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Thread: Pond / Filter Maturity
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13-07-2019, 09:26 PM #1
Pond / Filter Maturity
As a newbie with a new pond I've read a lot on this and other sites; one point is consistently made and that is that it takes a long time for filters and ponds to fully mature - 18 - 24 months timescales are often quoted.
So, how do you know when your pond / filter are fully mature?
Is is something you can measure - water parameters?
or is is more subjective? If this is the case what are you looking for?
thanks
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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13-07-2019, 09:30 PM #2
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15-07-2019, 11:38 AM #3
good question mate. as said by tom main one water parameters. also as you get to know your fish. you get to know when something is wrong.
like when its not mature fish flash a lot and stress,
also on the maturity side that depends how you mature your pond. fishless cycling is the quickest way. if done correctly,
my pond took two years. done the fish in pond way. because I had to put 50 fish in quickly. its all the pond and filters that has to mature.
you will know once the everything is mature when
fish are happy
and all water parameters stay ammonia and nitrites stay zero. and nitrates are in the safe zone. with PH as well
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15-07-2019, 10:05 PM #4
thanks for the responses - so in theory if all goes well the system could mature quite quickly?
Early days but so far my experience has all been good. My strategy was to resist the temptation to rush out and buy a load of fish to fill the pond (in fact no new fish) and to keep the feed amount low. I plan to run like this for 12 months before I add any new fish. Water parameters are good and fish look happy.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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16-07-2019, 05:43 AM #5
Basically you need ammonia to start it all.
So either from fish. Or this way.
Use this site to learn mate. He covers most things fish.
Fishless cycling
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04-08-2019, 09:56 PM #6
Just to follow-up on my original post / question - I took a sample of my pond water to the Nat Show for analysis, so now have an answer to my own question. The results were good, to quote from the report
"Taking the results overall, there is little to say or advice to give to improve your pond water. Your ammonia and nitrite levels are at the optimum near zero values which, taken together with the nitrate level, indicates that your biofilter is fully matured and in good health."
So very happy with that .
Filter had been running for only 10 weeks at the time sample was taken. Water test results since then have continued to be good and consistent, fish all look happy.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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04-08-2019, 10:56 PM #7
That is a great result, what filter do you have?
Took 9 Months for my NItrites to go down to zero in a K1 moving bed filter (Nexus), and even now the filter is 18 Months old it doesn't take a lot to upset the balance and get nitrite spikes.
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05-08-2019, 07:29 AM #8
Same here. Took mine 16 to 18 months to fully trust the tests. And to fully mature. In nexus with drum.
Was your bio old stuff and what is it.
And what is the filtration on the system.
10 weeks. That is some going.
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deejaysmi Thanked / Liked this Post
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05-08-2019, 09:00 PM #9
thanks for the feedback -
filter is a Queni Koi QK15 combi, media is K1 micro which was new (I did wash some of it in pp).
I'm sure what helped is that the fish were gradually added over a few weeks (mostly goldfish and tench with only two koi) and I kept the feed level very low.
Anyway, even though the water parameters are good I just plan to enjoy the pond as is and let it cycle for at least 12 moths before I think about getting some new koi.
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06-08-2019, 05:26 AM #10
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deejaysmi Thanked / Liked this Post
Running heater at low temp?
Covering the pond with polycarb should be enough to stop water temps dipping below 6C for the most...