Pond Log for April 2010

Koi Pond Log for April 2010

April 1, 2010 - Added three tea spoons of Cold Bacteria. Also added three Muck Defense tabs. The water temperature is now 56 degrees. Fed the fish at noon, 4:00 pm, and 5:00 pm, very small amounts.

April 2, 2010 - Added three tea spoons of Cold Bacteria. Continue to feed the fish three times a day, small amounts, about 1/8 of a cup.

April 3, 2010 - Added three tea spoons of Cold Bacteria. The new lights arrived today from Fosters and Smith Aquatics. Replaced the broken set of lights, and put the other set by the water fall. Added 2 oz of blue pond tint @ 4:00 pm. Brought out the Japanese Maples from the garage. Also planted a tall grass in a big planter and placed by the pond. You can see it in the photo above in the upper left hand corner of the pond.

April 4, 2010 - Cleaned the algae off the water falls rock with a brush. Put in 2 oz of OneFix by the bridge at 4:00 pm. Ended my Cold Bacteria regiment, for now the water is getting close to using the regular beneficial bacteria.

April 5, 2010 - Cleaned off the skimmer pad and lava rock. Used a 5 gallon bucket to rinse off the lava rock. Added three tea spoons of "Regular Beneficial Bacteria" by Pond Digger to the pond. The water temperature at 7:00 pm is 60 degrees.

April 6, 2010 - Added one scoop of Koi Clay in a 5 gallon bucket into the falls.

April 7, 2010 - Did a 5 - 10% water change. Cleaned out the skimmer pads and lava rock in skimmer. Added 2 oz of OneFix. Added 5 cups of "Ultimate" water treatment. Added 6 oz of Microbe-Lift PL, this is the second Microbe Lift PL treatment.

April 9, 2010 - Scrubbed algae off the waterfall rock. There was a lot of sting algae getting started.

April 10, 2010 - Removed the lava rock from the skimmer, not sure it was worth all the effort. Cleaned the skimmer pads and replaced. Added 3 tea spoons of "Pond Digger" Beneficial Bacteria. Topped off the water level with about 100 gallons of water from my sand point well system. Purchased a new Japanese Maple today, and placed in a bucket near the pond. Looks nice. Cleaned off both sets of pond lights. Lots of algae, gross, clumpy algae. I wish I could find a way to get rid of it!

April 11,2010 - The water temperature is currently 59 degrees. Added 6 oz of Microbe-Lift PL, and also added 2 oz of OneFix to the water. Water is still crystal clear, however, starting to notice fish poop on the sides of the liner which has a fuzz of algae growing on it.

April 13, 2010 - Added several scoops of Crystal Clear Algae Off near the skimmer and the north-west side of the pond liner. A lot of algae broke loose, and I tried to scoop and scoop with my skimmer net, but I just could not get all of it. I cleaned out the skimmer pads and I hope they will do their job. Added three tablespoons of Beneficial Bacteria by the air system. The pond temperature is currently 69 degrees. Added three scoops of Koi Clay mixed in a 5-gallon bucket and poured around the pond. Took a reading this afternoon and all parameters looked withing the acceptable range. The water was a bit on the hard side, and the PH levels were good, and the nitrate and nitrite levels were on the very good side. I got that going for me. Also, took a water sample coming off the falls, and the water was crystal clear to the eye. Who knows what microscopic monsters are lurking within?

April 14, 2010 - Added 2½ oz of blue tint to pond. Also added 2 oz of OneFix. Rinsed out the skimmer pads, they got very dirty and full just during the last 24 hours. The water temperature is 67 degrees, down 2 degrees from yesterday. Added 20 oz of Pond Logic "Crystal Clear Defense" @ 9:00 pm. This is the first dose of this product.

April 15, 2010 - Did a 5% - 10% water change after school. Cleaned off the skimmer pads, very dirty again, lots of green muck. Added 3 teaspoons of beneficial bacteria. Scrubbed the algae off the waterfall rocks. Re-arranged the water fall rocks and flow from two to one tube, increased the force of the falls. Put in the mesh bag of "Nature's Choice Barley Clarifying Pellets" at the base of the waterfall.

