# Pond cleanning and fish



## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

First spring with the pond, have any tips for cleanning? Also, When do i start feeding the goldfish? Ive heard of using a water temperature of at least 40 degrees before starting.
Thanks as always,
Greg R.


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Hmmm, not sure where you are living, but I really wouldn't want to raise "goldfish"....they multiply too quickly and are a very dirty fish (meaning they poop a lot). I've raised Koi for about 14 years and starting back to Flagstaff, AZ (7000 feet) from Sun City, AZ (1100 feet) at the end of the month. Our pond (2250 gallons) is unfrozen now and I will clean it by the end of April. 

The fish at less than 40 degrees are very sluggish and easily subject to fungus and other fish diseases. I normally start to feed them around 45-55 degrees (water temperature). Want to start them out with the small pellet, floating, energy type food with their medications to prevent dropsey and other fish scale diseases from taking hold. I normally put my fish in a hosiptal tank (separate pond that holds 500 gallons of water). I will had 7-9 lbs of salt to the water and that will kill the skin flukes and also makes the fish shed the coating of "slime"....it stimulates new scale growth and will help with their overall health. 

I completely drain the pond, remove the plants (water lilies that haven't started to grow yet), and power wash the stream bed and pond bottom. With this size pond and my age, it takes about 5-6 days of cleaning, repairing, draining, and refilling of the pond before I return the fish to the pond. Some of my Koi are 24" long and weigh about 9 lbs. 

Good luck and happy cleaning. Ed


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

Ed, 
Im in Eastern Iowa and I went with goldfish because they were cheap and didnt know if the pond was even going to work. But, all 16 of them made it through the winter. The pond itself is only about 1200 gallons. 

Thanks for your suggestions. 
Greg R.


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

Just checked the temperature, its showing 54 water temp. Found two new fish..... 
Greg R.


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

Wow...I would never drain my pond and power wash the bottom. 
You are removing bacteria that is critical for the health of your fish. 

I don't start the filtration system in my pond until the air temp starts to maintain around 50 degrees every day, here in Rhode Island that is usually around mid to late April. 
Generally I will get the filters started, add a bunch of Pondzyme and start adding in small daily doses of pond salt to get the salt level where it needs to be. 
I let the fish wait about 2-weeks before I will start feeding them after the filters have been started, there is plenty of stuff they can eat in the pond. 
My pond normally will be crystal clear within a few days then I evaluate how much debris ended up in there over the winter. I keep a net on it all winter so that really helps cut back on the amount of leaves that end up at the bottom. 
Normally I can scoop out whatever leaves/twigs have ended up in there pretty easily, sometimes when the water temp gets warmer I will just go in the pond and get out whatever I can't scoop out using a net. 

Never over feed your fish, they are always hungry and will eat themselves to death if you feed them too much! 
Let them search for food in the pond, it helps keep the sludge down. Always add a dosage of Pondzyme once a week to help reduce sludge and waste. 
I feed my fish just once a day after work, and only a little bit. If you have food left floating in your pond after a few minutes you have fed them too much.


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

Vinny, 
I never turned the pond off. it ran all winter. Water is crystal clear. Lots of alge though, growing on things on the bottom and a few floating. I will have to look into the salt treatment as i have never heard of that. 
Thanks 
Greg R.


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

If you have a local fish/pond store near you bring them in a sample of water to test. 
Then ask them about pond salt, it should be added in small dosages as to not burn your fish or make the water to toxic. 
Salt level needs to be tested with a digital tester (most pond stores have them), it will help your fish be disease free and live a healthier life. 

Since I started using pond salt in my pond 12+years ago my fish have been much healthier and hardly ever have health issues. And when they do have issues I just increase the salt level for a little bit and it takes care of it. 
Never spend the money on medications for fish, I have yet to find any that work. 
Always use pond salt.


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

This is the product I use to help cut back on waste in the pond: 
http://www.petmountain.com/product/pond-biological-treatments/11442-502766/pondcare-pond-zyme-with-barley-heavy-duty-pond-cleaner.html?utm_source=googleproductads&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={keyword}&gclid=CLnjpPqvoLYCFcyY4AodyBkAng


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

I like using this brand Pond Salt: 
http://www.petmountain.com/product/...4AodCAUAMg 

These are also very handy for testing your water at home:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/...trips.html

This is the digital Salt Water tester I have:
http://www.123ponds.com/tikm1.html


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

Posted By iaviksfan on 28 Mar 2013 03:26 PM 
Vinny, 
I never turned the pond off. it ran all winter. Water is crystal clear. Lots of alge though, growing on things on the bottom and a few floating. I will have to look into the salt treatment as i have never heard of that. 
Thanks 
Greg R. 

Do you have a UV Sterilizer?That helps a lot with certain types of Algae. and also helps keep your water clear if your pond is in direct sunlight all day (like mine is!).


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Greg R. Like others... not sure where you live, but we are in Northern Cal. 
We never stopped feed our koi's or the few goldfish we have due to we only have very seldom a freeze here, but we do have a problem once or twice a yr. to clean out the pond and is a big days hassle. 

