Check out my outdoor Molly pond! Plant filtered only.

[JuiceBox52]

I guess you’re right. Problem here is, I have to soft of water. (Which makes no sense. After all, I live in the “limestone capital of the USA” and limestone is very hard.

Your water is moderately hard so you probably have soft water and the limestone hardens it. Dunno

 

[Retired Viking]

Lol.

Is it really worth 29 cents per gallon? That seems like a lot to me.

I use around 10 gallon of RO a water change and 10 gallons of treated tap water so it is around 2.90 a week. It is the price I am willing to pay for liking soft water fish.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Your water is moderately hard so you probably have soft water and the limestone hardens it. Dunno

I guess I got that mixed around...

Do guppies need hard or soft water? I remember in a thread I was asking about guppies.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I guess I got that mixed around...

Do guppies need hard or soft water? I remember in a thread I was asking about guppies.

Guppies need hard, yours is moderately hard, so in between. Most Soft water fish will be ok, but it's not hard enough for livebearers

 

[Retired Viking]

Guppies are hard water fish but if I remember right they have a wider range of hardness that they are alright in compare to most hard water fish . Ideal is 8-12 GH I think. I have a tank full of them

 

[FishGuest5123]

Wow! I have 150G garden pond and I have to change 75% of the water weekly to keep the nitrates down. My patio is covered so plants won’t grow in the pond. I have them around it. I only have 3 large goldfish in it. They’ve been out there going on 3 years. Your pond is nice!

 

[Retired Viking]

Wow! I have 150G garden pond and I have to change 75% of the water weekly to keep the nitrates down. My patio is covered so plants won’t grow in the pond. I have them around it. I only have 3 large goldfish in it. They’ve been out there going on 3 years. Your pond is nice!

You have a very nice pond too.

 

[Fish and coffee]

Very impressive, you are ambitious and cautious. I admire your determination and free spirit. The water testing is a good idea even tho I agree with careful observation and study over a comfortable cup of coffee........I JEALOUS

 

[TropicalPond6]

Thanks! Btw since I made the original post two of the mollys gave birth one day apart and I finally have golden/spotted babies! They are all doing good. However this afternoon I have to do something I didn’t want to do- make a screen to cover the pond at night. After all these months of polite raccoons who never did anything worse than rinse the dirt off their earthworms, the last few nights they have been really messing stuff up and last night they had a wild party. Fortunately all my fish are accounted for but I don’t want to take any chances. I’ll have to post a picture of what we end up doing.

 

[Guangjoe]

Love this! Does your location mean the temperature stays the same year round? I live in a subtropical area, and I'm about to embark on a similar project soon.
Are you getting many fry from the mollies?

 

[TropicalPond6]

Love this! Does your location mean the temperature stays the same year round? I live in a subtropical area, and I'm about to embark on a similar project soon.
Are you getting many fry from the mollies?

We do have some frost in the winter, and sometimes 80s-90s F in summer. But I have a heater in there that shuts off when it’s warm enough.
We are getting big batches of fry regularly. Since there are plenty of hiding places In the plants I don’t try to protect or remove them, some get eaten but many survive and I recently had to take about 20 (10-20mm size) to the local pet store. I hope your pond is a success! Remember live plants are the best thing ever!

 

[TropicalPond6]

So I tested the water and was really pleased with the results- high ph, high KH, GH around 250 so that’s good, and ZERO nitrates and nitrites! Yay!
I’ve tested a few times now and it’s stable and healthy.

...Now for the bad news...
Up until now I have been topping up the pond about an inch each week due to evaporation. I squirt some hose water into a plastic bin, let it sit a couple days to dechlorinate, and then pour it in. It’s always been fine. Until-
We got a new garden hose.
the water coming out had a strong smell. I thought it was just the smell of the plastic, not the water, so I did my usual procedure and used the water. Big mistake. In the last week I have lost three female Molly’s. I can only assume it was caused by chemicals in the new hose. I did some research and this is indeed possible. Before this week I hadn’t lost any Molly’s in over 6 months. ery frustrated. We are buying a non PVC hose to replace this toxic garbage.
Meanwhile, I removed all the fry, and a large female who looked a bit off, into my ten gallon planted tank in the house. I’m preparing to catch the rest of the fish tomorrow and move them into a 30 gal tub I’ve set up outside until I can fix this contaminated water situation.

I’m doing research on wether to do a large water change, or wait and let the plants clean the water. If anybody has advice it would be welcome.

 

[dmpfishlover]

So I tested the water and was really pleased with the results- high ph, high KH, GH around 250 so that’s good, and ZERO nitrates and nitrites! Yay!
I’ve tested a few times now and it’s stable and healthy.

...Now for the bad news...
Up until now I have been topping up the pond about an inch each week due to evaporation. I squirt some hose water into a plastic bin, let it sit a couple days to dechlorinate, and then pour it in. It’s always been fine. Until-
We got a new garden hose.
the water coming out had a strong smell. I thought it was just the smell of the plastic, not the water, so I did my usual procedure and used the water. Big mistake. In the last week I have lost three female Molly’s. I can only assume it was caused by chemicals in the new hose. I did some research and this is indeed possible. Before this week I hadn’t lost any Molly’s in over 6 months. ery frustrated. We are buying a non PVC hose to replace this toxic garbage.
Meanwhile, I removed all the fry, and a large female who looked a bit off, into my ten gallon planted tank in the house. I’m preparing to catch the rest of the fish tomorrow and move them into a 30 gal tub I’ve set up outside until I can fix this contaminated water situation.

I’m doing research on wether to do a large water change, or wait and let the plants clean the water. If anybody has advice it would be welcome.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you are able to get it all sorted out okay. It is a beautiful little pond! I've always wanted one... maybe someday. Good luck and keep us posted!!

 

[DAnCSF]

This is very impressive you must live in a warm place, hard for me to imagine having tropicals in a an outdoor pond., in foggy SF.