April 16, 2010 - Tested the salt level today, and it is down from 1.1% to just 1% after yesterday's water change. New plants arrived in the mail today, and I was able to get them planted and placed in the pond. (Albescens Rush and Zebra Rush) from grassrootsnursery.com. Added two small fertilizer spikes to these new plants as well as the dwarf cattail plant. (Side note, new microwave and dishwasher were installed today, and Gary McDaniel stopped by for a visit.)

April 17, 2010 - Rinsed off the skimmer pads this morning, I forgot to do it yesterday. Luckily they weren't chocking off the pump yet, but it was getting close. Pond seems to be a bit foggy, but the water coming off the falls is crystal clear. I think the fish are up to something, if you know what I mean! I am not sure, but I think all the pollen may have something to do with the discoloration of the water as well. Off to Saturday School. Purchased some ammonia test strips (EcoSystems). Tested the pond water for ammonia levels, everything was on the safe side, registering 0 (zero) on the scale. Cut a piece of green foam filter media and placed in the skimmer to help skim out smaller pollen particles. Tried out the pool/garden hose vacuum, and was able to get quit a bit of green gunk from the sides. Will do more when I have more time. Cleaned off the pond light lenses. Added 3 teaspoons of Pond Digger Beneficial Bacteria.

April 18, 2010 - Rinsed off the cotton like filter media this AM, it was choking off the pump, but water was still flowing, but just at a low volume. Added 3 oz of blue pond tint, seemed to help a lot with the tea color. I am going to rinse off the skimmer pad again before it gets dark. I will leave the cotton-like media out of the skimmer tonight, but will add it again tomorrow morning. Added 6 oz of Microbe Lift PL, this is the third Microbe Lift PL treatment of the season.

April 19, 2010 - Rinsed off the skimmer pads early this AM. Put the clean pads back into the skimmer, along with the cotton-like filter media. I will clean them off again this afternoon. I don't want to keep the cotton-like media in the skimmer over night, for the one time I did this, it choked off the supply of water to the pump. Water was still flowing, but at a very slow rate. It has been in the lower 40s that last couple of nights.

April 20, 2010 - Rinsed off the skimmer pads after school. Placed some of the cotton-like filter media in the skimmer basket. I will clean it out early tomorrow morning.

April 21, 2010 - Rinsed off skimmer pads early this morning. Placed the cotton-like filter media in the skimmer. I will rinse them off again when I get home from school. There is still a great deal of GREEN GUNK build up on the media after a 12 hour period.

April 22, 2010 - Again, I rinsed off the skimmer at 5:00 this morning, only because I was already up, so I thought I would get it done before the cotton-like filter media, similar to this, got too clogged and choked off the pump. I have two sets of this cotton-like filter media, so when I take one out to clean and rinse off, I place the other in its place. I will try to get some photos of my skimmer area, it is a piece of work. My skimmer is actually a bucket from a cherry-picker truck. Water flows into the skimmer, through the cotton-like filter media, then through a 2" media, and then through three matala mats, black, green, blue in that order, then to the pump, and off to the 55 gallon barrel filter that I built this past fall. So I believe I have plenty of filtration and places for my beneficial bacteria to take up residence. Got home from school, and went right to work rinsing off the afternoon set of cotton-like filter media. Inserted the night-time version of the same media into the filter on top of the 2" media. Also went around the pond and inserted fertilizer spikes into the existing pond plants. I still notice a lot of algae on things. However, when I lifted up the pots from their shelf, I did see where some bacteria had been hard a work cleaning. Now, I if I could just get them to work on everything else!! Wishful thinking. Fed the Koi only once today. Added 8 oz of "Crystal Clear Defense" to the pond water after doing the afternoon cotton-like filter media rinse.

April 23, 2010 - Rinsed off the cotton-like filter media in the skimmer basket at 5:30 this morning. Still a lot of GREEN GUNK, man that stuff is gross. Replaced the dirty material with clean material. After rinsing it off, I now put the semi-clean material in my washing machine on HOT, and do a quick cycle with no soap. The media comes out very clean, and semi-dry. Fed the Koi this morning 1/8 of a cup of food. Cleaned off the skimmer media after school, and replaced with a brand new skimmer pad. Opened up the drains on both filter barrels to drain some of the sediment. Fed the Koi on more time.

