll try that
Hate birds, get some protection.
Add a fountain so the water keeps moving.
Have the discharge of the fountain go through some type of filter. For filter use an old metal washtub with a hole in the bottom and make layers of sand/gravel/rock separated by landscape cloth for each layer. With enough layers the water will come out clearer and keep the pond clear of algae bloom color. I have also heard of using an old pillow to strain the water as well.
Nah, that's a pain, I've spent years tending to mine and it didn't really clean water very well while many parts trapped dirt that was impossible to remove unless you dismantled it (I had made it with bottom-up flow so sediment settled on the bottom and could be easily drained).
The real solutions are:
-make it way oversized so dirt has time to biologically degrade
-use a pressurized filter that has some sort of selfcleaning handle, I bought a sunsun cpf-10000 and it works really well even without the uvc lamp connected
-pass water through a planter with gravel where you plant various water tolerant plants, there are many videos on youtube and it seems interesting
if the nitrate, oxygen, and temperature levels are all ok then many fish are remarkably tolerant of silt, algae, etc
iirc trout for example can live basically blind in thick algae
so i wouldn't worry about filtration
what i would worry about is zinc
if there's anything galvanized in the water then it may dissolve unhealthy levels of zinc that hurt the fish
i don't know offhand what a good test for that is though
>i don't know offhand what a good test for that is though
nvm i googled it and it turns out it's really simple
you just need some lye
correction, it's actually the ammonia you want to use
if it precipitates white but redissolves when excess ammonia is added then you have zinc
if it precipitates then stays solid in excess then it's calcium
I don't think zinc is such an issue, I would worry more about nitrates and ammonia
Cover it with a net if you have nearby trees that drop leaves
Put in floating plants to block out the sun so less algae grows
Put in underwater plants or some water tolerant plants with exposed roots to create spaces for newly hatched fish to stay
Add a solar pump fountain to oxigenate water if it gets hot in summer
Recall seeing something about one of the reservoirs near LA, they use some sort of black plastic balls to help moron algae and evaporation.
What did you call me?
moron ALGAE
Tilapia.
Saw it on doomsday preppers show
You probably have birds eating your fish.
Racoons will too
if you want happy fish get pic rel and learn to use it
Put shade over it to stop the algae bloom.
Use a couple of rocks to build a platform for the fish to hide under, put some water tolerant plants ontop of the rock. This will help suck nutrients out of the water to keep algae growth down. You can install a small pump to help circulate the water if you make it spray in the air or build a small waterfall it helps aerate the water. You can also get a bunch of cheap shrimp to help clean the debris.
raccoons, foxes, etc will grab fish
depending on the area you might need to fence it off
I'm for a little solar floating pump that aerates the water. I like the other ideas too. Somewhere for the fish to hide, plants and rocks.