Guess I need to get a section screen off in our out back reservoir so we can fix the big crack and get the gunk out form pine trees and leaves that have to be taking out when drained. 

We have to put them in the upper stream that has one place that is 3 foot deep for a day when cleaning. 
We sold off most of our koi's, but still have about 60 or 70 of them and getting big.. one is hard to believe it almost 3 foot long. 








I must of miss how large and deep your pond is? But the deeper the better and some circulation. 



This one about 25 inches. Most a very tame and easy to transfer over to stream area. but then there are few wild one that will mess you up. lol


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

After all that work, I hope they're delicious!


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By iaviksfan on 28 Mar 2013 01:12 PM 
First spring with the pond, have any tips for cleanning? Also, When do i start feeding the goldfish? Ive heard of using a water temperature of at least 40 degrees before starting.
Thanks as always,
Greg R.



Funny you post this. I just started up my pumps the other day. I don't "clean" my pond, its been so well ballanced that I Have not lost a fish for along time. 
As for feeding i get back on my daily feeding around 6 or 7 PM, about two weeks and they get used to me again. If they eat it keep going , if they don't want it stop.










old photo








home made filter, flush and rinse every two weeks.










Small but works


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By BigRedOne on 28 Mar 2013 04:35 PM 
After all that work, I hope they're delicious! 
Ever eat Carp? That's what they are, boney with a more color on them. lol.


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

My pond is roughly 7' x 12' oval, with one end being about 24" deep and tapers down to about 43". Funny, i dug it deep so the fish could over winter, but they mostly stayed in the shallow end under the railroad bridge. I run a skimmer and an additional pump, dedicated to the UV light. Both discharge into my off brand "biofalls" which in turn discharges to create the waterfall. I also use barley straw in the bio filter.The pond gets morning/early afternoon sun until about 2-2:30 then is shaded by the house. Earlier, when i tested the water temp. the fish were getting frisky and darting about. I put out a little food and only had about half the fish come up to eat. I'll try again Saturday. Once i get the pond cleaned up, pull dead stuff. Then i can get back to my earlier, track laying delimma. I appreciate everyone's input. 
Greg R.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Great info here. I only have a 250 gal pond and a 60' stream. I'll have to look into the Pondzyme stuff.


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Lots of good comments. I can understand why Vinny might not want to "power wash" is pond, but I don't have a problem with good bacteria being replenished in short order (I save some samples). Like a few of the other posts, the string algae and fish muck gets to be a bit much and therefore I've gotten into the process of cleaning the pond. The water is clear, but the fish get slowed down by the algae blooms. Being at 7000 feet with lots of sunshine (not much shade over the pond that I don't create with offset umbrellas, the pond can get snarled during the summer. Some of these fish are 15 plus years old and the salt bath they get twice a year keeps them healthy. Like neolw indicates, catching them can be a chore. I do a lot of talking to them and since we can hand feed a few, it makes the transfer a little less stressful. I do agree with Vinny that there are very few chemical additives that really do any good for fish health. In rare cases with a special fish, I will use direct injections to keep them alive if they are very ill...ony done that twice in 12 years. So, whether you enjoy Koi or Goldfish, you just have to watch them and keep them happy...Ha. I guess the other thing with Koi is that they often live 60-100 years, so you need to think about who will get them when you pass on to railroad heaven!!!


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

That is a really beautiful pond


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

Yeah, nice looking pond. Must be a great place to hang out and de-stress...... 
Greg R.


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## Vinny D (Jan 25, 2013)

Spring has finally arrived here in Rhode Island, started my pond up today with no major issues!.
Just have to wait until it gets dark out tonight to see if my UV sterilizer is working or not, the one I have is actually in the pond and with the water a little dirty I won't be able to see the green rings glowing on it until tonight.
Hopefully it is working, if not I have a spare lamp but I have had bad luck with the transformers on the Pond Master 40w UV sterilizers.


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## iaviksfan (Dec 27, 2007)

Well, we've had one really nice day last week, where it was in the 70's, but i spent it working on track and replacing switches. I'll get to the pond, when it decides to be spring...lol 
Greg R.


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

Get ready for the big spring cleanup of our pond. Fish are already "begging", but the third generation fingerlings are still hiding under the rocks (Herron are also out and about). I use the off-set umbrellas to discourage them from landing...that and a pellet rifle seems to keep them from getting to the fish. Temperatures have been running about 55-65 during the day and 30-35 at night...so I have about another 15-20 days before we drain this puppy. I find that the semi-annual cleaning and repairs to the filter house/gauging station, mortar work and removing unwanted algae from the 40-45 water lily plant buckets takes a good 5-6 days. I'm retired and at 63, I don't work as fast as I did 20 years ago...Ha. No sign of any fish diseases so far, but until I pull the fish and do their medical checkups, I won't know for sure. Like Noelw, I get them out one at a time and inspect them before putting them in their salt bath. I use 1.5 pounds of rock salt per 100 gallons of water (that's what our vet recommends). It seems to clear up any scale or fin roughness from over the winter that they develop. They bathe in that mixture for about 8-10 days, then it is back to regular water. 

Have fun. Ed


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