April 24, 2010 - Did my regular twice daily cleaning of the cotton-like filter media. Important note: I have not had to remove my regular 2" coarse filter media since I have been using the cotton-like media placed on top of it. Also added 6 oz of Microbe Lift PL. Opened up the valves on both 55 gallon filter drums to drain the pond after about 2" of rain. Cleaned off the pond lights and replaced.

April 25 2010 - Again, did my regular twice daily cleaning of the cotton-like filter media. Noticed that the pond water is becoming much clearer.

April 26 - 2010 - I am continuing the regular daily routine of cleaning out the skimmer media twice daily. The cotton-like filter media is still collecting a lot of green gunk. I wish I knew what this stuff was, it can't be just fish waste, for there is way too much of it every day. Received an email today from the individual I ordered two more Koi. I am trying to come up with a quarantine tank, but I am not having much luck. Below are the two fish that will be here Wednesday.

My order from Dr. Foster's and Smith arrived today, including my de-foamer, electrical connection, and water testing strips for Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, PH, Hardness, and Alkalinity. I did a quick test, and all parameters were within the acceptable range. I did notice that my water was a bit on the hard side. I put 1 oz. of the pond de-foamer under the waterfalls, and withing a few minutes, all bubbles and foam were gone. I was amazed! Purchased a 45 gallon tote and some plumbing parts to put a drain on it for a quarantine tank. Now all I need is a filter for the system. I already have air stones and an air pump. The new fish arrive on Wednesday. Completed the quarantine tank build by 6:45, so about $50.00 and three hours later, I now have the tank ready and working, complete with filter, waiting for my new fish to arrive on Wednesday. See the photo below...

April 27, 2010 - Did my regular twice daily routine of cleaning out the cotton-like skimmer pads. I sure wish this green gunk would go away. The morning temperature was 48 degrees, rather cool for this time of year. I think once the water temperature goes the beneficial bacteria will take over, I HOPE! Added 2 oz of OneFix after my evening filter cleaning.

April 28, 2010 - Did the twice daily cleaning of the filter media. The new Koi arrived today, and went directly into the quarantine tank that I built on Monday. The package was delivered to the wrong house, but luckily they knew me and gave me a call. Both fish arrived in safe and good condition. They are a bit spooked, but no worse for the wear so far.

April 29, 2010 - This morning there pond was loaded with all types of seeds from my neighbor's trees.  I think I could have opened up a tree nursery with the amount of seeds that are currently blowing around.  My family has orders that if they see them in the pond, to skim them out.  Did my morning skimmer media cleaning.  Checked on the new fish in the quarantine tank, they seem to be doing well. They are still skittish, but I am sure they will warm up to me soon, I hope.  Not looking forward to this afternoon, I suspect the pond will be more seeds than water due to the very windy conditions.  When I came home from school today, the pond was loaded with seeds.  The super windy conditions today really brought down a hail storm of seeds from a wide variety of trees.  After about two hours, I was able to get most of them out of the pond, but they did their damage.  The pond water was crystal clear yesterday, and now it is all cloudy again with dirt and debris that has blown in from destinations unknown.  Did about a 15% water change, cleaned out the filter media, and put in 6 oz of MicrobeLift PL, and 3 oz of blue pond dye.  I noticed a lot of hairy algae growing on the light cords.  This has come up just since last Saturday.  I just don't understand why this stuff keeps growing.  Did a 5 gallon water change in the quarantine tank.  The two new Koi seem to be doing well, so far.  They must be eating, for when I come back form giving them a few pellets of food, it is always gone, but I have yet to actually see them eat.

April 30th, 2010 - Got out to the pond at 5:35 this morning, and the pump was being choked off by all the debris in the skimmer pad.  (A lot of GREEN GUNK!)  The water was still flowing through the filter, but at a much decreased rate of flow.  I think I am back to square one with the GREEN GUNK cleaning after all that wind yesterday.  I will check the media when I go home for lunch, and if necessary, I will do a cleaning then.  Fed my new Koi in the quarantine tank this am.  Went home for lunch, windy just like yesterday, but the pond was relatively clean of debris thanks to the wind yesterday blowing everything away.  I did clean out the skimmer pad, and it was full of GREEN GUNK, but not yet choking off the pump.  Better safe, than sorry!  Again it was very windy when I came home from school, but the pond was not as bad as yesterday.  I think all the seeds have been blown to another state.  Cleaned out the skimmer media around 6:45pm.