Question:
I am a new pond owner and it has been established for about a month, I have added a few fish. At first they were very active now I feel they are lying on the bottom more and not swimming around as much. My pond has a little green on the bottom and sides but is basically clear. Am I jumping the gun or do you think I may have a problem with the fish? They are eating but not as much. I have several plants in the pond and seem to be doing o.k. my water lily has finally formed a pad but it is small, how often should I fertilize it? I also have a pond smell it that normal?
Pondlady sez;:
You are feeding your fish. Unless they are koi, do not feed them. Make sure you have 1/2 of the surface of the water covered with floating plants and have plenty of places for the fish to hide.
Put at least one bunch of submerged vegetation in your pond for every square foot of pond surface. Feed the water lily at least once monthly, but they would prefer to be fed twice or even every 10 days in the growing season. Use Pondtabbs or other aquatic fertilizer. If you can't find it, use Job's Tree Spikes cut up in 4 pieces or Job's Tomato Spikes. And as a last resort, just dig a hole in the soil of the water lily, put a powdered fertilizer in there and cover it back up.
You probably have too many fish as well. Here's the rule: 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of water surface.
Spring is coming fast. Check your filters. If they have been out of the pond all winter, put them back in the water and use some Microbe Lift Gel to give the pond biosystem a jump start for spring.
1 comment:
You need to get more oxygen in your pond. Jan's suggestion of getting some submerged plants in the pond is a good one. It would also be good to get some aeration. I always recommend you try to build your pond with a waterfall, but since you've already completed it, this may not be possible. You may want to purchase and install an aerator.
If your pond smells like sulphur, then there may be anaerobic ("without oxygen") bacteria growth from muck on the bottom. This is not likely, though, since you have a new pond. It usually happens after a couple of years.
What does the smell smell like?
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