OK, I'm going to start a new thread to share some pics and movies of my 250-gallon Rubbermaid pond. The water has turned very green, such that I can only see the fish when they're near the surface. I sprinkled some floating pellets today, and I saw 7 of my 8 fish! I don't know where the 8th one is. It's a bubble eye, so I don't know if it has problems getting the to the top.





Here's a movie: http://dancescientist.com/Temp/06_06_08_green_pond.wmv

Oh I haven't thought of ur bubble eye! Most likely he won't be coming up often, as bubble eyes like to stay on the bottom.

I'd change the water now mate, looks pretty dense to me from the movie.

I checked the nitrates, and it was still very low. I thought you're suppose to change the water to control the nitrate build up. Other than the green color, the water parameters are still way better than it was every in my 55-gallon tank. Interestingly, the pH of the pond is slightly on the alkaline side. I could never achieve this in my tank. Even when I added buffers, the tank was always on the verge of a pH crash.

In greenwater, the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate suppose to be zero ALL the time. U change the water to control the ALGAE build up, not the NITRATE build up . Too much algae means = oxygen burn during the day, and oxygen deprivation at night (but oxygen deprivation is not such a problem cos u got sufficient water agitation there). Too much algae also means the algae on the bottom can't get any sunlight, and they'll die.

So, as I said before, whenever u can't see ur fish 6 inches down, then it's definitely time to change 90% of the water.

The pH of greenwater is always alkaline, my greenwater tub pH is always above 8.2. So be sure to acclimatise ur fish slowly when changing water.

So, a typical greenwater tub maintenance cycle after a water change would be:
1. Water slightly tinged green cos of the 10% greenwater from previous batch
2. After a week or 2 weeks, the water will become very green again
3. Change 90% water. Scrape some wall algae off the sides of the tub when changing water cos it'll hinder the growth of the greenwater.
4. Back to 1

PS: U can use the greenwater from water change for ur plants. Plants loooooove greenwater. My mom's orange tree got so many fruits the branches are bent like a loaded fishing rod

I love the video George

I'm not much help with the green water part of thing's...I alway's thought that was a good thing to some people I guess.... Goes to show how much I know......

Where did you get the water fountain part that's in the middle of your pond? It looks very similar to the one my parent's gave me out of their pond. (They opted not to use it)

It looks wonderful and your fish look very happy!

I love your fish. My favourite is the white ranchu I have that picture of him or her giving the orange fish a kiss as a desktop background. My mum thinks its a cute picture.

Wooo.... 90% water change! How do you do that? I was just planning to change a small amount each week using a bucket. 90% you'd have to pull the drain. I don't want to flood the neighborhood!









The fountain is from the Pondmaster 190 filter kit. I got it way overpriced at $91 at my local fish store.

Well even overpriced it's still neat, If that ever goes to the crapper..I have one that I'll probably never use. It's from a setup my parent's got with their waterfall kit from Home Depot.

Can't u put a hose on the drain and direct the water somewhere so it won't flood the neighbourhood?

Wow your fish look great in there!!

Good luck with the water change . . .

OK, I went to the Pond Shack in Mountain View today and got some plants for my pond.

They definitely add a nice touch to the appearance of the pond. The plants also bring a lot more of my fish to the surface as they like to chew on the roots of the floaters. Is the chewing a problem? Will the plants survive?

Be careful with the water hyacinthe (those round leaves with the bulby bases that float..and purple flowers) they grow and spread like MAD. They have problems with them in the canals here, the canals literally turn into like carpets of green.

Just a quick question: Where do I get a tub that big? I can't find them on the internet. Does a place like Home Depot have them?

I bought my stock tank at Menards, which is similar to Lowes and Home Depot.
I live in Illinois so that I am not sure if other states have this kind of store or not.

You can come to Home Depot to ask them if they can make a special order for you.

If you buy online, the shipping charge is so expensive.

I found this place on the net. So far, it has cheaper prices than the others.

http://www.stockyardsupply.com/page11/index2.html

Why dont you guys just use a liner for a pond. I still have my spare which was meant for a 400 gallon pond and got it for 35$. Now I have an 800 gallon though as I wanted a few koi.

be careful when you open the drainer of the stock tank. The water come out very quick and very powerful.

Small goldfish may come out too. I tell you this because I used to open the drainer and one of my pearlscale came out too. The fish was on the grass. I immediately picked him up and put him back in.

I use siphon to change water from now on. LOL

I have a green water pond, it gives the fish a great colour. The red ones are bright red.

naiad please do not bring up topics that are more than 3 months old