Wow. Nitrites in the pond are at 5.0ppm!!!! My poor babies!!! I did about a 30% change 2 days ago, and I'm going with about a 50% today. Fish have acted ok up until today when a couple of them were a little slow going. I've been keeping the salt at .3% for them, but jeez, why aren't they DEAD?! Anyone got any ideas as to what to do?

Ammonia is almost gone now... .25... Nitrates are about 10. Pond is cycling (obviously) and seeded heavily.

Since your beneficial bacteria for your cycle should be in your filter - and very little in the actual water, do not be afraid to do a HUGE water change. You need it. Remember that changing 50% of the water will only get the nitrites down to 2.5ppm!!! THat is still quite nasty - and another 50% immediate change will still only get it down to just over 1ppm - still too high in my book - even for a cycling tank!

You may have to change 50% PLUS water every day for a bit, now, until the nitrites come under control!!!!

You could also feed a lot lighter - skipping days - or remove some of the fish and develop the cycle a bit more gently.....

Golly!!!

Well, I did about a 60-70% change. This is going to KILL our water bill. It'd be one thing if it was a tank, but a POND, boy, Jon's gonna flip! (He loves the fish though, so he'll be cool). I've only been feeding them every 2 or 3 days and letting them eat the bugs and stuff in the pond, so no matter what, they're eating every day.
I wish these nitrites would go away. Every other cycle I've ever done was with Bio-Spira, but I simply can't afford enough of it for a pond.

Wow, Erika!!

Just wanted to wish you luck in getting those darn nitrites under control!! Hope your fish do OK! (And your water bill isn't too outrageous!!)

Thanks! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

How big is your pond? How many and what type of fish do you have? I always thought in many ways a pond would be so much easier to cycle but it certainly doesn't appear to be the case! Sorry for your problem. It is a good thing that you are doing your readings and did the immediate water change or you would have probably lost all of your fish! Good Luck . . . Lots of people will be rooting for you!!

I hope that pond is really big - I was hoping to perhaps rehome my little koi guy with you when he gets a bit bigger......

Oh Carol, he'd love being in a pond!! Sadly though, it's only about 250 gallons. Jon IS trying to talk me into adding on, can you believe it? If it gets big enough, then the little guy has a for sure home!

Happy2Share~

I have 2 comets, 2 shubunkins, a baby koi and an oddball carp in there.


Now, I'm off to test again.... it's not raining at the moment.

Good luck getting those nitrites down! I am way jealous about the pond, I live in an apartment but keep trying to talk my mom into letting me dig one in her backyard!

At least if you are getting lots of nitrites you are almost there, right? Keep thinking positive and ENJOY your pond!

i hope u do ok with the nitrites down hope all the fish are fine and hope jons ok with the bill lol

Jen~

I know, I keep telling myself "They HAVE to start going down now, they HAVE to". If my calculations (and that chart above) are right, then they should start the plummet any time now. I just can't wait till it's cycled, all good and happy. My Ph has remained constant which I'm very happy about, it's just these stupid nitrites.

Everyone seems fine today, happily swimming around, eating bugs.... Mic had a whole oak leaf hanging out of his mouth.

ndless bugs,Oak leaves etc...Man they must think they live like Kings!

I have to seriously wonder if I have what it takes to keep a pond.....

My first thought was "ACK! Was that oak leaf sterile? Where were those bugs before they were eaten - did someone spray them? ACK!"

I guess I am a bit obsessive, huh?

"Relax relax relax - the fish will do just fine - bugs are yummy, oak leaves are good roughage....."

tell us nitrite level tomoz ok

if they dnt go down do a 30-75% water change aday



p.s watch the water bill hope jons ok wiv it

Carol, you're too funny. I guess I'm lucky that my neighbors dont spray their trees, and we have a privacy fence around our yard, so we don't get much in our yard besides what comes from them. I like having a pond..... it makes me happy to see my fish happy! They're really diggin it out there. I threw a couple nightcrawlers in there when I had the hose running in the yard and they ate those like they were going out of style!

Do you leave them outside for the winter?

And, Carol, I'm pretty much convinced you are very good at whatever you attempt!! I'm sure you'd do great with a pond--you are so dedicated!! Then you'd have a home for your mailbox fish!!

Well, nitrites are STILL out of this world. I can't even tell if they're going down or not! I'm doing yet ANOTHER huge water change as I type this. My nitrAtes are at 10, so I'd THINK those stupid 'trites would be going down.