June 1, 2010 - Put in 4 tabs of Muck Defense. I am now currently out of Muck Defense tabs, I will reorder before the next application date. Pumped out about 2" of water from the rain the day before. Did my routine skimmer polyester filter media change. Still a lot of GREEN GUNK, but I do notice that the string algae is starting to go away. Temperatures today was in the upper 80s and lower 90s and it was mostly sunny.
June 2, 2010 - Changed the filter media three times today, it must be really dirty due to all the rain we have been getting.
June 3, 2010 - Just my regular polyester skimmer filter media change out for the day. Changed the filter media three times today.
June 4, 2010 - Cleaned out the skimmer filter media today only twice. The first time was around noon, and the second time was around 9:00 pm.
June 5, 2010 - Did my regular skimmer media change. I hope this is coming to an end soon. Today I added 50 ml of KoiZyme, 8 oz of Microbe Lift PL, 3 oz of barley extract with peat. I also cleaned off the light lenses, they had a lot of green gunk on them. The photos below were taken today...
June 6, 2010 - Just did my daily change of the polyester filter media today. The water was very clear, and I took some more photos. Below are a few of them...
June 7, 2010 - Did the usual twice a day filter media change.
June 8, 2010 - Did the twice a day filter media change, however, due to taking some students the the Illinois State FFA Convention, my times were a bit different today.
June 9, 2010 - Changed the media only once in the early morning. Took some students to the FFA Convention today as well. When it was time to change the filter media, I decided to give it a try without the media, just my regular 2" skimmer filter pad. Added 1oz of OneFix today. One more thing...
CONGRATULATIONS BLACKHAWKS!
June 10, 2010 - Did absolutely nothing to the pond today. Oh, I did clip the singe lily bloom I had, it bloomed for 5 days.
June 11, 2010 - The 2" filter media is still holding up well. I have picked out some leaves and other debris, but water is still flowing through just fine. KNOCK ON WOOD! Cleaned off the pond light lenses. Had to clean out the filter media today, it lasted just over two days.
June 12, 2010 - Did a 20% water change today. Added 8oz of Ultimate, 8oz of Microbe Lift PL, 2oz of Barley extract with Peat, and 25 ml of KoiZyme. It rained today, and I had to drain off about an inch of water.
June 13, 2010 - The filter media is holding up well so far. A lot of rain today, but will wait on the draining a bit. I added 4 scoops of Koi Clay into the pond today. Ordered some more supplies today, Microbe Lift PL, KoiZyme, Ultimate, Muck Defense, and Koi Food. I am starting to save my invoices in .pdf format. I will try to add them to this blog, if possible. Below are the links to the orders I made today...
June 14, 2010 - Went to check on the 2" skimmer pad media this am, and I noticed a few goldfish feeding around the edges of my skimmer. I was able to capture 2 of them and relocate them to the pond in front of the Jr. High School. I almost had 3 of them, but one wiggled away from me. I did rinse out the skimmer media even though it really had not started to choke off the pump, but it was rather filthy with a lot of green gunk. I took out the big variegated grass plant that was by the skimmer and replaced it with a nice ribbon grass plant. This grass tends to grow upward more than spreading out like the previous plant. This way I won't have to battle the grass every time I work on the skimmer.
June 15, 2010 - Added 8 oz of Clear Defense beneficial bacteria to the pond this morning. I just want to make sure I have plenty of the good bacteria in the pond to help with, well, just about everything. So far, so GOOD, KNOCK ON WOOD!
June 16, 2010 - Added some Microbe Lift paste to the skimmer filter media after cleaning it this afternoon. It wasn't choking off the pump, but the skimmer had a lot of bits of leaves in it from where the Koi have been nibbling on the lily pads so I gave it a good rinsing out. Also added 2 oz of blue pond tint, and 1 oz of OneFix.
June 17, 2010 - Got into the water today to fertilize the row of lilies on the bench. Water was still cool, but refreshing. Was able to weed out the dead lily leaves and fertilize the three plants.
June 18, 2010 - Did a small water change today. Added 25 ml of KoiZyme, 8 oz of Microbe Lift PL, 8 oz of Ultimate water conditioner, and 2 oz of barley extract with peat. Noticed the small Koi flashing today quite a bit. I might be due to add some more salt. I will monitor the situation. I rinsed out the skimmer media, and when I replaced it, I added the last of my Microbe Lift paste.
June 20, 2010 - Noticed that one of our fish, Opey, was not doing well. He/She was just still in the water, and would not come to his spot when it came time to eat his noon feeding. I decided to check the salt level, and it was at .01. So I added about 20 pounds of salt, and now my salt level is at .13%. I also added 1 oz of OneFix, 16 oz of Liquid Clear Defense, and 25 ml of KoiZyme. Opey did come around a bit, and was able to join the rest of the fish at dinner time. I will check the skimmer, which has not been changed since Friday before I go to bed tonight. So far so good. Happy Father's Day! Rinsed out the skimmer.
June 22, 2010 - Did a preemptive water change today before the big rains came. I pumped out about 2" of water, and this water was replaced within an hour with all the rain we received, I even had to pump out another inch. I rinsed off the 2" skimmer media this morning. Added 2 oz of blue pond tint.
June 23, 2010 - Tested pond parameters today, all were fine, but I do have some rather hard water. The salt level was right at 1%. So after all the rain and pump outs, the salt level went from .13% to .1% which is right where I want it for now. The salt level will gradually go down with water changes and more rain pump outs. If anyone reads this, please let me know what this level of slat will do to my beneficial bacteria.
June 24, 2010 - Added 1 oz of OneFix. Noticed that the falls end pond lights were not working.
June 25, 2010 - Topped off the water level this morning. Added 25 ml of KoiZyme, added 8 oz of Microbe Lift PL, added 2 oz of Barley Extract with Peat, added 1 oz of blue pond tint. Rinsed off the 2" skimmer pad, still a lot of green gunk, but this time it lasted three days. Headed to Woodstock around 12:30 pm.
June 25, 26, 27, 2010 - Went to Woodstock, IL to celebrate Bob-Bob's 59th birthday. Arrived back on the 27th, and the pond was in great shape. I put a new transformer on the pond lights, and got them up and working. I rinsed off the skimmer pads, it probably could have gone another couple of days.
June 28, 2010 - Added 2 oz of OneFix.
June 29, 2010 - Rinsed out the 2" skimmer media.
