Water Peramiters?

[Wanda hornsey]

So had a pond (well actually 3) with fish and frogs and newts etc for years and then this winter I discovered tropical fishies now I have started to panic I have never even thought about testing the water in my pond and water changes and the like

Where do i start? Any help guidance etc would be very greatfully recieved.
What should I be testing for? and with what?
Water changes?
I recently bought a filter and pump for the ponds (big enough for the total water quantity) and the 2 that have fish have fountains running in them 24/7 for aeration but I want to sort this out.

Thanks

 

[Wanda hornsey]

looks like I have to go buy a book if no ones around

 

[drw32]

What size ponds? The great thing about ponds is they have their own self-contained eco system. Are you keeping the tropical fish in the ponds?

 

[Wanda hornsey]

no not tropical fish just gold fish and there was a few shubunkins (sorry have no clue how to spell that)

right ...... one pond (middle sized) is fibreglass puddle shape and around 6ft long 4ft wide and the well in the centre is 2.5ft deep the other (biggest) is 8ft long 4ftwide and 3-3.5ft deep they currently hold and unknown quantity of goldfish possibly up to 100 between the 2 tho quite a few were tiny 1.5" long end of last summer. They have some marginal plants and some oxigenating plants and also each has a fountain that circulates the water a little, stopped it freezing in the winter.

not sure what else i can say about them?...um 3rd pond is not fully installed and is only 4ft x 3ft x 2ftdeep they will eventually run from the smallest into the largest then pump out through the filter and UV and back into the top pond to run down again.

The smallest one is set into a rockery type thingy the middle is slightly raised abve ground and the largest is flush with the ground.

 

[sheba]

Hi,
I have only experience with KOI ponds, but you can test for main water quality by checking ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrite and kh. The ph, ammonia and nitrite probably most important and you can buy kits to detect these.
Koi are happy in water with a ph between 7 and 8.5. Nitrites are toxic to koi so its important to use test kits regularly, should be aiming for 0. Up to 0.3 mg/litre is fairly low and not a threat.You can also test for dissolved oxygen (I dont do this) Oxygen levels tend to become lower in the summer as temperature
increases.
Most kits test for ph, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

how do the kits differ from the ones used in tropical fish keeping?

and do goldfish (outdoor) get the same sort of ilnesses as tropical fish and any suggestions where I can get info on them?

 

[sheba]

Sorry, missed your reply - looks like you dont have koi (your ponds arent deep enough for them anyway) As for water changes, I use a pond vac for mine which probably removes 10% (depending) of pond water. I can then add water and dechlorinator. I find kusuri pro 100 is very good to add to a pond - also kusuri clay.
I have never kept tropical fish so not sure how test kits differ.
As for info on goldfish/ponds, maybe get a good book out of the library on go one one of the many websites?
Is there an outlet near you that could maybe offer advice (steer away from garden centres though who are usually clueless!)

 

[Wanda hornsey]

Thanks Sheba

I will pop to the library and see if I can find any books written this century...most on tropical fish there are 25 yrs old and rather out of date...will see whats there tho

 

[sheba]

Good luck wanda,
sorry I cant be more help, I only know about koi!!!!